Water Warriors Sphynx and Gorgon were once Hydro Power

[isoaker]

Contrary to initial belief, it appears that indeed the Water Warriors Sphynx and Gorgon have diaphragms. What could not be seen from early pics is the fact that the PC housing have small holes at their tops. Pics and stats to come soon... if I find some time, I'll also see about opening up one of these to absolutely confirm it.

EDIT: Contrary to this contrary belief, it seems that all production models of the Sphynx and Gorgon are indeed air-pressure based and that the items I got my hands on were pre-production samples.

EDIT 2: Contrary to the contrary belief, it was brought to my attention (Thanks, cantab!) that these models were actually available last summer in the UK as Hydro Power versions. I suppose that is where the samples I got came from; old stock before the injunction. Will be pushing up reviews of the Hydro Power versions as well as the air pressure versions once I can get my hands on those as well.

[martianshark]

So you got the Sphyinx and Gorgon?

[isoaker]

So you got the Sphyinx and Gorgon?

Indeed.

[martianshark]

You mean the Lighning-like Sphynx, not the Pulse-like Sphynx, right? By the way, it might help to dry fire it at yourself and see if it smells "rubbery."

[isoaker]

You mean the Lighning-like Sphynx, not the Pulse-like Sphynx, right? By the way, it might help to dry fire it at yourself and see if it smells "rubbery."

Yes, the Lightning-like Sphynx... and thanks for the advice, but I believe I've tested a few blasters in my day.

...and yes, both the Gorgon and Sphynx are definitely Hydro Power.

[scottthewaterwarrior]

Awsome! Now I don't have to suport Hasbro, WW still has good guns! Although even the air pressure WW are probaly better than Hasbro's junk, at least reliablity wise. Will have to make sure to buy these if I see them which I dobt because the only time I ever saw Water Warriors guns near me was in they tiny toy isle of the grossery store why they would be sold there who knows!

[HBWW]

Contrary to popular belief? More like: Contrary to popular belief, Hydro Power != CPS. I would have rathered they converted the Orca to air pressure and opened up the diameter of the internals. The current HP design is not really great due to all the unnecessary piping and the fact that both PC's only drain to one hole.

That said, it's still not a bad blaster but quite excellent by modern standards. However, I'm still not a fan of the oversized, underpowered design, but it may be the best they can do with it for the time being.

I'm a bit more interested in how much the Vanquisher has changed, and of course, if BBT has plans in store for spring powered blasters. I still think BBT's best option at this point is air pressure, though concerns and limitations to prevent them from taking air pressure to its full potential have been conjectured before.

[isoaker]

The statement was "initial belief", not "popular belief". Seems like some of the packaging incorrectly states "Air Pressure".

While the diaphragm system isn't CPS, these blasters do have larger PCs and are pushing out decent sized streams compared to the "converted" Ultimate Blasters that would likely have had CPS-like chambers were BBT not sued by Hasbro last year. I'll try to push up some stats over the next few days.

[isoaker]

Seems I may be in possession of old samples again. Now I'm getting confused, but from what I've learned, the Gorgon and Sphynx should be air pressure...

..anyone else confused yet?

[martianshark]

Air pressure!? So that hole in the top is for water to leak out of, right? I'm confused.

[isoaker]

Air pressure!? So that hole in the top is for water to leak out of, right? I'm confused.

No, the hole on the top is real, but I may, again, have non-production items and/or old samples. Trying to find out what's going on for certain, but from what I've been told, the blasters MUST be air pressure now.

[soakernerd]

Martian, in a CPS or Hydropower setup, a hole in the PC casing allows air inside the casing (but outside the bladder) to escape. This prevents air pressure from building up. Air pressure would keep the stream from being constant.

[martianshark]

I know. I was just asking why there was a hole if it was air pressure.

[soakernerd]

Oh. I think he got pre-production models, from when they were still going to be Hydropower.

[isoaker]

I know. I was just asking why there was a hole if it was air pressure.

as I noted, the blasters I have may not be production blasters. Hopefully will get some production samples to test, soon. Yes, it is very confusing and I apologize for any mis-information. I'm working with what I've got access to, but it seems that this year, because of the later-minute adjustments, I've gotten hold of some of what they were supposed to be as opposed to what they actually are.

[HBWW]

Well, whatever the blasters end up being won't make a big difference IMO. It seems very likely that they won't improve other features of the re-releases for better performance, so they will limit how far they can go regardless of whether or not the re-releases are air pressure. However, whichever method they use will tell us how far the injunction went, and BBT being unable to use one more option (HydroPower, whether they decide not to just to be safe, or were directed not to) will always be a bad thing.

The layout of the Sphynx however, is perfect for air pressure, and very XP-like. It would be interesting to see how it would work that way.

[soakernerd]

I recall a couple of discussions earlier were it was mentioned that air pressure is actually more efficient than Hydropower, so this might be an improvement. I just want a large PC.

BTW, when was the last time someone made an separate PC air pressure soaker with more than 10oz PC? I think it was in the late 90s.

[HBWW]

That would probably be me mentioning air pressure being more efficient. The primary issue with HP is that it has very high-stress points where the diaphragm must connect to the PC case. (This is fairly common knowledge which many at SSC have pointed out before.) Of course, this issue may be arguably worse on spring powered blasters. In either case, my proposition was supported by the fact that I got slightly better performance when I converted my Piranha to air pressure using a 2L bottle.

It seems that some people don't quite like air pressure for larger blasters. I disagree and still think it has a lot of potential. The main issue is that it requires a lot of pre-pressurization to work properly and avoid that awful pressure dropoff. With pre-pressurization, air pressure blasters start to perform more like CPS.

The benefit of CPS is simply efficiency and elegance. It can fire at any angle and doesn't require space for air, thus reducing costs. It's unfortunate that Hasbro hardly uses it yet made the injunction against BBT.

[martianshark]

I disagree with HP being inefficient. I'm pretty sure that since the Gorgon is now air pressure, it will have worse performance. But on bigger guns with bigger PCs and especially bigger tubing, it probably would have good performance.

[martianshark]

I bought the Gorgon using a gift card I got. iSoaker is correct, but even though it's now air pressure, I'm impressed with its performance. The big nozzle has a nice, thick stream, and the small one has great shot time. It of course is even better when you pre-pressurize it. Since BBT had to change it into an air pressure gun so quickly, it may be possible to get it back to HP if diaphragms are possible to buy. Still, the Gorgon isn't as good as the Orca of course.