WW Orca Review

Discussions of all varieties of stock water guns and water blasters.
scorpion
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Post by scorpion » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:08 pm

I just put a ton of glue gun glue in the orca cap and put a pin sizes hole in the top of the tank and I get no air at all and that gay noise is gone. YAY!
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isoaker
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Post by isoaker » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:09 pm

@C-A_99: you've written up a pretty good summary of how well the WW Orca seems to perform and its various weaknesses. I, too, have noticed issues when pumping (i.e. it was pulling in some air with pump strokes). I hadn't looked inside the reservoir so didn't notice the intake tube; I just wanted to load it up and do a little testing; I'll check that out later. As for the fan setting, it does feel a little meek, but I'd still rather have one fan-type spray; it has its uses, IMO.

@Scorpion: I don't fully agree with your assessment of the Tiger Shark, but it's just an opinion; also, I do need to do some range testing to be sure, but I think the Tiger Shark will outperform a Lightning overall. At least from the output stats I've measured thusfar, the Tiger Shark pushes out three times more water per second than the Lightning does on its largest nozzle but matches it on its smallest nozzle.

On the bright side, BBT should be fixing the cap placement problem on the Orca; just can't do anything about the ones already made.

:cool:
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Post by HBWW » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:19 pm

Did some minor editing for stats, etc.

Is BBT really going to re-adjust the cap that soon? Interesting.
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isoaker
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Post by isoaker » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:23 pm

@C-A_99: not THAT soon, but hopefully for next year.

@scorpion: nice fix for the pumping noise problem! :goofy:

:cool:
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scorpion
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Post by scorpion » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:24 pm

@Scorpion: I don't fully agree with your assessment of the Tiger Shark, but it's just an opinion; also, I do need to do some range testing to be sure, but I think the Tiger Shark will outperform a Lightning overall. At least from the output stats I've measured thusfar, the Tiger Shark pushes out three times more water per second than the Lightning does on its largest nozzle but matches it on its smallest nozzle.


I've noticed after testing it for a second time that it is much more powerfun than a lightning. the shot time is a little low. one big improvement is that u can get a full three shots unlike the litening's 2.5.





Edit: I just tested the orca and the blazer side by side and the blazer has less dropoff, better shot time, more power, easier to pump, more comfortable, shoots further, and is much easier to load.




Edited By scorpion on 1175548839
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SilentGuy
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Post by SilentGuy » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:13 pm

Wow...glue and a pin...ingenious! My idea was to cut out a circle containing the cap and a circle from the top, then switch and glue... :laugh:

Perhaps the intake tube could be duck taped to the bottom of the reservoir, right next to the cap.

I really don't see why they keep on making fan blasts. At most, they should make a shotgun nozzle that has poor lamination and produces a wide but misty stream.

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Post by DX » Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:21 pm

Still no exact ranges for Orca vs Tiger Shark?

Nice fix for the sounds! *takes a 5 minute break and goes downstairs to look for the glue gun*

Fan blasts would actually be useful if they shot more than like 10ft. That goes for shotgun, fan, and riot blast style nozzles in general. I've found that the most effective ones have at least some power behind them.
marauder wrote:You have to explain things in terms that kids will understand, like videogames^ That's how I got Sam to stop using piston pumpers

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isoaker
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Post by isoaker » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:41 pm

WW Orca Pics posted.

No new stats measured here yet and probably won't get a chance to do any stat recording until next week, unfortunately. Oh well.. enjoy the pics for now!

:cool:
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bb1
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Post by bb1 » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:04 pm

Fan shot is good when you are around young children (face it, it happens sometimes) and a full blast would hurt bad. Just getem wet. A waterblaster with the power of a firehose AND garden sprinkler! Just loveit. Hehe. I have an orca too, I will have to open it up sometime and see what noise issue is, will see soon.

*Blazer was not available in my area where I looked (Meijer [where I got TS and Orca] and Walmart [not much of anything])

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Post by SilentGuy » Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:28 pm

TRU, Wal*Mart, and Target had no good guns. Just some Secret Strikes, Arctic Shocks, and the other blue-and-green gun. K-Mart, however, had the Orca, the TS, the Tarantula, and a ton of guns from another manufacturer.

Finding the TS grip too small for my hand, I got the Orca. I'm impressed. I'd rather have gotten both and tried to modify the grip on the TS, though. :cool:

The rotating pump handle isn't too bad - I got used to it after about 25 pumps. The whale squealing also isn't too bad, especially if you pump slowly on the outstroke. The pressure release valve also makes a neat whale sound.

This is the first time I've had a BBT gun with an electronic gauge. Not too useful, IMO, just adds complexity and it isn't too precise. That said, there's not an easy way to measure how full a diaphragm bladder is.

The gun is fairly big, but the balance and ergonomics are perfect. I've got to hand it to them, it's good. The grip is wonderful to hold, with the weight of the reservoir right above. The pump handle requires a bit of getting used to, at least for the outstroke, but it's excellent for the instroke.

The performance is good. The two smallest nozzles, which are very similar, get fine range - I got the gun and tested at 9:00 PM, so it was hard to see everything. The medium and large nozzles are somewhat turbulent, but even the large nozzle gets equivalent range to my other guns, so I'm not complaining. The fan blast could actually be effective if you get within 10-15 feet - I'd prefer a narrower blast at 20-25 feet though.

iSoaker is right, it is somewhat difficult to align the nozzle selector. Another thing to note is that the placement of each nozzle on the selector is fairly random. As far as I can remember, it goes medium, small small, large small, large, fan blast.

The gun is well-sized and balanced. I think I counted 33 pumps to fill the PC, which is quite a bit, and you get three PCs out of a single reservoir. I can't even feel the weight because it's so well balanced. :cool:

However, I'm quite pleased overall. I still would like to have a TS, if only to have a smaller gun with similar power. The TS is also comfortable except for the tiny grip, which ruins everything. If BBT doesn't make the grip larger for next year, I might get a TS anyway and modify it... :)

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Post by bb1 » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:11 pm

The whale squealing also isn't too bad, especially if you pump slowly on the outstroke. The pressure release valve also makes a neat whale sound.


This contradicts your name in every way...




Edited By bb1 on 1175721098

bb1
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Post by bb1 » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:13 pm

scorpion wrote:I just put a ton of glue gun glue in the orca cap and put a pin sizes hole in the top of the tank and I get no air at all and that gay noise is gone. YAY!
*sry for double post* Pics would be nice please, I would hate to go through and ruin this new gun. I've never modded before (never had anything to mod...) and am scared to death the thing will break!

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Post by DX » Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:14 pm

You can perform that mod without ever opening the gun. It just involves plugging the hole in the filling cap and sticking a pinhole in the top of the reservoir [fully reversible if somehow messed up].

I personally do have pictures of the Orca's complete internal assembly, but still have to compress them [images in excess of 2000x1500 are not fun].
marauder wrote:You have to explain things in terms that kids will understand, like videogames^ That's how I got Sam to stop using piston pumpers

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Post by SilentGuy » Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:10 pm

Yup, it does contradict my name. I actually don't really mind the sound.

I did some more testing - in daylight.

The streams all have fairly poor lamination. Range is better than most guns, but I know it could be better. Currently, if you aim at an angle with the smaller streams (which have the best range), they pretty much disappear due to the terrible lamination at the end of the trajectory.

Something about the gun makes me feel poorly about the power. It lacks the sparkly-clean, large, high-ranged streams of my CPS 4100.

The placement of the cap underneath ensures you can't fill the reservoir then leave it open as you pump before filling to the top.

The trigger is very nice - tap shooting is exceptionally easy. I don't think you even need to pull the trigger all the way back to get a strong stream out, at least with the smaller nozzles.

I propped the gun up to see how much dropoff it had, as Duxburian mentioned. It wasn't too noticeable. The power seems to drop slightly (too little to notice unless the gun is propped up) until halfway through the PC, and then it stays constant the rest of the time. Maybe it's due to the fact that there are multiple PCs.

The intake tube in the reservoir can flop around, but it used up all of the water, as far as I'm concerned. If it becomes a problem, I'll just use duct tape to hold it to the bottom of the reservoir.

bb1
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Post by bb1 » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:58 pm

Just opened mine up today. I am just naive to stronger soakers, and this is the strongest thing I've had since an XP70, so don't take anything I am about to say for a fact.

The smallest stream has incredibly long shot time. I didn't count seconds, but I was able to spell my 12 letter name (first and surname) out on the bathtub wall, with plently left over. Shot like a knife, very nice coherent stream with little dropoff.

The slightly bigger nozzle, however, is not much more noticable from the first. It is a tiny bit bigger, nothing too special. it has a nice feel to it, however, like I could go have fun soaking with it. Problem is, though, it uses up shot time faster than it should on this one.

The "blaster" nozzle is an OK size and range, but suffers from poor lamination. It packs decent soaking power. My PC might have been low at the time (I tried filling with the sink, and with the opening of the resevoir on the bottom, is actually quite a convientent fit for a blaster of this size. A Tigershark wouldn't even get in a standard bathroom sink.) In the case of this, it most likely has a more solid and powerful stream, but spurts every now and then.

The "Drencher" nozzle is quite fun. I can see it having long range and very good power. It is not, however, a straight stream! It separates fairly quickly, but nonetheless lives up to its name. I would NOT want to be hit by this close range-nigh-completely unloaded on- by this nozzle, it adequetly soaks.

Fan spray isn't too bad. The thing pushes water out of the narrow slit, with considerable force I might add. I can actually foresee this as a very good shotgun-style nozzle, sweeping the enemy group up and down at a fair range. This nozzle has the second-quickest shot time (next to the drencher). It is more useful than it seems, I withdraw my use it on little kids statement! Big nono!

The trigger is nice and big. I think that the only problem with holding it would be if you were the hulk. The non-locking stream amount is very nice, even though all my other soakers had the same feature. The only problem would be if you are not so strong, it would not be ideal to dual wield with anything less than a small sidearm. Weight distribution is only good when both PCs are filled.

The whale (dolphin) noises...sigh. Why oh why? Someday I am going to make soakers and call one the blender- with all the action of rotating blade noises. After that will be the constipated man soaker. Every time you pull the pump it will let out a low groan. This big ol' gun squeaking like a little dolphin. Psh. I am trying to be fair here, so I will say an advantage. While everyone is laughing at you, switch to drencher and shut them up. That is, if you aren't laughing in embarassment yourself.

All in all, good gun for the buck! Supersoaker is losing this game.

Dux, hth am I supposed to stick a PIN in the top of the plastic??? Earlier today I made quick fill bottles (doom's instructions for a backpack mod were too vague- would like to make that, don't know how), and used the dremel on the bottoms. I would prefer NOT to pull the dremel on this thing... Lord knows it will break three days later and the warranty is void.

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Post by DX » Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:38 pm

By "sticking a pinhole" I mean "drilling a pin-sized hole". I actually haven't done it yet, but the way I plan to do it is via 1/16" drill bit and standard electric drill. Should take a couple of seconds at most. Wouldn't worry much about breaking this gun, you'd have to be doing some pretty hardcore modding for that to happen. I've only had two types of things happen that rendered a gun permanently broken: a blown out trigger valve and a trigger valve worn out after a year of handling massive power mods.

I couldn't agree more with Silent Guy on the stream lamination. My small streams simply vanish in the air. I hadn't noticed that the intake tube doesn't use all the water [used to tipping guns back and forward from 2500s and the such]. It is not that much of a problem.
marauder wrote:You have to explain things in terms that kids will understand, like videogames^ That's how I got Sam to stop using piston pumpers

bb1
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Post by bb1 » Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:18 am

I'd think it'd be harder getting the actual intake tube and fastening it than what the problem is worth! Those last few drop that important?

*ponders the stares of angry diehards*

*sock in mouth*

My mom would love me sticking a drill on this. Lovely. 1/16 isn't that bad. I would dremel it though, much less bulk.

SilentGuy
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Post by SilentGuy » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:40 am

Nice review! I agree though, Hasbro and Super Soaker are out.

I don't think it's worth it either to bother fastening the intake tube. But it shouldn't be too hard - get a coat hanger or something to pull the tube up, and then try to duct tape it. Applying the duct tape might be a problem though.

I like the BBT caps, they can't fall off and they don't have a stopper spraying the water everywhere as you fill. :oo:

A 1/32 drill bit is probably even better if you can find one. It probably won't leak at all unless you hold the blaster upside down, and even then, it's better than my duct-taped XP 270.

bb1
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Post by bb1 » Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:01 pm

Unless you hold it upside down: Going to be a little hard to fill, eh?

I might drill it later, it seems fairly important to have a hole there (no explosions wanted)

Why did they need a stupid dolphin noise anyway? It sounds like there is water being pulled in through a very bottlenecked opening more than a WHALE. Moreso, it sounds like the dolphin section of SpongeBob's jellyfish jam...

SilentGuy
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Post by SilentGuy » Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:22 pm

Oh wait a minute...you're right, it will leak a little when filling. Not too much, especially if you use a small drill bit (well, if you can use a pin, that would work), but still...

You could drill the hole in the upper back part, and fill with the gun pointing down. But that would be difficult, and it would spill if you're running around with the gun pointed up and the reservoir nearly full.

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