New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

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Fox
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New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Fox » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:48 am

Just picked this up at Target for $25AUD today. It looks like this is part of the new line that's replacing the WW Precharger guns.

Image

It looks to me that this is the mid-size model that replaces the Xenon. It still requires '4 pumps for maximum power' however that's where the similarity ends. They've done away with the precharging system, so you fill and pump just like any normal soaker. As for what they're using for the pressure chamber, I'd hazard a guess that it's similar to the spring system on the Steady Stream, as it's not constant enough to be CPS/Hydropower, yet doesn't drop off as fast as air pressure.

The gun itself feels solid with good quality plastics, and is well designed. The trigger handle is open ended so no squashed fingers, and sits quite far forward making it very easy to hold one handed. They've also fixed the problem where the pump handle would catch on the pump cylinder housing on previous models. In terms of size and style it is quite similar to the SC600.

Shot time is very short, around 1.5 - 2 seconds. Unfortunately, my particular model has a problem where the trigger gets stuck until most of the pressure is gone. I'd say it's a manufacturing defect, I seem to have terrible luck when buying soakers these days! Based on the feel of the trigger, I'd say that they're (finally!) using a pull valve. Of course I can't say for sure unless I open it up, but the trigger travel is too short to be a ball/Max-D valve, and the trigger gently 'thonks' open like older CPS and XP guns.

Range from it's ~2x nozzle is decent with good stream speed. I haven't measured yet, but it looks to be at least 35 feet.

The pump could be better. Easier to pump than the old pre-charger guns, however like most WW soakers the pump lags on the outstroke which limits it's speed.

Overall, this is a big step in the right direction for WW. A lot of improvements have been made in the design both internally and externally, and they look awesome! The short shot time wouldn't be so bad, but becuase the trigger sticks and the pump lags it really amplifies that shortcoming.

If they had the other 2 models in store I probably would have bought them as well, I'm especially interested to see how the largest model turned out.

More pics, if you want anything else let me know:

Box
Image

Closeup of larger gun
Image

Closeup of smaller gun
Image

EDIT: More pictures!

Shot pic
Image

Size compared to CPS 1000
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Random angle shot
Image
Last edited by Fox on Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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isoaker
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Re: New '09 Soaker: WW PulseStrike

Post by isoaker » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:05 am

[Insert lots of ENVY here] :goofy:

Great find! Please post more pics! More info! More of EVERYTHING! I really love the looks of these new blasters.

:cool:
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SSCBen
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by SSCBen » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:59 am

Great find. I like the looks too and am wondering how the larger ones perform.

Take a picture of the bar code. Someone who works at a chain like WalMart can scan it and get a little more information about it. Google hasn't turned anything up about these particular water guns so that'd be our next best bet.

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isoaker
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by isoaker » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:12 am

Lessee... yup, still reads October on my calendar. I suppose this is the earliest that we've found out about what's coming out for the next year in terms of stock water blasters in North America.

Thanks again, Fox, for posting the pics and stats on your finding thusfar! Looking forward to reading/seeing more!

:cool:
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Fox
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Fox » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:21 pm

Edited my first post with some more pics. Also took some stats:

Output: 40-45ml/sec
Reservoir capacity: 1750ml
Pump Capacity: 22ml
PC Capacity: 75ml

The gun seems to have a slight problem though, in that it hisses after the 3rd pump which is a good pump and a half before the PRV kick in. I'm not sure whether this would negatively affect PC capacity and shot time, but I'm considering either exchanging my model or opening it up to try and fix it. What do you guys think?

Also took a trip around town today to try and find any other models but didn't have any luck. I'm thinking that we'll only get the 'Pulse' series in Australia/NZ before everyone else, and will have to wait until the end of next year to get the rest of the 2009 line from SS and WW. Same thing happened with the Aquamaster line in 2005.

Gold Hawk
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Gold Hawk » Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:29 am

OMG! These look awesome!

And they work great too? *faints*
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Sun
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Sun » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:51 pm

Something that actually works! :P

Fox
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Fox » Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:53 pm

If you liked the precharger guns then you're gonna love these, they are better in just about every way.

Anyway, in the name of science and being impatient I decided to open up the gun.

Image

Image

Pretty clean and simple layout. They are using a pull valve, which seems to be integral with the end of the pressure chamber. They are also using a spring system for pressure, although because of the thick plastic you can't really see it. With a little help from my torch (flashlight) I managed to get this:

Image

You can see the spring, and the piston on the right. Also took a picture of the pump.

Image

The interesting part is, is that the black part beside the o-ring actually stops the pump from using the full length of the pump cylinder. I imagine that shortening the black part with a dremel would increase pump capacity, I'll give it a try.

Also confirmed what the hissing noise was, it is water being forced back into the tank by (I think) the PRV. After 3 pumps, the pressure chamber slowly begins to empty itself down to about half full, whereas the PRV actually honks at about 2/3 full if I pump fast enough. So PC capacity should be a bit more than I reported in my previous post. I'm thinking that doing a check valve freeze will fix this, and shouldn't impact usage too much (similar to doing a CVF on an unmodified CPS soaker).

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isoaker
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by isoaker » Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:05 pm

Thanks for sharing the great pics, now internal pics, and additional info! Looks like a pretty sweet blaster overall!

As an aside, may I repost these pics on iSoaker.com?

Looking forward to hearing about how they perform during actual battles!

Soak on!

:cool:
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Fox
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Fox » Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:24 pm

As an aside, may I repost these pics on iSoaker.com?
Yep, no problem! Any other pics you might want to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

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isoaker
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by isoaker » Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:52 pm

Fox wrote:Any other pics you might want to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Actually, if you could, take some close up pics of the nozzle, trigger area, and reservoir cap area, that'd be sweet! I'm curious how they look up close.

Thanks again!

:cool:
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Silence
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Silence » Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:49 pm

Nice review.

The most striking thing right now is the short pump. Combined with their "claims" of few pumps required for pressurization, I can't see there being much PC volume. But with smaller streams that might not matter.

And yeah, I thought I noticed a CPS 1000 similarity too.

Fox
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Fox » Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:32 am

The most striking thing right now is the short pump. Combined with their "claims" of few pumps required for pressurization, I can't see there being much PC volume. But with smaller streams that might not matter.
The pump is about average in terms of volume. While it may look short in the picture, the pump shaft does extend further inside the handle (like most WW soakers).

Silence
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Re: New 2009 Soaker: Water Warriors PulseStrike

Post by Silence » Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:24 pm

Oh, I think I see what you mean. I actually like that design since it's more compact...just forgot about it. Completely. :p

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