making some homemades - ... finally

Guides and discussions about building water blasters and other water warfare devices such as water balloon launchers.
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USSA
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Post by USSA » Mon Aug 02, 2004 1:43 pm

questions:
1. i'm building a cap 102 and was wondering how tall Doom made his pc's. As i said i can't go to your site ;(
2. What did [Doom or Wetmonkey] use for our pump? i haven't been able to get 'o' rings

i am adding valves on the pcs on the CAPto minimize pumping in the field if necessary. (I'm calling mine the 'CAP 2004a1 [in the spirit of the colt 1911a1])

I am also building a wbl based on the one at balloonbazooka.com however mine has removable pc's to allow for multiple shots without pumping. The barel also can be unassembled and my goal is to make it fit into a duffel bag (kinda like those rifles that you can take apart and put into a briefcase.) (CP2004A1 [colapsable pac])

on the drawing board i have a sniper rifle and a water howitzer. (both use cps tech and the howitzer will be huge. [note: these are very iffy i may not make them])


Thanks




Edited By USSA on 1091472263

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Post by SSCBen » Mon Aug 02, 2004 4:51 pm

Why can't you go to my site? It should work for everyone, only sniper was banned from it.

The PCs were made out of two (2) 4" pieces 3" ID PVC. I plan very much on rewriting that entier article in the near future actually, mostly adding more helpful pics (and possible a new trigger valve idea).

[edit] I don't think anyone calls it a CAP 10X anymore (where X is the number of PCs). I know I used to call it that. I think it was Veteran who started calling it the APH (Air Pressure Homemade), and it really has stuck since. [/edit]




Edited By Doom on 1091483923

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USSA
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Post by USSA » Tue Aug 03, 2004 8:06 am

i can't go on because i only have internet at camp (the internet at my house is down... and my camp has installed Sonic wall. When i try to go to your site then this happens:
This site is blocked by the SonicWALL Content Filter Service.


@doom: how did you make your pump shaft. I have a plastic tube which fits reather nicley but i will still have to have some kind of rubber gasket. Should i use duck tape? I can't get the O rings or anything like that. (Lowes didn't have ay that fit correctly.

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Post by SSCBen » Tue Aug 03, 2004 8:27 am

Duct tape won't seal right. Electrical tape is closer, but not perfect. O rings are the best, just a little harder to get working. Below is the text from the article, I'll try to edit in the pics later today.
Alright, here is it, the most powerful pump-action air pressure water gun you can find. I've got a lot of questions about this, and I really wish I had made this sooner but I kept slacking. Contrary to what most people believe this is not very hard to make at all. I designed the gun while I was in the store, in my head based upon what was in stock there. I make the gun at home in less than a few hours. I then waited a few days to glue it together because I had school. It wasn't very hard to make at all.

As for the performance, on my dual pressure chamber gun of thise variety, 45 degree angled range on the 3/8" nozzle is 55 feet to the largest puddle of water, and if you measure to the last drop it's 60 and a few inches. On the 1/4" nozzle the range is 52 feet, and about 56 to the last drop. Those ranges are without the straws in the nozzle to improve stream lamination as well, it could get a few feet more at least with the straws in. Riot blast is a very good show, highly impressive and very scary. It dumps its 1.5 liter PCs out in less than a second, that's over 50x output.

First, get all of your materials. I used the following for the gun part (could be missing a few parts, always refer to the pictures to be sure, does not include a reservoir because I used a backpack) :

All PVC and fittings are schedule 40 and female unless otherwise stated.

3" ID PVC
3/4" ID PVC
1/2" ID PVC
3/4" PVC ball valve
2 1/2" PVC check valves
1 washer that fits in 1/2" ID PVC joints
Plumbers tape
1 3/8" alluminum rod (turns normal 3/4" PVC into screw on PVC, 3/4" endcaps will screw on it)
A few 3/4" screw on endcaps (for the nozzles)
1 3/4" male adaptor
2 pressure chambers (add or remove parts to make more or less chambers):

2 3" to 2" reducers
2 2" to 3/4" reducers
2 3/4" PVC Tees
2 3" PVC Encaps

1 1/2" PVC Tee
1 90 degree elbow
2 1/2" female/male coupler (turns female 1/2" PVC into male screw on threads)
1 1/2" to 3/4" thing (don't know what it's called, it has a 1/2" male screw on side and a 3/4" female pipe side)
1 1/2" PVC endcap (or a 1/2" male adaptor and a 1/2" screw on end cap if you want a better option for a pump cap)
Styrofoam or something to keep help separate the pump and the PCs
Electrical tape
Vaseline
PVC primer (you know, the purple stuff) and cement
A barbed fitting with a male screw on end (if you are using a backpack)
A reservoir of some kind (Backpack mods work good, like the one on this site, or you could make your own reservoir)

Optional materials:
Strap
Rope to attach strap

You'll also need some tools like a hacksaw, scissors, plyers and some other stuff. Basically have a good selection of basic tools. Sorry if I missed anything in the materials... now onto construction...


Rather than make a big instruction list, I'll just tell you to assemble it as shown in the images. No one would follow the instructions and I'd rather not write any. However, here's some stuff you'll probably have questions about.


Assemble the PCs with those parts in that order. The 3" PVC used to make the PC is 4" long in the picture. I made 2 PCs like this in my first gun that uses this design. One PC made out of 4" of 3" ID PVC contains about 750 ml of water. So with 2 I had a 1.5 liter PC!

Get your alluminum rod (it could be something else, I chose alluminum because it doesn't rust and is light). Cut your pump out of some 1/2" PVC, I made mine about 10" long. Then cut your alluminum rod about 4 inches longer than the PVC pump shaft, you'll want some room for the pump handle. File or sand of all the burrs and both ends of the rod to make it smooth, you don't want that scratching up the inside of your gun or your hand.


Get out your electrical tape, and start wrapping it around the alluminum rod near the end of the rod. You'll be putting the electrical tape onto the rod to create a "giant O ring" in a way. You'll want to stop when you think it's a little larger than the size of inside of the 1/2" ID PVC. Then try to stick it through, take some off if it's too large, put some on if it's too small. You'll want it to be air tight and still slide freely through the pump. Keep testing until you get it right.

Then you'll want to drill a 3/8" hole in the center of a 1/2" endcap. You'll have to enlarge it so that it's just a bit larger than 3/8" for the rod to slide through good. You'll also want to grease the tape so it'll seal better and slide easier.


Finally, get the 1/2" tee and the washer that fits good in it. The washer is there to prevent the pump from going into the internals. You also could try other things, but this was the easiest option I know of, and it works great too.


First, choose the nozzle setting you'll want, in inches or mm. You'll need to drill the nozzle holes into the screw on endcaps, essentially giving you infinite nozzle settings. Then drill the holes into the endcaps, make sure they go in straight or else you're stream will shoot to the side slightly (nothing too much to worry about). The only problem with this kind of nozzle selection is that the nozzles are not as quick to access as normal nozzle selectors, however they work just as good if not better in this situation. The picture shows some straws I put in my nozzle to improve stream lamination. I measured how deep it was from the end of the nozzle to the ball in the ball valve and cut straws of that legnth (I tried to make it as close to 3.5" as possible, that is what is used in CPS guns). The gun was so powerful it later blew them out, I am afraid that you can not just put straws in. You'll have to put something else in on both sides to keep them from moving, like the mesh screens used in normal soakers.


The direction of the check valves are as shown, just incase you didn't know. They both are point towards the PC if you follow the pipe. When you draw out the pump, the first check valve opens, drawing water from the reservoir. When you draw the pump in, the first check valve doesn't allow the water to go back into the reservoir, so it goes through the second check valve. When the PCs are pressurized, also, the second check valve also keeps the water from returning into the pump mechanisms.


The handle is a very important part, it makes the gun much easier to hold than without it. Make a piece of 1/2" ID PVC about as big as your hand. Use that in the handle, remember to test it out by pushing together the pieces before you glue the gun together. Make sure it's comfortable. There might be something sticking out from the tee and the elbow attached to the handle PVC piece. There was on my first gun, on the elbow, so I used a file to make it smoother. That shouldn't make the PVC joint weaker if you don't go overboard and just get off the annoying spot.

After you've got everything put together without glueing it, you should first check all the PVC for burrs and take off any you see. That is recommended on the PVC Purple Primer. Remember to follow all instructions on the 2 bottles when using them, that is the best advice I can give you because instructions might change from bottle to bottle. Also, try to glue the PCs on as as straight as possible. After you put the glue on the PC and all things around it, prop the PCs up against a flat object, trying to make them level with each other. Then glue on the rest of the parts.

Don't forget to also use the plumbers tape on threaded parts! You are supposed to wrap it around male threaded parts, I wrapped it twice. Then twist it on until it becomes hard to, I did it with a pair of pliers to get it on better.

Congratulations! You have completed your air pressure homemade!

Go test out your gun, if it doesn't work like you expected get some help at the SSC Forums.

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USSA
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Post by USSA » Tue Aug 03, 2004 8:39 am

thx... i made mine out of 3/4 inch pipe... is that a problem. Would it make he water travel faster because it is never bottlenecked to beneath 3/4 of an inch.

thx again

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Post by SSCBen » Tue Aug 03, 2004 9:15 am

Uhh, mine was made out of 3/4" too, only the pressurized side though because the 1/2" stuff is the same size as the pump and the 1/2" check valves are cheaper.

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USSA
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Post by USSA » Tue Aug 03, 2004 11:19 am

srry i was just skimming the article when i had posted that. thx for getting me into homemades. Oh and one other question how come yours has more room between the pump and the barrel than mine. Thx again

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Post by SSCBen » Tue Aug 03, 2004 11:52 am

My handle must be longer. That was one of the things I wanted to add to the article. There's so many, I am just rewriting it. I want to put legnths and label the parts on the picture.

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Post by USSA » Tue Aug 03, 2004 1:19 pm

yeah my handle as originally 4 inches but i realized that it should be longer. Mine is now 5 or 6 inches. I am also taking one of those replacement handles for the handlebars for a bike (the foam ones) and sliding it over the handle so that is is more cofortable.

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Post by USSA » Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:31 am

i finished making it and my 3/4 inch riot blast shoots about 25 feet anywho. I have 2 tanks that are 5 inches tall but you can turn on or off. I will be drilling out the nozzles tonight and may use it at the end of camp water fight (easily 75 people on Friday) Side note: it is the end of camp so i may not have the internet at all (perhaps at the library) so i will not be here for a while.

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Post by SSCBen » Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:47 am

Sounds great, and have fun at the water war. I wish I had wars that big.

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