Standardizing Nozzle Size Terminology

[marauder]

This has been long overdue. What do you consider a "1x" nozzle?

SS 50/classic output
XP 70 output
1 oz/sec

FWIW here are my measurements for the corresponding options:

SS 50: 25 ml / .85 oz
XP 70: 35 ML / 1.2 OZ

[HBWW]

To be honest, I'd rather focus on orifice diameter instead of x amount of output, since that convention is too imprecise and dependent on the blaster itself. A "20x" nozzle looks much different on a CPS 2500 than it does on a SuperCannon II. The FF orifice is about the size of the 2000's, but is only considered to be some 11x as opposed to 30x.

For discussing output, I prefer ml/s. Although for fast approximations, I suppose the x unit works. But with that said, I'm not sure what I'd consider to be "1x".

[marauder]

I too have begun thinking of things in terms of mls instead of ozs. It's easier to understand than fractions of an oz. With that being said, it's still so easy to think of output in terms of the old x system simply because that's what we are used to.

I'm currently working on 2 articles about nozzle sizes, which I will be publishing soon. Nozzle size is something that is rarely discussed, but very important. Understanding stock nozzle sizes and their respective outputs (which can vary depending on the gun) also helps when you plan to mod or build a homemade from scratch.

[SSCBen]

I've always used 1x = 1 oz/s. I vaguely recall that was the reported output of the XP 70 on the box or through some other official channel, though my memory could be wrong.

This reminds me a fair bit of non-standard flow rates in air valves. The situation there is pretty bad. Rather than using mass flow rate (which is what really matters and is usually what you want) they instead give you a volume flow rate, which requires that you know the mass density of the gas. People will say it's at "standard" conditions, but there truly is no standard on this, and I've seen "standard" conditions that are all over the place. The end effect is that you have no idea how to compare different valves in terms of flow rate, or that you need to ask a company about how they test their valves.

marauder, I'm looking forward to your articles.

[HBWW]

^ Yeah, that's pretty bad. Air itself can vary widely in composition, nevermind different temperatures. This is a problem in many areas, such as when buying computer monitors.

[the oncoming storm]

officially (just watch the old 1994 XP's ad) 1x was set as the output of a Super Soaker 50, so I would go with that.

[DX]

The output of an SS 50 is like 1/3 to 3/4 of an ounce, if there is anything x really shouldn't be linked to, it's the 50. PR soakers are very inconsistent and are tested to several different standards, nozzle rating fragmentation would be worse than it is now.

As far as I know, Larami intended for 1x = 1 oz a sec and based it off the XP 70 because the 70 was intended to have that output. In practice, 70's shoot anywhere from .9 to 1.3 oz a sec. I too, prefer to think in terms of mL for output.

[isoaker]

1x was never set as the SS50. The old Super Soaker Xtra Power ad noted that the XP (Xtra Power series) pushed out twice the water over the original Super soakers, but the XP blasters never had nozzle ratings listed as #x.

As for this whole thread, I thought this was settled already many, MANY years ago.

supersoaker_nozzle_rating.jpg (22.5 KiB) Viewed 2725 times

Picture of the back of a Super Soaker CPS 1700's box.

As can be seen, Super Soaker used the XP-70 as their standard 1x, thus labeling the CPS 1700's nozzles as having 5x and 10x the power of the XP-70. However, as different people find their XP-70 behaving slightly different and since the XP-70's output was so close to 1.0oz/sec, using 1oz/sec made more sense to use as the community standard for what to call a 1x nozzle. If some want to use their XP70 output measurement, be it larger or smaller than 1.0oz/sec, it may nudge some nozzle numbers around slightly, but not a huge amount.

If you guys opt to use something other than 1.0oz/sec, that's fine. I report actual, measured numbers on iSoaker.com, anyhow and tend to only use the "X" rating system in casual conversation.