Modifying a Blazer

Threads about water gun modifications.
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Crashdummy
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Modifying a Blazer

Post by Crashdummy » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:20 pm

I was thinking about ways to modify a Blazer and had a thought. What if I could make the rubber sheet thicker? I went to work and found a site, and soon found what I think I am looking for here. http://www.rubbercal.com/Pure_Gum.html I requested a sample, and should get some sort of reply on Monday or a Tuesday. If this piece of rubber is like the rubber in a CPS soaker or the Blazer I'm getting off of Amazon.com, I will buy a three foot long, 1/16" by 36" sheet of this stuff (the bare minimum for that type).

More information on this material can be found here - http://www.rubbercal.com/files/Pure_Gum ... ations.pdf

In case any of you are wondering what sizes it comes in, look here - http://www.rubbercal.com/files/Pure_Gum_Price_List.pdf

I hope this stuff is what is seems like from the specifications sheet. Even then though, I will have to modify the Blazer to get it to hold more rubber. If the casing to the PC is screwed on though, I won't have to modify the Blazer at all, as I'm guessing it just clamps the rubber bladder in place. :cool:

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:52 am

As m15399 mentioned at iSoaker.com, latex rubber would be more fitting here. I don't think that pure gum tubing returns to the original size.

The easier option for a power modification still is the spring modification, that is, when a spring is added inside of the pressure chamber to add more force. However, reportedly the spring modification does not work very well, though admittedly only one has ever tested it (blaze).

Try the modification and let us know how it turns out! Hopefully this will be more useful than the spring modification. ;)

Also, I believe replacing the rubber in the Blazer would be the cleanest modification. You can get sheets up to a whole inch thick, but replacing the rubber in the Blazer with one 1/2" thick would prevent the second layer of rubber from being removed because there is no second layer. The only problem I could see with this system is getting the new rubber to stay in place because I believe the rubber slits in the Blazer are designed in a special manner.

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Crashdummy
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Post by Crashdummy » Sun Mar 26, 2006 4:10 am

I was thinking about completely replacing it too. I'm not made of money though, so I might just put on multiple layers of the 1/8 sheet rubber (maybe three?) to replace the stock sheet. I might leave the stock sheet on.

It is all a matter of how hard the mod is to perform. If I need to modify the sheet rubber a lot to make it work, I will probably leave the stock sheet on. If it is easy to mod, and the rubber just gets clamped down on, I will take the stock rubber out, and replace it with the new rubber.

Either way, I'm guessing I will hit atleast 50 - 55ft worth of range, as it supposedly already gets 42ft stock. I'm probably going to have to perform a cvf though, but hey, that is expected when you go modify your soaker heavily. All of this, and I have yet to even use a Blazer. Well, I know what I should expect, because I used a Piranha before, so I'm thinking I am getting that, with bigger nozzles and a longer shot time. :cool:

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:32 pm

Often mods like this won't actually fit - at least in my experience. I presume it might be possible (I don't know), but have no experience, so I don't know.

But before I post any more about the diaphragm PC type, I'm going to go and read the patent - or find some pictures. Either is good.

And perhaps actually some experience with water warriors guns would help.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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Crashdummy
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Post by Crashdummy » Sun Mar 26, 2006 5:07 pm

Some Guy posted that the casing is clamped down onto the bladder itself on his Piranha, which also uses diaphram tech. That is good news IMO, because that is the simplest way they could have made it, and will make opening and modding my Blazer easy. Somebody made a simple visual on how the PC looked and worked, but I can't remember where I saw it. >__<

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m15399
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Post by m15399 » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:24 pm

Some Guy also drew that. If you understand CPS, a diagram isn't necessary.

There's a sheet of rubber that lays flat on a peice of plastic. The peice of plastic has a hole in the middle where the water goes in and out. When water is pumped in, the rubber disk gets pushed up. When you pull the trigger, the rubber sheet pushes the water out the nozzle. I'll get around to writing an article on my website sometime.

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:48 pm

That's more or less as I believed it was - thanks for verifying it.

How does it compare to CPS weaponry? I understand it's not quite as effective, but has similar qualities - more info would be helpful.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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m15399
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Post by m15399 » Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:32 pm

I don't know much about that, sorry. But I do know:
The shot is like CPS, except with more dropoff. On the smallest nozzle, I get about 40 seconds full blast, then 18 seconds dropoff. This is probably due to the fact that when the rubber is flat, it is not stretched. Stretching it wouldn't be a good idea because it would undoubtably decrease the life of the soaker.

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Fri Mar 31, 2006 5:10 pm

Thank you - I wasn't really sure about this PC type.

So now I have a reasonable idea about how it works - thanks.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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Crashdummy
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Post by Crashdummy » Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:31 am

I just got my sample of the pure rubber gum. It is some tough stuff, and I bet it would work well in my soaker, but I'm probably going to get the rubber at McMaster anyways. I am afraid I will have to wait until some time next week to get the Blazer and order the rubber, as my mom thinks I've gotten a lot lately (it's true) and should "play" with my soakers I already have before modding another one. A minor delay, but I will get around to modding it eventually.

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:35 am

I have mild problems of that calibre - my parents are reaching the belief that I've got too many soakers (Come on, 9 soakers isn't that many - fine, 5 that work [serious repair needed on a couple]), and I need to be a bit more picky about which soakers I have.

However on the other side of things, I think that they're happier about homemades because it means I'm doing something other than internet access, or computer gaming. So homemades it is then.

Good luck with your mod. I hope it goes as well as could be expected (or maybe better).
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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