MWC:S - Homemade

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
Neongreen
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:32 am

Post by Neongreen » Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:58 am

This is my first post of any significance in the community, so if I do anything wrong, please tell! The following post will have followups with progress and pictures, please be patient!

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The MWC series is designed to be able to built on the cheap, with little to no toolwork, modular, and be very extendible. It is not really designed for power.

The MWC series uses garden hose, as well as garden hose connectors and fittings.

Modular Water Cannon: Scout
This is a very basic model, and was chosen to be the first configuration because of that very fact. It doesn't have a pump, and therefore needs access to mains water, or a MWC :P (Hand pumping system to pump water across distances into other MWC equipment. Not designed yet)

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First, you need:
- 2x+ Bicycle Innertubes
- 2x 13mm Hose pipe valves
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- 1x Three Way Tap Connector
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- 4x Garden Hose Connectors
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- Some rubber bands/metal washers
- 5x lengths of 12.5mm Hose pipe/Vinyl Tube(I used vinyl tubing, but hosepipe should work fine)
- 1x 2cm piece of 10mm Hose pipe/vinyl tubing
- 1x 2cm piece of 8mm Hose pipe/vinyl tubing
- 2x bottle caps
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- 2x 45-60mm hose clamps
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- 1x 8-12mm hose clamp
- 1x Nozzle(Anything that can be attached to a piece of 12.5mm tube to reduce the hole diameter to HALF of the size of your inner tube valve's diameter)
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Construction:
Really easy.
First, prep your ball valves by sliding a piece of hose or tubing onto each end. Now, connect everything as described below:

1. Garden Hose Connector(GHC) should connect to one of the piece of tube connected to one of the valves
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2. GHC connected to the other end of the valve
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3. The GHC connected to the 3 way tap connector
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4. Attach another GHC to another outlet on the 3 way tap adapter
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5. Connect the second valve to that GHC.
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6. Add a nozzle to the end of the hose pipe that is attached to the second valve
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7. Connect a GHC to the 3rd outlet on the 3 way tap connector/adapter
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8. Attach the pressure chamber connection hose into that GHC
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This forms the main gun section. Here comes the hard part - attaching the inner tube to the gun, without glue.

I have ready access to heaps of vinyl tubing, so I decided to use that to build my connection. First, I measured the outside diameter of my valve, and found it was 8mm. I then bought some 8mm vinyl tubing and 10mm vinyl tubing, and layered them onto the valve. This required a good amount of pushing and pulling, they really didn't want to go on! I then used some of my 12.5m vinyl(Which connects to the rest of the gun), and slipped it over. Again, this was really hard work! Then I stuck a 8-12mm hose clamp over, and clamped the thing for dear life. The 12.5mm vinyl tubing fits into the GHC, so this is a quick, dirty, easy, and cheap way to build a connection between the two points.


Done! Pictures and edits for clarity will come soon! Feedback is welcomed!

Current Range: Approx 21 feet @ 3.5 layers!
Current Shot time: Approx 30 seconds
Current Cost: $30 NZD(About $20 USD)
Under Construction: Adding More Innertubes

Problems:

- Innertubes need to be layered on uniformly, I only have one innertube and that wasn't layed on uniformly. Watch out for the sections around the bottle caps and near the valve.
Last edited by Neongreen on Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:14 pm

It's a little difficult to follow, so the pictures would be appreciated.

I can't really comment on how to get it working because I don't know how well it could work, or how well it works right now. Shot pictures would be a helpful addition.

I'm sure we can help.

I've merged your double posts for you. In future when you decide to add more only a few minutes or hours later, then edit your first post, rather than creating a new one (exceptions are made if someone else has posted since)
"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

Neongreen
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Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:32 am

Post by Neongreen » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:40 pm

I know, I'm not exactly great at explaining things. I'll add in some pictures, however I cannot add in a picture of the whole thing. My camera also mysteriously wouldn't turn on, but I'm charging it - that might've been the problem.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:52 pm

Welcome to SSCentral, NeonGreen!

Sounds cool...seems a lot like the 2 Liter homemade (instructions at this site). However, I've never heard of problems with the one-way garden hose connector...maybe yours was faulty. Still, using an actual check valve in addition to the connector would probably be better than the ball valve. ;)

Where is the water stored? It sounds like it's stored inside the inner tubes, in which case you'll want a ton of them layered over each other.

Neongreen
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Post by Neongreen » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:06 am

It's stored inside the inner tube, yup. I was planning on maybe balloon modding it(Don't have access to many inner tubes :) ) or somesuch, but I am worried that the mains pressure won't be enough to fill it up. It does fill the inner tube very well though.

Does anyone have any idea of how one would balloon mod an innertube? Maybe I would need to use inner tubes due to practicality, but how would one layer them?

Thanks,
Duncan

EDIT:
Note that with one inner tube, I just achieved a range of 6 feet. Maybe if I can layer on several it'll get up to my aim of 20. The goal is to do this *WITHOUT* any special glues, tools, or making the items not useable ever again.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:51 pm

6 feet is actually pretty good for one tube. I'd look for at least 20 eventually, but it's hard to tell--especially if the water pressure varies. My house is elevated far above the city pumps, so the pressure is somewhat low.

To colossus (the term for layering cylindrical rubber tubing) the rubber, just slide layers over each other. You could try putting a stick through the entire thing for stability or using talcum powder on the surface to make layering easier. Finally, use hose barbs and clips to hold the tubing in place, but only clamp down the bottom layer or two--cut off the other layers at the edge of the clip.

Bicycle dealers and repair shops would probably be only too happy to give you tons of free used inner tubes. Just make sure the parts you use don't have holes in them or are otherwise damaged. ;)

Neongreen
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Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:32 am

Post by Neongreen » Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:09 pm

Sorry if I'm missing something really obvious here - I'm actually at a LAN party, and thus I am experiencing a severe loss of sleep.

The bicycle tube is a intact circle. How would you layer over another tube? Only way I can see would be to slit the second tube, wrap it around the first tube, then use clips or somesuch - but that would create uneven pressures and bulges, right?

Duncan

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:21 pm

I'm assuming you are cutting the tubing into strips that are 10" long or so. That will leave holes at each end that allow you to put another tube inside. Yes, the diameters of the layered tubes are all the same, so you will need to do a bit of stretching or bending or something to get everything layered. The talcum powder helps overcome friction as you slide the layers on top of each other.

Neongreen
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Post by Neongreen » Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:55 pm

I'm not cutting or comprimising the inner tube in any way. I'll take a picture when I get home. The water is pumped in/out through the valve.

'Tis a pickle!

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:48 pm

Don't you want a cylinder of inner tubing as opposed to a ring of it? I don't understand how you'd get the water in otherwise... ???

Perhaps there's some misinterpretation with regards to the system. A picture would definitely be appreciated.

Neongreen
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Post by Neongreen » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:52 pm

The valve(not really a valve, it's just a hole) on the innertube allows me to transport water in/out. That's attached to the pipe system.

Once I get home, I'll take a bunch of pictures. Unfortunately I'm kinda far away right now. In a couple of hours, it should be up.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:56 pm

Hmm...I'm still a bit confused, but I'll wait for the pictures.

And just for the record, the Drenchenator's homemade shows how rubber tubing is usually used.

Neongreen
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Post by Neongreen » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:51 am

Sorry for the lack of pictures still - I'm going to be editing the first post with them!
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Alright, so I've decided that I need to cut the innertube up in order to layer it - there's no possible way to presently do it if it's an intact innertube.

Is there any way to clamp the hosepipe closed? What would I need?

Duncan

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:09 am

Just to make sure we're both on the same page:
Image
You have to cut the inner tube into a cylinder--not in a long line along its "length". To clamp off the end, take either a hose barb that is designed to be an endpiece, or a threaded bolt that fits, and stick it in one end. Then, put a Jubilee clip/hose clamp over it and tighten it to create the seal.

For the other side that feeds into the main gun, just use a hose barb adapter and a clip. That will allow for a connection with the appropriate threaded PVC fitting.

Neongreen
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Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:32 am

Post by Neongreen » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:45 am

Sorry about the long delay between posts, as soon as I posted beforehand I ran off to Bunnings Warehouse(NZ equiv of Home Depot) and got a whole heap of cool things to add to my water gun, like the transparent vinyl tubing.

The hoseclamp solution seemed fairly obvious(being that they were right next to the garden connectors). I do have a problem with layering on the innertubes, but once I find my rubber bands, that should be sorted. I also am going to take a trip to the local bicycle shop like you suggested and see if I can get any used innertubes for free.

With two layers of innertubing, numerous leaks, and no nozzle(using my thumb, bad for water flow!) I got about 10 feet of range. We'll see what happens when I figure out what to do for a nozzle and plug those leaks. I'll also measure properly, not by eye.

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