Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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Captain Galaxy
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Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by Captain Galaxy » Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:06 am

I have been wondering if a horizontal PC could be used instead of a vertical PC. I've noticed that most guns have vertical PCs. A horizontal one ( assuming it could work) could save a lot of time, money, and space. A horizontal PC would need a tube going to the bottom to make sure most of the water would be used. The future of the universe depends on your answers!

aEx155
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Re: Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by aEx155 » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:52 am

Horizontal PCs have been talked about a lot around here. Unless used with a piston ina Supercannon II type configuration, it is simply not worth it. Feed tubes, as they are called, usually aren't enough to get all of the water out, so, as many others will restate, they aren't as useful as vertical PCs.

The main reason, if you don't know, for why V PC are better than H PC is the outlet and the way the water and air interact with each other. Air floats above water, so having a V PC puts the air in the perfect place to push the water out (which is usually the bottom). The same can't be said, though, for H PC, since , if the outlet is on he side, then it'll start feeding air when the water passes below that level. But, it seems you already knew that. ;)

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cantab
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Re: Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by cantab » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:40 am

If you have a PC horizontally, with the outlet in the end, then you'd need a feed tube. But that will never get all the water out.
You would thus need to fit a release valve to the other end of the PC. You can then empty the remaining water after use, though you still can't fire it.

If you have a horizontal PC with the outlet in the SIDE, you can use up all the water, but only if the gun is held LEVEL. If it's tilted, the water gets stuck in the ends. And how would you intend to build search in the first place.

You could have the outlet at the back end, and then you need no feed tube, but you HAVE to angle the gun upwards. Also it's a longer path for the water to follow, which would sap power.

Thus, if your aesthetic/ergonomic design calls for a horizontal PC, you have 3 better options:

MULTIPLE smaller vertical PC's
A piston seperated PC, as used in Supercannon II and the Water Warriors noble gas guns.
ELASTIC PRESSURE, ie CPS, which if you live in the USA is probably the simplest.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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Captain Galaxy
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Re: Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by Captain Galaxy » Tue Aug 05, 2008 2:33 pm

I still think it could work because if the water is so low that I would have trouble getting it out, I'd probably be pumping in more water. If there's almost no water in the PC, that means there's almost no pressure in the PC. I will try an outlet in the bottom.

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cantab
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Re: Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by cantab » Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:32 pm

You need the outlet because otherwise you can never empty the PC completely without dismantling the gun. And you don't want to be leaving water inside when you put the gun away in store, or you'll come back to a PC full of algal slime.

Ben's original Supercannon design was similar to what you seem to be suggesting, and it didn't work very well.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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Captain Galaxy
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Re: Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by Captain Galaxy » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:54 pm

I've been wondering, what exactly went wrong with the original Supercannon? It seems like it worked fine, except for the leaks.

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Silence
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Re: Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by Silence » Tue Aug 05, 2008 6:10 pm

See the original Supercannon I Supercannon II threads. Basically, because the feed tube didn't draw from the bottom every time, there were some reliability problems. Some shots had lots of water and others just shot air.

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SSCBen
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Re: Vertical PC vs Horizontal PC

Post by SSCBen » Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:25 am

Aside from the leaking through the fill port, the fill port could not be removed or tightened so we filled it with water though the nozzle, and the gun didn't work quite right. As Silence said, some shots were water and others air. My guess is that there was air in the feed tube. If I remember correctly we filled it with water and then rotated it through a bunch of angles to make sure the air and water were where they were supposed to be... it didn't help much. The difficulty getting the water level is probably related to the fact that not all the water was shot out.

The way the gun was pressurized was problematic too. I made a special nozzle for it with an air coupler to pressurize the chamber to keep the gun simple. It was a hassle and I would not recommend it.

The PC of Supercannon I is still in my parents basement unless they through it away. Later the feed tube seems to have cracked off due to the stress from the fitting it was pushed through. I should have used one of the repair tools designed to cut away the part that prevents a pipe from passing completely through a bushing instead of a dremel.

Between pistons and feed tubes I'd alway choose pistons except in the simplest water guns where a simple piece of flexible tubing could be used.

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