Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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martianshark
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Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by martianshark » Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:26 am

Does anyone know if you can make a homemade water gun with a spherical rubber bladder, and if you can, how?

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cantab
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by cantab » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:28 am

Yes. Using layered balloons.

http://forums.sscentral.org/t5095/4.html

The bottom of that page is where the final design is pictured and discussed. He was going to use LRT, but got better results with the balloons.
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Silence
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by Silence » Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:32 am

This was mentioned a few times on the old Soaker Media forums, too. Here's one such thread: http://z8.invisionfree.com/soakermedia/ ... wtopic=474

cantab, maybe you're options tell vBulletin to display a different number of posts per page than mine do, since page 4 doesn't even exist for me and the end of the thread didn't say much about balloon PCs. This link may be more direct.

All you need is a 1/2" hose barb, just like with LRT, or maybe even a little large (which is a good thing). You'll still need a Jubilee clip or a similar hose clamp, though.

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C-A_99
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by C-A_99 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:03 am

There was another homemade around with a non-linear (vertical, like in APH's) PC and several balloons. (I can't remember how many) The PC fed into a custom built pull valve. I'll have to dig around for it since I need to know how many balloons were used if I decide to use them instead of LRT for my CPH in the future.

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JLspacemarine
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by JLspacemarine » Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:09 am

C-A_99 wrote:There was another homemade around with a non-linear (vertical, like in APH's) PC and several balloons. (I can't remember how many) The PC fed into a custom built pull valve. I'll have to dig around for it since I need to know how many balloons were used if I decide to use them instead of LRT for my CPH in the future.
Yeah I remember that one as well. I think it was one of the few homemades that inspired me to use spherical bladders, and the homemade pull valve was neat.

I highly recommend using ballons for a CPH if latex rubber tubing isn't available. There are plenty of advantages:

- Party ballons are available everywhere and aren't too expensive;
- Bladders made of baloons are durable because they are composed of many thin strong layers;
- You can adjust the power of your water gun at a very precise rate;
- They have great capacity while beeing compact;
- They can be very powerful;
- You can easily build a spherical bladder on anything larger than the commonly used hose barbs (for example a 1/2" plastic pipe nipple like on my CPH), allowing great water flow.
Last edited by JLspacemarine on Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Silence
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by Silence » Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:29 pm

Good list of benefits. I'd also note the obvious: that spherical bladders work better for some compact water gun layouts.

The durability argument may be stretching it though, at least without some tests. Granted, balloons are large and can stretch a good deal further than we let them, which probably does wonders for durability.

It sounds like you guys are describing the designs halfway through this thread, also on the old Soaker Media forums.

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C-A_99
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by C-A_99 » Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:12 am

He did mention that they're more compact overall. This is also shown in the CPS line; very few cylindrical PC blasters hold more than .5L ~. 6L, in fact, I think the Monster XL is the only one since it has 2 tubes.

I never experimented with balloons like I should've. At the time, they weren't tested and proven, possibly because people were too lazy to stack up 80 balloons together. Considering the aggressive k-mod uses that many balloons, I'd say that it should be a mininum for homemades. Then again, I still havent experimented with balloons myself yet, but I will once the LRT ruptures. (in a year or 2)

Other benefits to balloons:
- Only 1 hose barb to worry about. (use tape to prevent it from tearing)
- Layers on naturally and easily; LRT and bike tubes tend to have problems
- Doesn't flop around as annoyingly if you don't have a PC case.
- Since there is no other end, you don't get awkward clamping angles from LRT that isn't straightened out.

I'd agree on the durability. If a balloon PC was inflated to full size to burst, it would be huge, holding at least a gallon/4L before bursting. It may inflate farther than that since there are many balloons instead of one.

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SSCBen
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by SSCBen » Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:01 pm

I'm not quite sure why I was so adverse to layered balloons in the past as they do avoid many of the problems with LRT. Cylindrical shapes I still think are better suited to homemade water guns because cylinders are so ubiquitous, but spherical bladders made from balloons have some major advantages over latex tubing. I think I'll try it in the near future and try to make a correlation between pressure and number of layers (at maximum expansion).

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cantab
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by cantab » Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:31 pm

Durability should be enhanced because of the many thin layers. A split that develops in one won't spread to the others (at least I don't think it will). Whereas a split in thick rubber will go right through it.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
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Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
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Silence
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by Silence » Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:44 pm

Like the Titanic, eh? It'll be the unbreakable bladder. To be serious, though, good point. A broken balloon would probably increase the likelihood that others would break, but at least the layers may buy you some time.

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martianshark
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by martianshark » Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:48 am

I'm planning to make a spherical rubber bladder water gun. My idea is basically an APH, except that the pressure chambers are replaced with rubber bladders. I would post a picture of my design, but I can't figure out how.
Last edited by martianshark on Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Silence
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by Silence » Sun Jul 12, 2009 8:55 pm

Two options:
  • Upload the image to a site like Flickr, ImageShack, or Photobucket, then when posting, click on the button that looks like a mountain and enter the web address for the picture. Sometimes the image host will give you the BBCode for linking to the picture.
  • Click on "go advanced" when posting and click on "manage attachments". Should be relatively easy from there.

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C-A_99
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by C-A_99 » Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:37 pm

Shark, I'd go for a linear PC to nozzle design. Basically, just build a CPH, except with balloons in place of LRT. (you may also want a short, large PC case) This ensures cleaner, more direct flow rather than keeping the PC vertical.


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cantab
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Re: Homemade Spherical CPS Water Gun?

Post by cantab » Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:16 am

You may not be leaving enough space for the bladders to expand. How are you going to make them?
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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