Backpack Mod

Repairs to water guns. Please put repair topics in this forum so that people do not have to sort through so many topics when looking for a repair. If a fix is included in the topic, please add (Fixed) before the topic title to indicate so.
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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Sat Sep 04, 2004 12:37 pm

OK, So I want to make a backpack for my XP310, which, in case you don't already know, has a shattered reservoir. I thought that, instead of putting the tubing through the cap, which I obviously can't do now, could I take one of my backpacks, put two two-litre bottles into it, (if two will fit) then punch two 3/8", maybe 1/2" holes though the bottom, then drill two holes the same size into the bottom of the bottles, and put some tubing going up through each of the holes into the bottles.
Then I'll have to find some way of making a watertight seal with the bottles and the pipe, but a load of good tape should do it. Then I'll have two seperate pipes, running from the backpack, into the partially-wrecked res, and feeding directly into the intake valve in the reservoir. Again, I'll need a pretty strong watertight seal between the intake and the two pipes, but I'll work that one out with some epoxy or waterproof tape of whatever. I might tape the two pipes together along the whole length of them to stop the getting tangled up in stuff. So here, I have devised a much simpler backpack mod, which could work with intact soakers as well, the only question left is...

To Doom, BlueSmudge, Nibor, Dux, all you tech/mod experts, will it work?

We'll have to see, won't we...
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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:59 pm

a load of good tape should do it
No, never think that tape will leave a good seal. Electrical tape will have an ok seal when used at a pump O-ring, but that's pretty much the only thing you can use it for. Please use glues, not tapes. That's why you're idea won't work.

It would be easier to make something out of PVC or ABS pipe, or a trash bag which is extremely cheap.

http://archives.sscentral.net/gng/ppb.htm

You also might want to look at that.

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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Sat Sep 04, 2004 5:14 pm

Yeah, I realised that the tape wouldn't work. I have everything I need (Dad had the tubing) but still need something to seal it with. Epoxy maybe?

EDIT - That page you linked to shows that tape can make a good seal sometimes.
The Pool Pumper is a really easy soaker to backpack mod, because it's fed by a pipe anyway, you just need to attach the pipe to a bottle of water (or two, as done on that page). The XP310 is going to be somewhat harder...

What if I made a new reservoir with these instructions RecklessAssault PMed me, and then did my design as above, but just drilled the cap and put the pipe into the res as per usual?
I noticed that you said your XP310 had a broken reservoir, so I thought I'd send you a message. I got 3 XP310's from my friend, and all of them had bad reservoir tanks. I decided I'd try a 2L soda bottle, and to make a long story short it worked perfectly for me. There are a lot of ways you could make it, and you could probably come up with something better than I did, but here's how I did it:

First you'll have to remove the old tank completely. Then I cut the top of the 2L bottle off, about an inch from the top of the cap. I saved the top to use it as the filler cap later. Then I sealed up the hole. I used duct tape and covered that with a thin layer of hot glue. To figure out where the hole for the water to drain in to the soaker itself, I put a small ring of hot glue around the hole so that it'd stick to the bottle and give me a decent idea of where to cut another hole out. After I cut that hole, I cut another hole at what would be the back of the tank. I took off all of the thinner plastic that was still on the filler cap part, up to the thick rim just below the cap thread, and used hot glue to affix that above the hole. I used hot glue and a layer of silicone to hold it in place and seal it. It takes a lot of hot glue to make the bottom of the tank absolutely leak-proof, but it's possible. The nice thing about having a 2L bottle for a reservoir is that it holds more water than a regular tank, and since soda bottle caps are easy to find, you don't have to worry about making a cap that you can drill for a backpack hose but not having an extra in case you decide not to use the backpack.

Hope this helps!
Aaron
Perhaps it will help...
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RacerSoaker445
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Post by RacerSoaker445 » Sat Sep 04, 2004 5:25 pm

Try finding an Ace Hardware near you, They should have tons of O-Rings in the Plumbing section. (sp?)
I don't check this forum anymore.

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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Sat Sep 04, 2004 5:36 pm

don't need an o-ring, not really. And I'm in the UK. And if I did need one, my dad's a pipeliner so he could get one.
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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Tue Oct 26, 2004 11:25 am

This is finally being attempted. I couldn't get a hole into the bottom of the 2-litre bottle, it's far too tough, so I've blasted a hole into the side, about an inch from the bottom. It's exactly the right size, it took a real struggle to get the 1/2" tubing in, but I don't think it'll be enough to supply the PCs. What I'm going to do is put another hole at the same height on the other side so I have two pipes, then tape them together outside the backpack so they don't get entangled in stuff. A spot of glue around either joint to the bottle should suffice to seal it.
The hard part is sealing the two pipes to the intake valve inside the reservoir, I might have to rmove the res completely to be able to do it, and I want to still be able to get inside the soaker after I'm done. So, I'll take it apart, remove the internals, use better balloons in the XPS mod while I'm at it, remove the filter the stops dirt and push the two tubes straight into the pipe leading to the PCs. Then if I seal the pipes in, I might be able to put the res back on over them to catch any leaks and hopefully still be able to get the soaker apart. Updates on this as they happen. :D

EDIT - Oh yeah, I worked out why my 310 overcharges so much. I think the check valve is knackered and having no effect any more, but the trigger mechanism is too old and worn out to let loose the greater pressure. I can release the pressure by sticking a screwdriver down the widest nozzle and actually opening the valve without using the trigger, but all the water is lost.
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BlueSmudge
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Post by BlueSmudge » Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:10 pm

Originally posted by Dark Elite@Oct 26 2004, 06:25 AM
It's exactly the right size, it took a real struggle to get the 1/2" tubing in, but I don't think it'll be enough to supply the PCs.
I'm not understanding what you mean by that. Do you not think that the ID of the tubing will be wide enough to supply the PC's at a normal rate? If so, stop thinking that. I had the same idea when I made my APH and used 3/4 inch tubing instead. With that you get lots of air pockets, and so the pumping takes longer. Stick with 1 tube.

As for sealing it into the gun. You might try epoxy, but it doesn't seal very well with vinyl (what usual clear tubing is made from).

My idea will surely work, but is basically impossible to explain with out pictures. And I Don't want to turn my XP-310 into a backpack gun, so I will try my best with text only:

Have you ever opened your XP-310? I'm sure you have. You can see the pipe where the water is taken in from the reservoir. If you where to cut away the plastic of the tank and gun that is around the pipe there, you should be able to get our tubing over it. If the tubing is too small, you can heat it up in some hot water so that it is very flexible, and force it over. Then you want to tighten it on with a hose clamp. Get it as tight as possible so that there is a water tight seal (maybe ask your dad to do the final turns).

If you do that, you will have a connection that requires no glue. Always favored, longer lasting, and better looking.
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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:46 am

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. But the pipe leading to the PCs is probably an inch in diameter, so I'll need much bigger tubing. I'll have to measure the pipe. As for removing the reservoir, the whole thing can be removed with no problem. The pipe is, annoyingly, very wide at the opening and much smaller as it goes towards the PCs.

So I'll enlarge the hole I already have in the bottle, put some 1" tubing through it and remove the reservoir from my 310. The pipe will then be protruding enough through the hole in the gun to get the tubing over it. Then I'll clamp it extremely tight. Reading that through again, it now sounds even more likely to work.

The only reason I wanted to keep the res on was because of the plate that goes from the back of the body to the front of the res, you know the removable one? I want to keep that there so I can anchor the rear end of a strap there, but I should be able to leave it there without the res without any problems.

Thanks again, now all I need is some larger tubing.
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BlueSmudge
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Post by BlueSmudge » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:07 pm

And a 1" hose clamp if you don't have one already ;)
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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:59 am

Don't think we have one. I could probably improvise on that one. I'll ask Dad when he gets home. (He works away all week, so unfortunately I'm mostly on my own with this and can only get the tubing next weekend if I ask him when I see him.)

going to be a while unless I can get the 1/2" to work without a clamp, which I doubt. Ah well, so what, winter was meant for soaker projects! ;)
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dodger87
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Post by dodger87 » Mon Nov 22, 2004 3:45 pm

Hey I was wondering is normal orange juice bottles okay as the water tanks? Or will it break over time? Or should you wrap it in lots of tape, because when I had my backpack XP270 for a short time everytime I pumped my gun it would crumple the orange juice bottles (2 x 3L bottles).

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Spinner
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Post by Spinner » Mon Nov 22, 2004 5:54 pm

I think it crumpled the bottle because of the suction exerted by the pumping. You need some kind of inlet for the air at the top (Doom used a check valve, I think).
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BlueSmudge
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Post by BlueSmudge » Mon Nov 22, 2004 11:10 pm

or for a cheaper, much more simple fix, a small pinhole at the top. Just Don't turn your backpack upside down.
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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Sat Dec 11, 2004 4:42 pm

Yes I'm bumping an old topic, but oh well.

I've finally done this. I sXPBackfire-esqueped all previous plans and now I have used a five-litre thick-plastic petrol can with 1/2" tubing. I'll post a pic as soon as I get one. I did need an o-ring, but the one main problem is the pumping sucks the tank inwards. This makes it progressively harder to pump, which is very annoying because as your arm gets worn out, it has to work harder too!

Now, however, I need a way of putting it on my back. Obviously it's pretty big, and the way it's been done will make it difficult. I'll post a picture ASAP so you can get a clearer idea of the design.
Visit <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:red'>Sam's Supercars

<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color :o range'><span style='font-family:Arial'><u>My Weaponry</u>
CPS2100 (Thank You King Soaker&#33 ;)
1 Liquidator/Pressurizer
1 Max-D 6000
1 XP310 w/my own power mod and 8 balloon XPS mod
2 piston-pistols (backup)


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