Yay! First Homemade.

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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Striker
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Yay! First Homemade.

Post by Striker » Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:12 am

I just made my first homemade water cannon. I used a Clamato bottle, an aquarium cleaner, and a hose attachment. It was the best I could do without going to Home Depot, so yay!

One problem. How do you make the gun shoot if the bottle is upside-down? Balloons?
Last edited by Drenchenator on Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:00 am

Wow, this sounds creative...can you post some pictures? How is the performance, especially since you probably had limited parts?

As with all regular air-pressure soakers, you really can't shoot upside-down. The exception is when you use something to separate the air and the water; a piston is the most solid solution and very good for semi/PreCharging, but a plastic bag or balloons will also work well. Can a bag or balloons be added easily to your design?

Congratulations!

Striker
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Post by Striker » Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:15 am

It was a design I found on the site, so I owe it to Ben. I'll get the pictures up if you want them though,
This homemade costs around 7 dollars.
99 Cents-Bottle. Get it at a convienience store
Plastic tubing is around 3 dollars, get it at Home Depot or a Pet Store if you want a gravel cleaner attachment.
and the hose attachment is around 3 dollars, gotten at any good garden shop or dollar store.

Cost effective, huh?

Off topic, Gardena has some sort of attachment that looks like it could be used in place of a QFD. Press down, and it fills. It accepts a 1/2 inch tube with an O-ring. Leaks a bit, though. PM if you want the website address.

I can easily add the balloons into the tube ending. I broke off the gravel cleaner attachment, so there is a nice stub for which to glue on.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:43 pm

I wouldn't even both adding balloons because there is no good way too add them. That and this is more of a novelty use of household items than a homemade water guns. ;)

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:45 pm

Oh...so then is this a 2-liter homemade? I get it now. The design is fairly good unless you're looking for "battle practicality," but something of the sort powered by CPS tubing or even a spring might be more powerful. A device of the sort would be far better with larger tubing and a ball valve so you can actually have a couple of riot blasts ready, but perhaps the quick-fill method would work in APHs (too weak for CPHs, I believe).

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fradzap
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more details?

Post by fradzap » Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:08 am

Sounds interesting, but I can't quite picture what it looks like. Could you give a more detailed discription of how things fit together.....thanks
"I don't think so..but maybe not".. K. Adams

"...There's no insult like the truth".. Charlie Peacock

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:00 am

Old threads generally shouldn't be brought up, but this is fairly unclear for people who are just reading. It's more a problem of the original poster being inactive than clutter or anything.

The details of how to build a 2-liter homemade are found in that article on the main site that I just linked to. You basically just plug your hose into it for a portable water gun with a stream like a hose, but it only lasts long enough for a single shot.

The reason hoses don't get outstanding range is the turbulence in their streams. If you were to epoxy a tube in front of the hose handle and put on a better nozzle, you'd get better range and a cleaner stream. You can also buy "sweeper" nozzles instead of regular hose handles, which have more laminar streams. I don't think they have a valve system, though.

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