Questions about the APH

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Mon May 29, 2006 1:01 am

The backpack functions as a water reservoir and is detailed in the modifications section. What I find unusual is that I never mentioned that once in the article. I'm surprised this wasn't asked before.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Mon May 29, 2006 11:43 pm

Welcome to SSC...glad to see yet another new member who's interested in homemades!

If you take a look at the picture, you'll see that a hose connects the 2.5-gallon water container to the soaker; I'm assuming this is done with epoxy and, if neccessary, a special fitting. You could turn the container upside-down if there aren't any holes at the top for air to displace the water. Then again, you could just do the trashbag design--cheaper, stronger (won't dent), becomes smaller as it's emptied, elegant design, etc.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Tue May 30, 2006 1:30 am

Very easy question to answer here. Why not try to make an effort to answer it yourself? I do realize it wasn't answered in the article, but I had hoped it wouldn't be necessary to answer.

All of the parts necessary can be bought at a home improvement store such as Lowes or Home Depot. Also try local non-chain stores. If no stores are available locally, you can order the parts online.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Tue May 30, 2006 1:47 am

The trash bag mod article points out that you should remove the trash bag's drawstring if it has one...so you definitely don't need it.

Ben pointed out the best places to get PVC and the other parts, but the general consensus (possibly starting to change) is that Lowes has a better plumbing selection than the Home Depot does. Also, local plumbing stores can be very good--my phone book yellow pages include a list of local O-ring suppliers, and I only live in a small/medium city! Duxburian also claims that his local plumbing shop has a humongous selection of metal ball valves...

mr. dude
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Post by mr. dude » Sun Jun 11, 2006 2:50 am

Sorry for bringing up a dead topic, but I'm working on the same gun, so I thought it would be appropriate to post here.
So as I said, I'm making Ben's APH. My design is almost identical to his, except for one change, which is that I used 1" pvc for the PC's. I was wondering if this would be enough to get decent pressures. I have yet to get the check valves so I don't quite know.
Note: I used 1" PVC because I couldn't find threaded PVC larger than that (though they do have unthreaded 2"-4" PVC), and because it would take less pumps.

Back on topic, I tried the trash bag mod, and failed... miserably.

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Drenchenator
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Post by Drenchenator » Sun Jun 11, 2006 12:05 pm

I think that the problem with this design is not the pressure, but the capacity. Even if you start to use a few feet of 1" PVC, the capacity would be horrible. You can use 3 or 4 pressure chambers, but again it still won't match the capacity of a regular APH.

I would seriously recommend using at least 2" PVC. I have never even seen threaded 1" PVC and it is not required build an APH. Do you know how to PVC segment (solvent weld) PVC pipe? If you do then, use unthreaded pipe and buy attachments.
The Drenchenator, also known as Lt. Col. Drench.

mr. dude
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Post by mr. dude » Sun Jun 11, 2006 2:21 pm

Do you know how to PVC segment (solvent weld) PVC pipe?
Sadly, no. All I know is that PVC cement and PVC primer would be used (i think).
While the capacity of 1" PVC is horrible, I estimate 3-5 pumps to full pressure (huge pump and midget PC's tend to work well together.), but I'll try to get the larger PVC, until then, my attention goes to the check valves.

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DX
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Post by DX » Sun Jun 11, 2006 2:59 pm

The problem with a big pump and small pcs is that you won't get good ranges. You can't build up enough pressure and the shot time will be quite short. However, a small pump and big pcs = big ranges and longer shot time, even if it does take some more pumps. More pumps in an APH are better, since you want as much pressure as possible.
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mr. dude
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Post by mr. dude » Sun Jun 11, 2006 3:18 pm

I understand what you mean, but is that still the case with a 1/2" pump? What I meant by huge pump is that it's long, but it's still half an inch wide (I probably can't even pump anything wider than that).
EDIT: I guess my pump is too big, because my pump SHAFT is 1/2", is there anything I can do to fix this without having to spend money?
Last edited by mr. dude on Sun Jun 11, 2006 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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DX
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Post by DX » Sun Jun 11, 2006 4:08 pm

The pump isn't really the problem, it's the size of the pc. Even if they are really tall, 1" pcs are tiny. You could change the pc size by solvent welding larger fitings/pvc there [the back of pvc primer/cement cans have instructions]. But, yes, that would cost money.

The gun left as is would function perfectly fine, but I don't think you would like the stats as much.
Mess With the Best, Get Soaked Like the Rest!

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mr. dude
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Post by mr. dude » Sun Jun 11, 2006 4:15 pm

What kind of gun would it compare to if I leave it as is (low class cps, med., high, xp, etc.)?

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