A few related questions, all conveniently placed in one thread

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.
Locked
ncog
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:00 pm

A few related questions, all conveniently placed in one thread

Post by ncog » Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:27 pm

Alright, a few basic questions to make the veterans cringe, hopefully feel great pity, and subsequently give some lovely responses to:

I received a brand new Arctic Blast a few days ago, which stopped working on its second refill. The pump intake tube had come unglued from its position and dropped into the reservoir, meaning that the pump was only drawing in air when the reservoir was still half-full. Since it was bought online, I made a deal with the seller to send me her last new Arctic Blast if I covered only for its postage, instead of a straight-out exchange; the problem seemed easy to fix so it would be a waste to send the gun back only to have it thrown out.

A picture of the area where the intake tube needs to be glued again can be seen here. Now, I have no epoxy glue at all, and am planning on getting some in a few days (from what I've seen of the selection so far Selleys seems to be the main brand in my area.) Before I go however, I thought I'd better make sure that this would be the best type of glue to use for this situation, since it involves gluing a certain type of plastic tube which I assume isn't often done in soaker repairs (of course, it's still plastic on plastic.) Would epoxy still be best for this, or would something like superglue be better?


Since I'll be getting a second Arctic Blast, I'm planning on modding that one as planned (assuming it works fine) and leaving my current one as stock since it has the minor intake tube issue. However, I'd still like to remove the screen on my stock one as it seems to decrease the spread and increase the range of the flood blast without any noteworthy detriment; is it true that removing the flood screen results in positive performance increases, or are there some other negative effects I've missed? Since the mod seems irreversible I thought I'd better double-check before doing it.

I noticed when I opened the AB with a friend tonight that the mesh screen on the flood nozzle is actually glued between the two glued halves of the nozzle piece. Is the best way to remove the screen to simply cut inside the flood nozzle where the screen is with scissors, or is there a more efficient method I haven't noticed?


Finally, I received my used CPS 1000 a few days ago as well. As the seller noted, there's a stress crack on the top part of the nozzle piece that runs down onto the same side of the nozzle opening. A stream of water shoots vertically upwards out of it when firing the gun, so I think that the crack on the top is the only really concerning part of it. I still want to fill up the entire crack somehow, and think that regular liquid epoxy would be best for this (the crack's just under 2cm long on the top and only a small part of that is actually "open" so I'm thinking liquid epoxy will be alright). Is epoxy indeed the best glue for this? Ideally I could use the same glue for both the stress crack and intake tube gluing for the Arctic Blast...However I don't want the epoxy running through the crack and gumming up the actual nozzle aperture below it, so would something else (epoxy putty) be better? I've never used epoxy before so aren't sure of its consistency, If the epoxy/epoxy putty dried as a solid mass on top of the crack I'm assuming I'll be able to sand it down to fit the nozzle cover back on.

The other issue the 1000 has is that the pump rod comes out of the pump shaft when I extend it fully. The long pump cap catches it from separating itself from the rest of the soaker, but it's still something I need to fix. What could have caused this? I've nearly got the soaker open (only two very rusted/stripped screws stand in my way now, I think I'll have to use a drill to drill through them...) so I'll take a closer look once the soaker is open, but thought I should mention it here as well in case anyone has any tips/advice on this front.

Thanks for any help, I know these are highly noob questions so I apologize for that but I'd rather be safe than sorry since I'm still pretty new to this whole dissecting water gun business...

User avatar
C-A_99
Posts: 1502
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:09 pm

Re: A few related questions, all conveniently placed in one thread

Post by C-A_99 » Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:56 pm

That's a good tactic on the AB; last time, as far as I can recall, Hasbro also sends free replacements without asking questions if you tell them of a broken gun. I don't know if this policy still holds but it's worth trying if you have a gun from them.

For the tube, epoxy will do a good reliable job. I don't know if superglue will even seal and it's probably not worth trying. Hot glue will also seal but is weak.

If you want to be lazier, you can use epoxy putty. Because regular epoxy is a liquid, it requires careful spreading and positioning of the items to be glued. This is great when you need to seal tiny cracks that are delicate or tough to get putty in, but putty will, so long as you push it in well, do a decent job as well. Handling putty is like play-doh that hardens after mixing. Just mix it and mould it around the area to seal up.

Removal of the screen on either the FF or AB will result in the following:

- If the nozzle is to stay as is, the resulting blast will be more powerful and have more range.

- If you want to add on a smaller nozzle, removing the screen may not be good. (since it lowers the velocity and thus improves lamination) This is particuarly applicable if the nozzle is being reduced to a very small size.

- Foreign objects, dirt, or otherwise may fall into the large nozzle without the screen, if you let someone extremely careless handle the gun. (though he is more likely to load dirt in the water before getting something stuck in the nozzle) However, build-up of crud or other such material may occur over time (as with old blasters that never get cleaned) and also get in. Just use the gun often enough and this shouldn't happen.

I removed the screens on both my FF's since I never planned on attaching small nozzles to them. It isn't completely irreversable, but is a pain to undo. However, it's not really a big deal anyway; there are other parts of those guns that you have to deal with. (like the Max-D springs that love to wear out after a season of use)

For the CPS 1000, you can use epoxy or epoxy putty, just like for the intake tube. Be aware that this section holds pressure, while the tube on the AB just needs to be secured and sealed. (without having to hold pressure)

If the crack is very large, you'll want to go with putty to avoid the epoxy running into the internals. Otherwise epoxy should be fine. One notable advantage of putty is being able to seal it up while it's leaking (since it's designed to repair household plumbing), but of course, you should still avoid doing that since it's not necessary.

Maybe I'm harping on the putty too much. It doesn't seem like a whole lot of modders here use putty a lot, probably because (I'm guessing that) regular epoxy is cheaper. (I haven't paid much attention to prices)

For the pump, there's usually a black piece (if I remember correctly) that slides along the pump rod that goes between the seal and the cap. The cap itself should not be necessary; even if the black piece isn't present, the casing should stop the pump from going out. Examine the mechanism yourself and see if you can figure it out.

You'll have to drill through the screws that can't be controlled. Try a flathead screwdriver first and if that doesn't do the jub, get out the drill. As I mentioned previously, be very careful to avoid drilling out the plastic. Not a huge deal if it happens, but you want to avoid it if you can. Hopefully, the stuck screws aren't in crucial positions but if they are, you may be able to remove them after drilling and putting new ones in. I haven't done that before so I wouldn't know how to really go about that)

Good luck with your repair projects.

ncog
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:00 pm

Re: A few related questions, all conveniently placed in one thread

Post by ncog » Thu Nov 12, 2009 7:20 am

Cool, thanks for your reply. I'll likely be keeping my current AB completely stock except the possible removal of the screen; I'll probably try to put a more concentrated (smaller) nozzle on the second AB sometime once that arrives. I've considered the potential issue of a dirt buildup or similar if I remove the screen, but this slight negative should be outweighed by the performance enhancement. Did you remove the screens on your FFs by cutting the circular area inside the nozzle out with scissors or similar (here I'm assuming that the screen is glued between the two halves of the nozzle on the FF like my AB...)

I think I'll go with regular epoxy for the intake tube fix and nozzle crack on the 1000. If I let the 1000 dry on its side or something then hopefully nothing will seep into the nozzle aperture.

The pump of my 1000 comes completely out of the shaft now that I've got the pump cap off. It has the usual rubber on the end, but at this stage it seems like it's only the pump cap that keeps the rod in the gun. Once I get the whole thing open I'll have a closer look.

User avatar
C-A_99
Posts: 1502
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:09 pm

Re: A few related questions, all conveniently placed in one thread

Post by C-A_99 » Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:33 pm

You could take out the screens with just about anything. I'd say something very thin would be best since you could push it under the center and just pull it out. (no need to cut it out, that actually may be a bad idea) The idea is to eliminate the part of the screen that gets left over from removal and pulling it out does just that. Usually that's pretty easy to do too. The screen seems to be only held in place; not glued on anyway.

Remember that epoxy still runs quite a bit. Placing it on the side may likely cause it to spread to other areas where it isn't needed. If the crack is smaller than, I'd say, .7mm, then you shouldn't have to worry about much, if any seeping at all since at that point, it won't seep in.

ncog
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:00 pm

Re: A few related questions, all conveniently placed in one thread

Post by ncog » Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:47 am

By the screen, are you talking about the white mesh near the front of the nozzle aperture (the last thing the stream goes through before it comes out the nozzle)? The screens may differ on the AB and FF somewhat, but from what I've seen in my AB it is glued in between the two halves of the nozzle, meaning that I'd have to cut the part that is actually inside the nozzle to remove it (based on my brief investigations). I could post pictures if you like.

I'm going to buy epoxy tomorrow; do you think I should also get some sandpaper to sand down the solid glue residue around the pump intake tube input and on the tube itself before I epoxy the tube back on, or should I just put the epoxy over the old 'stock' glue? If I do need sandpaper, what harshness should I get? 180 or something? I'm currently thinking of getting some Selleys clear plastic epoxy, hopefully that will work out. Thanks for your help!

User avatar
C-A_99
Posts: 1502
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:09 pm

Re: A few related questions, all conveniently placed in one thread

Post by C-A_99 » Fri Nov 13, 2009 3:56 pm

I never use sandpaper but it's probably a good idea. I don't know exactly how coarse but I'd think that anything that's neither too coarse nor too fine should work. (you may need the paper for other stuff)

Epoxy putty is pretty easy to find and should be sold along with the epoxies. Just FYI if you change your mind on that. You can get both and that may be a good idea.

Just stab at the screen and pull it out, I don't see why that wouldn't work.

Locked