Super Soaker Central

I'm not sure what kind of Schrader valves you all use but when you (I think it was Ben) were talking about them in the other thread it made me want to show you a [better] and possibly more reliable valve.
I bought these when I made my water balloon launcher last summer and thought I should share my "finding" if none of you thought of using something like this.
I got them from Pep Boys in a 2 pack. I don't have the receipt anymore and don't remember the price so I can't help there, but I think it was around $4 for the 2 valves. They come with 2 different size gaskets. They fit in a .453 or .625 inch hole. They are made for tubeless tires and seem very reliable.
The way it works is that there is a gasket that goes on the bottom edge of the valve. It fits from the inside of where it's being installed, for example it goes from the inside of a PVC cap to the outside. There then is a washer that goes over the valve, covering the hole and then a nut that screws on to tighten it down and create the seal from the inside with the gasket. They are also rated to 150 PSI so are fine for any homemade application.
The nice thing about these valves is that they all all metal, stainless steel and the cap is metal as well. They are made by Monkey Grip Products and the website is http://www.monkey-grip.com

I'm not able to take a picture at the moment but will be providing one later with a picture of the packaging and the leftover valve. (one is in my WBL)

So instead of just having a cylindrical valve that you put in a tapped hole, this uses two plates to clamp the valve to the sheet of plastic? Neat. That does seem much stronger, although it might still weaken the PVC endcap a little. Nice find.

Sounds useful. I try to avoid tapping holes when I don't have to so I'm yet to use a schrader valve by tapping holes. If you use 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch bushings like you're supposed to there's no seal problems even, but if you want something smaller tapping holes works. Just be sure to do it correctly.

I actually don't know why most spud guns and water balloon launchers tap holes for schrader valves. Tapping threads correctly takes practice and unless you use something with a gasket like this you won't be very successful. I'd recommend either using bushings or something with a gasket like this.

I've never trusted tapped holes since my first Nerf homemade. It's just too easy to get an air leak even if you use a redundant check valve. The air I tried to pump in leaked out if the valve wasn't exactly perpendicular to the cap's surface. If you can, use a bushing; it save a lot of time and effort later. Build it right the first time.

This valve eliminates the need for a tapped hole and if you don't drill the hole perfectly, this valve "corrects" your mistake.
Sorry I haven't been able to get a picture of the valve yet. I've been busy trying to fix my Storm 600 and other things. But I will have a picture of the valve soon.

I've usually tapped holes for launchers...I've never encountered an air leak noticeable enough to be a problem. Then again, I don't do that for water cannons because the air valve makes for a convenient place to put a tee and attach a bushing for the valve.

It's probably a bad habit to tap holes, but if you do it well there's not going to be significant leaking that you can really feel or hear.

For some reason, I got the wrong valves designed for car tires that didn't have threads on them (plus I knew nothing about tapping threads at the time), so all I did was drill a hole in the pipe and stick it on with epoxy. Its been holding up for a while, but is used rarely. I'll likely use the same method on my new WBL so I won't have to buy new valves since I have an extra one of those sitting around.