My first Homemade Watergun

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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wewso
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Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:14 am

My first Homemade Watergun

Post by wewso » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:15 pm

OK, where do i start. Well lets start from the beginning.

Picture me in a rainy day, waiting for the buss all soaked up and annoyed. And just then while thinking about my try umbrella at home, IT stroke me we such power that i almost jumped out of my shoes. "IT" was the idea of creating my very own homemade water gun. I ran back home (well i took the buss but i felt like running dunno why :p ) and i googled "Homemade Water Gun". This was the first site that came up, i checked it out, registerd and here i am, writing this thing.

Now lets stop here so that i can tell you about myself. I have NEVER made a homemade water gun before. I have NEVER participated in any "Water Wars" or such events. I didn't even know there were such communities as you guys and that homemade water guns were popular. I am a total Water Gun Noob if you can say that. :D Otherwise my name is Veso and i'm 17 yo. I live in Bulgaria, which is in eastern Europe and I love sports (thats why i like the "Water Wars" idea so much).

And finally about my HOMEMADE WATER GUN :eek: :eek: :eek: :p :rolleyes: :cool: :cool:

Well there is no HOMEMADE WATER GUN!!! I'm starting it tomorrow and i,m posting pics as soon as the project starts to take shape. I am going to purchase the parts that you listed in the Parts List in one of your APH instructions. I hope that you can help me in the precess of making the gun. :rolleyes:

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Silence
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Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by Silence » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:40 am

Welcome to Super Soaker Central. :)

I don't know how easily you can find materials like PVC since it's essentially a cheap, throwaway material preferred by American construction companies. But we've seen some water guns made with copper pipe, and I'm sure there are other options out there. I'll wait and see what you find.

wewso
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:14 am

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by wewso » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:22 am

So went to Praktiker (a local shop where you can find everything) and there were many kinds of pipes. The copper ones were too expensive so i decided to buy PVC. I bought:

5m of 1/2" PVC pipe
2 Tee connectors
1 Elbow
2 Check Valves
1m of 3/4" PVC pipe
4 1/2" male adapters (for the Check valves since they were female threaded)
3 1/2" endcaps
a wooden stick
and a bottle a Coca Cola (this will be my pressure chamber, because i couldn't find any 3" > 2" > 3/4" reducers.)

I also found PVC cement and the other thing (primer or whatever) and Teflon tape

In a few hours im beginning to assemble the whole thing and ill write again

wewso
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:14 am

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by wewso » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:57 pm

A assembled the gun and it looks like this:

Image

Image

I haven't applied the primer and cement yet, but i tested the gun and it seems to work fine, without any leaks.(Except for this one time when it burst in my hands :p ) I have to admit though i feel a little disappointed. The gun's range is around 20 feet and doesn't have much power at all. Is this because it has only one pressure chamber?
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cantab
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Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by cantab » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:43 pm

A second PC _might_ boost power, but not I expect by very much. (With one PC the connection to the barrel can be a narrow point. With more that's not a problem.)

Maybe you need to pump it more. 1.25 litres is a BIG pressure chamber, bigger than the vast majority of commercial water guns.

The other possibility is your nozzle is bad. There's an optimal nozzle size for range, that can only really be found by experimenting - I'd hazard a guess yours is too small. Also, clean, centred holes are needed.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

wewso
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:14 am

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by wewso » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:55 pm

Well my nozzle is 2mm or 1,5/16". I made it that small because i thought smaller nozzle means greater range. I can increase the size of the nozzle but, that size will work best for my gun?

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cantab
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Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by cantab » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:01 pm

The smaller the nozzle, the faster the water will emerge. However, the narrower the stream, the more susceptible it is to air resistance. Thus, there is a size where the two effects balance to give maximum range.

The APH guide suggest 3/8 to 1/4 inch as a good nozzle size.

That said, a 2mm nozzle still ought to shoot further than 20 feet. You are angling the gun upwards right?
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by Silence » Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:37 pm

You can safely pressurize up to about 50 psi/300 kPa, the pressure that seems to be used in 2-liter soda bottles. I've seen tests up to 200 psi, but that's pushing it and I doubt you'd be able to pump hard enough.

So, as cantab said, pump more. As a rule of thumb, once the chamber is 3/4 full of water, you'll have 45 gauge psi in there.

I agree that a larger nozzle will also help. Even better would be a metal pipe nipple, a hose barb, or some other smooth, manufactured fitting.

wewso
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:14 am

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by wewso » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:19 pm

OMG Im so happy :p :p :p :p

I REACHED 17 meters (i think thats about 50-stg feet) :D :D

But the gun shoots that far only the first 4-5 seconds and then the range starts dropping slowly. I finally cemented the gun and now it doesn't burst when i pump too-much. Now i can pump to 7/8 of the coke bottle without having trouble.

Also another question:
When my APH is pressurized to 7/8, the blast coming out of the nozzle creates stg like a cloud. Is there any way to make the water come out more like a strain line, that a cloud.

I can try to post video soon if i can.

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cantab
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Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: My first Homemade Watergun

Post by cantab » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:02 pm

17 metres is 55 feet. Which is what the APH should be capable of.

The range will drop off. That's an inherent limitation of air pressure chambers. One way to reduce it is to pump some air in, before you start pumping water (you'll need to be able to take the water intake out of the water to do that). This is known as precharging, and will reduce shot drop-off, but at the cost of reducing water volume in the chamber. Once precharged, providing you don't empty the PC completely, it stays precharged; if you accidentally shoot all the water out, the air will get released.

For your last question, check out the laminator. It should be in the guides on this site.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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