aph help

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
ccdjr106
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aph help

Post by ccdjr106 » Sun May 24, 2009 11:36 pm

i made the aph gun and the pressure chambers seem to be leaking and i was wondering if there is a way to fix it whithout re building the gun and the gun only shoots for 3 or 4 seconds is that normal or is there something wrong
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C-A_99
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Re: aph help

Post by C-A_99 » Mon May 25, 2009 1:49 am

If it leaks, you built something wrong. Make sure the primer is spread thoroughly, then fully dry before cementing. When cementing a piece on, twist it around a bit to let the glue spread. (be very careful if the piece requires specific rotation)

Now since you can't do that again, you could get some epoxy, plumbers goop, epoxy putty, or whatever and seal it up if its a minor leak. Make sure you apply enough for a strong seal.

Since the APH is fairly high powered, don't expect the shot time to be that high. 3-4 seconds is pretty good for something high-powered, and you can use tap shots to conserve ammo, but if you need more shot time, use a smaller nozzle.

ccdjr106
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Re: aph help

Post by ccdjr106 » Mon May 25, 2009 2:26 am

thank you what kind of gun has a long shot time

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C-A_99
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Re: aph help

Post by C-A_99 » Mon May 25, 2009 2:33 am

Shot time is determined by 2 factors: Pressure chamber volume and output. Output is how much water is released in a given time, which can be changed by nozzle size and by pressure. (however, pressure won't be able to boost output much if the pressure is already high and the nozzle small) So the kinds of water guns with higher shot time have lower pressure and smaller nozzles, such as many of the large Water Warriors blasters. (such as the Orca) However, some guns have much longer shot times, such as the SC Power Pak or the CPS Splashzooka. This is because they are all pre-charged: the whole gun is basically a pressure chamber. Those guns aren't available now (except for high prices on ebay) but the concept is still there for homemades.

Shot time isnt the only factor to consider though. Range and output are important, in some cases, more important than shot time. Shot time issues can be countered by managing your shots wisely and by pumping enough to maintain pressure so it never runs out at a bad time.

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adronl
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Re: aph help

Post by adronl » Mon May 25, 2009 2:45 am

If you don't want to change your gun at all you have to just make your nozzle smaller and lower the pressure or you will have a high power mister that is the only thing you can do other than add capacity. I see from your pic you could a camel back or like (MSR makes an extremely durable 10 liter bag) or build your own pressurized pack or improvise somehow.

You can make a backpack tank APH and have a hose to your firing valve and nozzle. You can add a lot of volume that way and still have devastating power in a water war. :D With high pressure I use a 1/4 or 3/8" nozzle go to your hardware store and improvise I use plastic quick connects because they taper well like a nozzle and have a 3/8" in diameter. I get maximum range and power with the 3/8".
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ccdjr106
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Re: aph help

Post by ccdjr106 » Mon May 25, 2009 2:46 am

kool thank you

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Silence
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Re: aph help

Post by Silence » Mon May 25, 2009 3:28 am

Ben once said something about using a suction to draw cement into leaks in PVC fittings...I think Drenchenator uploading a scanned page from a book about it. I can't seem to find it now...

Edit: found it.

ccdjr106
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Re: aph help

Post by ccdjr106 » Mon May 25, 2009 3:49 am

the links to the scanned pages dont work

edit: today i was pumping the gun and it snapped in half :mad:
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Silence
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Re: aph help

Post by Silence » Mon May 25, 2009 8:14 pm

Oh wow, that's a shame. There's not much you can do besides rebuilding everything. You may be able to salvage the parts up to the second check valve and after the pressure chambers, because there's some spare pipe in those sections that can be solvent welded into new fittings. If that makes sense.

I'm guessing the water gun broke because of the weight of the filled pressure chambers. Perhaps the fitting wasn't solid PVC, either...you may want to ask Ben about that.

At any rate, I'd recommend some type of support between the pump and the pressure chambers. You could tape a piece of styrofoam there, or use a length of PVC and "pipe saddles" on each end.

It looks like those images were removed at some point, so you may want to send a private message to Drenchenator if he doesn't see this thread.

ccdjr106
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Re: aph help

Post by ccdjr106 » Mon May 25, 2009 9:27 pm

i was not able to salvage the check valve but i was able to salvage the hole rest of the gun

and what is solvent welding

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cantab
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Re: aph help

Post by cantab » Mon May 25, 2009 11:06 pm

Another name for PVC cementing I think.

And yeah, mechanical strength of a gun is important. Put something between the PC's and the pump.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
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Silence
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Re: aph help

Post by Silence » Mon May 25, 2009 11:16 pm

Solvent welding is the proper term for cementing. Cementing implies you're using another substance to glue everything together; welding says you're actually merging all the fittings into a single piece of PVC.

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SSCBen
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Re: aph help

Post by SSCBen » Mon May 25, 2009 11:31 pm

Shame about your gun. I leave some space between fittings in case any single part goes awry so that it can be cut off in the worst case. Threaded (screw on) fittings help too unless they break at that part as they did here.

I'd suggest putting something between the pump and the valve so that a piece doesn't take as much stress.

ccdjr106
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Re: aph help

Post by ccdjr106 » Tue May 26, 2009 12:05 am

i will definitely put a reinforcement there
edit: an average what is the psi in an aph
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SSCBen
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Re: aph help

Post by SSCBen » Tue May 26, 2009 12:25 am

The pressure of an air pressure gun is not constant because it drops over the duration of the shot. If I had to guess, I could see most people getting peak pressures of 60 psi. However, weaker individuals would not be able to get as high pressures.

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