Help With Homemade

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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Winston Churchill
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Post by Winston Churchill » Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:43 am

I spent my entire day makeing a gun. It has 3 2" PCs because ACE hardware didn't have pieces for the larger PVC and I get a discount there cause it's where I work so I didn't go somewhere else. Also, it has a dual pump system (left in the picture) All together it still cost me nearly 60 bucks. Mostly beacuse I bought way too much PVC. Before I cement everyhting together I would like to "Tap the knowledge vault". Should I sand the pieces? and I would also love the hear any comments (positive or negative will gladly be accepted) Thanks
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<span style='font-family :O ptima'>"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
Sir Winston Churchill

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:32 pm

No, in fact you don't have to sand PVC at all. That is what the primer is for. Read this:
Originally posted by DoomSoaker@Jun 23 2004, 03:14 PM
I said to follow the instructions on the cans. This is what I did though:

First I put all the pieces roughly in the order they were in my gun. They were not put together. Then, I primed them. To do that I took the primer and put it on the ends of the PVC by wiping it around a few times. I also did the parts of the PVC joints that would be glued, basically the inside of the joint. I then waited about 4 hours to glue them, even though the can said something like 2.

To glue them I first isolated the parts that needed to be glued and those who didn't. I did not glue anything that will not be under any pressure at all, basically everything in the nozzles after the ball valve and everything before the first check valve. I am going to glue that later though, so maybe you should just glue it all. I also got out my plumbers tape, this stuff makes the screw on things much stronger. You just wrap that around the threaded part and get maybe 2 or 3 layers in, and then screw on the other end. I got it screwed on extra hard by putting one end in a clamp and twisting hard with some grip thing. To glue all the pieces I applied the glue to the ends of the PVC pieces and the insides of the joints they're being glued to. That's what the can said to do at least. It also said to twist as you push it in a bit, so I did. I believe that helps spread the PVC cement. I then glued everything together. However, on the PCs I used more PVC cement than normal because the endcap's and reducer's area is much larger. Just make sure everything that is going to be touching has some cement on it. I also made sure as I was putting it together that it looked like what I wanted it to, this is very important, you don't want to put something on the the wrong angle or even worse, backwards. After I finished putting all the pieces together I let it dry overnight, even though the can said it can be presurized after a few hours. I also made sure the ball valve was open to help air out the insides. If you look down the ball valve at this time, you may seem some PVC cement sticking out from the joints on the inside. Don't worry about that, it will get blown out when you use your gun.

I think I'll add that to the article.
The PCs actually should be fine, just a little tall I guess. The reason I used 3" is because I wanted a larger PC and I had loads of money at the time. Now after 2 of these guys, a CPS version and most of the parts to a PVC backpack I'm nearly broke. My brothers owe me about $10 though, so I guess I'm not really broke.

The entier pump system looks like a big waste. That will not work better than a normal pump system, and it looks like you're using 3/4" PVC for the pump shaft with 2 shafts so each pump is going to be more than 4 times as hard as a normal pump, however that will pump in more than 4 times as much water. I'd recommend making the pump in the article. Believe me when I tell you that 3/4" pumps are too hard most of the time, I've tried them. Maybe a single 3/4" pump would be good, but only in an air pressure situation because it's only the last few pumps that get hard with air pressure.

Another thing I've noticed is that the T joints connecting to the PCs have a smaller end. That shouldn't be a problem though because you have 3 PCs, and about 2 1/2" pieces have the same internal area as a single 3/4" piece. Just if you were wondering about that.

Looks good, a little tall but good. Get 2 check valves, a ball valve and the few other pieces needed to complete it and you'll be done in no time. Good luck.

blaze
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Post by blaze » Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:45 pm

That looks like a Power Pak. I was wondering when I saw that--could you put the PCs and the reserve in the backpack, then only have to carry a pump and nozzle? The PC would connect to the handheld parts by tubing.

Doom is right, with the pump you designed it will be very difficult to pump. If I was you I would have just bought a few parts from other stores. The tall PCs might be annoying. But if that's fine it won't really affect the power of the gun so your main problem is the pump, and if you can deal with that then you're set. Good job.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:48 pm

could you put the PCs and the reserve in the backpack
Of course he could, the question is would he? That would mean he has to use tubing to get to the gun. The tubing bends, creating turbulance, and the tubing generally isn't as thick as it could be. If he wanted slightly less range and output, then he could do it that way.

I really wish people would stop asking stuff like "is this possible?" because most of the time when they ask that it is.

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Winston Churchill
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Post by Winston Churchill » Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:02 pm

Thanks for the tips guys. Hats off to you doom. Just a few more things. My entire sctructure is made from 1" pvc and not 3/4". I reduce it at certain places (like the nozzle) because 1" is just too big.
You Don't think I should do the dual pump? Okay I'll see what I can do. Here are some pictures of what it would have looked like before I changed it. I couldn't decide if I should of made the pump horizontal or vertical.
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<span style='font-family :O ptima'>"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
Sir Winston Churchill

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Winston Churchill
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Post by Winston Churchill » Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:09 pm

It doesn't matter anymore since im not doing the double pump, but here's the other way I thought of making it. I was also wondering if it would even work if I did it vertically?
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<span style='font-family :O ptima'>"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
Sir Winston Churchill

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:18 pm

I think it would work better vertically than flat like in the second picture. Also, turning the ball valve to the side like on my homemades works better.

You should step that 1" PVC down to 1/2" for the pump. I should have said why I used 1/2" for the check valves and all, it's because 1/2" is the same size the pump should be on most soakers and 1/2" check valves are much cheaper. That likely is why you spent $60 on the gun.

blaze
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Post by blaze » Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:56 pm

Like Doom said, make the pump vertical, it is a more natural grip for the hand to take a vertical shaft than a horisontal one. The gun looks pretty good. But you also (yet again, like Doom said) might want to make the lever for the ball valve on the side of the gun instead of on top, before you glue the gun. It will be easier to access. Other than that, the gun looks good. Are you making a PVC or Garbage Bag backpack?

Also, for when I make my homemade, I want to know what I would use to connect the PVC to the tubing. You guys both have the same thing and I want to know what it is called. Also, since I am making a PVC backpack, I want to know if reducers are made for large PVC (around 6" or 8") because I will have a check valve on the top of it (for letting air in and for filling) and a PVC to tubing thing on the bottom, and from what I know they don't make those in 8" :Hey, that's funny.: . That would be HELLA expensive.

By the way, why is there a foot in the top right corner of the second picture? :Hey, that's funny.:

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Winston Churchill
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Post by Winston Churchill » Thu Jun 24, 2004 8:36 pm

Its a male adpater with a barb valve (its all one piece. not an adapter AND a barb valve). Just go to your friendly neighborhood ACE store and they will gladly help you! :Hey, that's funny.:
Pieces for 6 or 8 inches!! What are you making! Good luck with that bro. You'll have a extremely hard time finding pieces for somethign that large. But IF you can find a place that sells PVC that large there is still a good chance they won't sell the pieces. Because I ran into that problem myself with a mere 2". ^_^ If you do find something that big please tell me it sounds interesting. Thanks!
<span style='font-family :O ptima'>"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
Sir Winston Churchill

blaze
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Post by blaze » Thu Jun 24, 2004 8:46 pm

Haha I think I will just go to Lowes, my neighborhood friendly Ace is only for when I buy Plastic Welder, or when I want to copy a key. Not to insult your store, but home improvement stores are better for these things (they'll have 6" and 8" PVC) than hardware stores.

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BlueSmudge
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Post by BlueSmudge » Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:56 pm

The only place you can get a large assortment of 8" PVC is mcmaster. Even then the pipe will cost you like $30, and $15 per attachment. I'm using 3" PVC on my backpack. It will only cost like $15-$20 for the entire thing, and will work better than 8". You attach tubing to PVC by first with a nylon barb, male or female. Then a PVC coupling the oposite of the barb.

I'm working my butt off these next two weeks. I'm making like $20 a day! I want to have $100 before I start buying parts. The design is based off Doom's, but with a few improments. Unfortunately, the improments are expensive.
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blaze
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Post by blaze » Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:40 pm

I decided to make a different design of a backpack after reading what BlueSmudge said. It will be made of 3" pipe so I can use it for the PCs and the backpack. Sorry about the very poor and not to scale drawing, it is very hard to draw in ms paint.
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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:47 pm

Well don't waste your money. That's all I have to say. I could have used more expensive stuff but it wouldn't perform that much better because a better design could be easily made.

That's sorta like my planned backpack blaze. Except that I'm not going to finish my backpack because Lowes ran out of reducers. <_<

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Winston Churchill
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Post by Winston Churchill » Fri Jun 25, 2004 2:30 am

Are you making a PVC or Garbage Bag backpack?
I haven't decided for sure yet. But I was thinking of using one of those 5 gallon weedkiller tanks that goes on your back. It would be really easy to use one of those. After I see how my gun performs I will make a solid decision. But until then Its up for debate.

Also, I haven't got it cemented together yet because I've been working all day but I'm going to right after this. And I'll probably stay up late just to see the results the soonest I can. I've decided to go against your better judgement of using just 1 pump. Reason being that I want to see for myself. :P If it is too hard to pump then I have an older brother who might be able to pump it because of his great strength and size who'll buy it off me. If he can't do it then it shouldn't be too hard to fix........I hope. :Hey, that's funny.: Talk to you all soon!
<span style='font-family :O ptima'>"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
Sir Winston Churchill

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Winston Churchill
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Post by Winston Churchill » Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:11 am

Okay so I don't know whether to be dissapointed or happy. Lets just say that its starting to test my patience. After a very trial run (because I haven't put plumbers tape on the threaded parts yet) it could shoot ten feet. Plus some parts of my gun (the parts are all on the PCs sadly) aren't cemented because I couldn't get them off after I put the primer on. :angry: It's definately a problem that needs to be fixed. Another problem I have is with the stupid pumps. I put the tape around them until one more time around would make them not fit and they still leak from the endcaps after a few pumps. What can be done to help after its been cemented? I hope that I haven't wasted $60. And finally If I fixed these problems would they make a big enough difference to make it work or should I just sXPBackfire-esque it? Thanks for the help.
<span style='font-family :O ptima'>"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
Sir Winston Churchill

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