2011 APH-mini

[wetmonkey442]

Hello,

So my first project for the summer is 90% complete: I built an APH following the standard design. My focus was on minimizing overall size and improving ergonomics. I also used a tilted PC so that the gun could fire water for longer at 45 degrees. For nozzles I'm using a male quick-disconnect fitting for air compressors as well as a small barbed tube fitting. Both of these are 1/4" NPT male threaded, so I am just swapping them out of a single tapped end cap for now. I will probably be making a trip to Home Depot later this week to pick up the pieces to make extended laminators for both nozzles.

It's a little hard to take pictures while firing, so I don't have any shot-pics today (plus there was a pretty strong headwind), but I will get some later this week as well. The pump is off of a CPS 1000. The only thing left to create is a backpack tank.

Performance-wise, this thing turned out really well. It pressurizes in about 20 pumps which is a lot better than my previous APH. The shots are very laminar and shot-time exceeded my expectations. With the small nozzle, I get about 8-10 seconds, with the larger nozzle 2-3 seconds. I measured off range for the large one at 45 feet, but that was into a considerable headwind, and with no external lamination devices (mesh, straws, etc.).

All in all a very successful homemade. With a strap and a backpack, this will probably be my primary during future wars. Its very comfortable to hold, lightweight, and completely outstrips all of my other guns in range and power.





And a picture of Sean holding the Flash Flood for scale.

[Fredcompany]

ORANGE!

[mysterio]

Pretty awesome. How comfortable is the handle?

[wetmonkey442]

^The handle is actually surprisingly comfortable, given that it is just two 45 elbows glued together! Probably a little better for smaller hands than mine, but I'm not complaining.

[cantab]

You've managed to put the elbows and tees right adjacent to each other. Not something I've seen done before, and it goes a long way towards making it compact. You've done a great job on the layout, and the paint job makes it that bit more polished.

[Specter]

Looks like the same orange i painted my WBL with a random can of spray paint that was in my basement.

and nice job with the compact design. looks nice.

[SEAL]

Nice job. Just wondering though, why orange?

By the way, whatever happened to your APH that you were building last year? (This one.) It was an interesting design, and I'm curious as to how it turned out.

[wetmonkey442]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys!

@SEAL: The main problem with that design was the reliance upon 3/4" for main-line pipe, combined with a too-small PC. This design uses 1/2" throughout, which makes pumping easier and cuts down on dead space considerably. In addition, the PC on this one is much larger, which allows for longer shot times.

I actually just finished the second version of this today, which, believe it or not, is about 2/3 the size. It uses flexible tubing to run from the 1st check valve to the 2nd check valve. This allows me to run the check valves much closer together than this design allowed for. I'll post some pics and video when it is fully painted (separate thread most likely).

Later,
Andrew

[WesTheBotMaster]

That looks pretty cool. I like the compact design.
It is small enough so you could put a good sized on-board reservoir on it.

Also, what size is the PC pipe?

[wetmonkey442]

The PC is constructed out of 3" PVC pipe and fittings.