Water Viscosity

[Uriel]

I just was reading the tech article on streams and when I read about viscosity being beneficial I began to wonder what people have done to improve viscosity. Is salt-water more viscous than tap-water? Is there an easy add-in for tap-water that does a good job of increaseing viscosity of water?

[Ben]

Welcome to SSCentral!

Yes there is a way to increase the viscosity. It is called additives... and myself and only myself has successfully tested it. Reading the "4 ways to create Laminar flow" section of the Streams article reveals:

Increase the viscosity of the water. If the viscosity of the stream is increased, of course the flow will become more laminar because it will stick together better. The problem is how to do that. The only way as far as I know is using some kind of additive to change the properties of the water. Basically, an additive is a fluid with a special property that will improve that of the water, in this case a high viscosity. Until then, I will recommend mixing 5% glycerin into your water to increase the range of the stream. My tests shown an increase of over 10 feet on one of my homemades. Be aware that using glycerin should make the water toxic, as glycerin is toxic, and the additives may also damage your soaker. There are other possible additives, I am still researching them and when the article comes out be sure to read it.

Shortly after I wrote the Streams article (which is due for a small update, I find some parts are poorly written), I wrote the Additives article. In the Additives article, I test the effectiveness of the additive glycerin.

Salt water also would increase the density of the water. To gain stream lamination, you will want to decrease the density. So while salt water may be beneficial to the viscosity, it is not to the density.

There's many other possible additives, though, if I were looking for a one different than glycerin I would make sure it's cheaper. Glycerin was suggested by the CEO of Buzz Bee Toys and is tested. Firing a gun with an additive is an unusual experience -- the stream fired far further than I had anticipated compared to the first shot!

[george]

Don't be stupid adding salt would mean that the water that didn't get shot out would evaporate and leave crystallised salt and eventually wreck your gun.

[Ben]

George, I would suggest checking the date of threads before posting. In both of the threads you revived, you did not add anything of real value to the discussion. Both threads were at least 6 months old, so you had to have done some digging to find them. I'm considering adding a message to old thread about not reviving them without new discussion points being brought up. I do appreciate the enthusiasm though.