need advice for making a very custom water gun

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
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soakernerd
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by soakernerd » Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:39 pm

Cantab,
The valve I linked to is actually some weird thing for a pipe with a 1/2" OD. It isn't PVC. also, since it's rather small, I think it should be easier to turn.

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cantab
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by cantab » Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:19 pm

OK. I was talking generally though. A small valve like the one you linked to probably will be easier to turn.
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:

neogeo
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by neogeo » Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:05 am

I think I may have solved my air valve problem. I found a small brass air inline regulator. Basically, it works like a ball valve, but it's shaped more like a screw. There's a small knob on the top that you turn, which turns an axle that has a hole drilled through it that opens and closes the valve. it opens on a quarter turn, and the knob's big enough that I could drill through it and attach an arm to it for the servo. The only problem with it is that it's got 1/4" NPT fittings, and the line I'm using is a bit smaller than that. I'll have to find some sort of adapter for it, which I won't be able to do until Saturday due to work.

As far as the water tank problem goes, I did some research, ran some numbers, and I think I have the design for the water tank and pump worked out. Much as I want to build a custom tank, it would cost me too much money compared to using a backpack garden sprayer. The air compressor/battery combo was ~$50, whereas the garden sprayer was ~$70, but with the compressor/battery combo, I'd also need the PVC tubing for the tank, sealant, waterline, and fittings, which would cost far more than the $20 difference. Although, I don't want to have the water pump motor running constantly, so I'm still going to be going with the seperate pressure chamber. The sprayer pumps at 65 PSI through a check valve into the PC, which then feeds out to the water out lines via the solenoid valve. The pressure chamber will have a small spring switch attached to the inside of it which will turn on the water pump when the chamber empties by a certain amount.

How does that all sound?

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soakernerd
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by soakernerd » Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:01 pm

If you are only using the garden sprayer to pressurize, that sounds like a fantastic idea.

neogeo
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by neogeo » Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:27 am

So here's my next question: I have the sprayer and the Super Soaker, a CPS 2500 to be exact, and I need to know where to cut the plumbing to start fitting the two together. The internal pictures available at this site don't offer me much in the way of detail for the plumbing, but I know I'll need it to go garden sprayer > check valve > pressure chamber > line out. I also need to figure out what size line I should use for this.

The valve to control the water flow can either be mounted back at the pack, or on my wrist, so water leaking out if the line is too big shouldn't be an issue. I don't want to empty out the pressure chamber too quickly, especially because the line will be fed to both hands, and sometimes I will be shooting with both hands simultaneously. It seems like the 5x nozzle setting is about as big as I need the stream to be, and it empties the chamber at a decent rate. I probably wouldn't want to go much bigger than that setting.

Any recommendations?

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soakernerd
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by soakernerd » Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:09 am

Read up on the CPH. I would recommend using LRT, rather than chopping up the 2500, as it is one of the rarest and best blasters around.

neogeo
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by neogeo » Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:45 pm

huh. I bought that gun for $30 off of Craig's List. Didn't know it was rare. I guess I should save it, but that means that now I have to build a pressure chamber from scratch, which will cost more of my precious budget. I wonder if there's any local places that sell LRT? Also, where could I get check valves, if not from the 2500? I know I'll need at least one, but I'm not keen on buying a new water gun just for a valve.

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cantab
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by cantab » Fri Apr 30, 2010 8:30 pm

Check valves should be easy to find in most hardware stores that sell plumbing parts.

Latex rubber tubing can be trickier to get hold of. But it's probably worth making a new pressure chamber - the tubing wears out over time and eventually breaks, your old CPS2500 could be close to that.

You can use layered balloons. From what I've heard it's doable but tricky. The hardest thing is to get started - once you've layered enough it acquires some rigidity making adding more easier. Probably want about a hundred.
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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Drenchenator
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by Drenchenator » Sat May 01, 2010 3:18 am

While check valves in general are easy to find, finding smaller ones usually if tough.

McMaster is always an option. My local Lowes sometimes stocks check valves (smallish ones) in the brass fittings section; but sometimes they don't. You should shop around see what the selection is before buying one -- unless of course that one is available that is a good size.
The Drenchenator, also known as Lt. Col. Drench.

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zeda.beta
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by zeda.beta » Sat May 01, 2010 2:51 pm

If you are in need of LRT, Home Depot and Lowe's are probably the only places around that will carry it, unless there is an ace hardware near you. You could also just use a FF's PC as your starting point, that way you will have a solid base for the CPS chamber.
-Zeda
I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Quack damn you.

neogeo
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by neogeo » Sat May 01, 2010 8:51 pm

zeda.beta wrote:If you are in need of LRT, Home Depot and Lowe's are probably the only places around that will carry it, unless there is an ace hardware near you. You could also just use a FF's PC as your starting point, that way you will have a solid base for the CPS chamber.
-Zeda
Using an FF PC might be viable. Any tips on doing that? I'd assume you could mod it like any other PC to increase its performance, right? I'll most likely end up doing whatever's the cheaper solution.

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zeda.beta
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by zeda.beta » Sat May 01, 2010 10:27 pm

Yeah, it is a standard cylindrical pc, but hasbro limited the performance by restricting how much it can expand. That shouldn't be a problem if you don't need to use the pc in the ff ever again, but otherwise you should check out the colossus guide here. If you are new, then this will help, but it still gives you an idea of the placement of the pc on the ff, because the Arctic Blast is a copy of the FF, with different colors.
-Zeda
I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Quack damn you.

neogeo
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:01 pm

Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by neogeo » Sun May 02, 2010 5:00 am

I'll have to do some experimentation to see how much, if at all, I want to increase the power of the PC. I need to make sure I don't overdo it or else the garden sprayer may not fill it correctly, or it might blow the lines out from the tank. I wonder how much the performance of the PC was restricted? I know it's not going to be as powerful as a regular CPS, but as long as I can get relatively the same output pressure, it shouldn't be too bad. With the smaller PC, the garden sprayer should be able to fill it up faster for quicker shots anyway.

...Hey, if I get a FF to cannibalize, I can use the check valves from that for this thing. Two birds, one stone. :D I know Toys R Us sells that Iron Man edition FF. I could probably pick it up tomorrow.

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zeda.beta
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Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by zeda.beta » Sun May 02, 2010 4:29 pm

The way they restricted it was by putting a smaller pc in, and preventing the expansion by using tabs in the water gun itself. It shouldn't be a problem, but I would definately reinforce it using some LRT or also restricting how much it can expand lengthwise.
-Zeda
I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Quack damn you.

neogeo
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:01 pm

Re: need advice for making a very custom water gun

Post by neogeo » Sun May 02, 2010 8:16 pm

So hey, I finally got around to cracking open the box for my garden sprayer and trying it out and to my surprise, the sprayer has some built in features that help out a lot. First, it has its own check valve, or some kind of equivalent. All I have to do is figure out how/where to attach it to the internals of the FF I bought and I'll should be good on that respect. Second, it has an auto shut off when it reaches its maximum pressure. This means that coding and control through the microcontroller wil be much easier and I'll spend less money on parts. The hose line even has the same ID as the water hose in the FFs tank.

I figure I could either block up the pump cylinder and attach it to the water in line for the gun, or attach it along the line from the pump to the PC. The first method will require disabling the pressure valve. Does anyone know what sort of pressure the PC can take before it bursts? The pump only goes up to 65 PSI maximum, so if everything can take that, then this part of the project should be a breeze.

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