And 3 Years Later...

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
mr. dude
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:10 am

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by mr. dude » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:32 pm

MAJOR progress made today, despite the fact that I didn't actually do any work...
1) I found my LRT!!! Success!!! Colossus coming soon.
2) I was thinking, I want to emulate a fast-fill cap so much, why not just use an actual fast-fill cap? I stole one from a broken Triple Aggressor I have, it fits nicely on my reservoir. I haven't decided how to secure it, glue might suffice (I probably wouldn't want to unscrew it anyway).
Update to follow.

atvan
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 10:52 pm

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by atvan » Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:24 pm

The days we don't work seem to be the most productive, don't they? :p

mr. dude
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:10 am

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by mr. dude » Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:03 am

Unfortunately I did end up working after that post :P
Here's what went down:
I spent about an hour struggling with the LRT, trying to layer the big tube over the smaller one. Having done my homework, I know JLSpacemarine had a problem with his LRT here. Knowing that I planned on clamping the tubes together, I paid attention to this. Ben's explanation made sense to me,
Ben wrote: I'm going to take a guess as to why it happened. There is some air space between the two tubes and perhaps the pressure differential between them caused some problems. If you eliminated the air somehow it probably wouldn't break from my thinking.
I decided to poke a small ventilation hole in the outer tube to counteract this (not too big, just a pinhole).

I did end up using oil-free skin moisturizer for the pump, so far it has been fantastic.

So, I took it outside for testing. It's heavy. Good work-out though, I haven't done much of that in a while :) The PC leaks still, so I'll need to look into that, but even with the leak it does have a good range. By eyeballing, it seems to clear 40', that's positive. Of course, I'm aiming for something closer to 60', but 40' is a good start. I'm confident it'll clear 50' when I fix and clean it up, and more if I get me some inner tubes.
Also, output is enormous. I drained that reservoir in about ten minutes on a hose barb nozzle. I would not want to be hit by this thing.

So, what's left now, in order of importance, is:
1) Fix all leaks
2) Frame. The thing was so wobbly, it was impossible to hold. I'll use scrap wood and pipe to hold it together.
3) PC case, 3" drainpipe ideally.
4) Securing the reservoir cap. I just got an idea, I'll give myself a moment to decide whether to follow through with it.
5) Strap.
6) Extra nozzles.
7) Maybe Track the pump.

All in all, about 2 hours of work if I apply myself. I'm very happy with it.

atvan
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 10:52 pm

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by atvan » Fri Jul 15, 2011 2:13 am

Sounds good!

mr. dude
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:10 am

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by mr. dude » Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:59 am

I readjusted the LRT, hopefully that fixes the leak, though I haven't tested it since my last post.
Today, I only got an hour or two of spare time, so I worked on a variety of things. I built it a new pump, will try it later. Work began on the frame, very basic stuff. I found a 2" pipe and cut it in half, then I used it to cover the exposed vinyl tubing. Then it was a matter of jamming any piece of scrap wood between the pipes for stability. Everything is held together by electrical tape, so I dub him CPTapey (creative, I know).
Not much left until I can officially say "I'm done", though I've been at that stage for a while.
A picture will come in due time.

atvan
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 10:52 pm

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by atvan » Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:35 pm

Spray paint it when your done. Just don't get the ball valve. Maybe a bluish grey with purple, like a CPS 2k. That would look sick. You could go CPS 3000 too, but it might be tricky on the clear parts.

Hope all goes well!

mr. dude
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:10 am

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by mr. dude » Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:02 am

Just did a bit more work. It's been "almost done" for a very long time, but now it's actually usable in battle. I added a PC case, 3" ABS, I know 4" is better for expansion, but 3" serves the purpose. Everything is stable, no wobbly parts, and all the stabilizers are held together by tape, which I'm actually proud of :)
Picture 1 is the soaker on my workbench:
Image

And here's a size comparison with a CPS 2700:
Image
I doubt I'll paint it, the only cosmetic thing I plan on doing is writing its name on the reservoir (painting is too much work). You can see the cap I will be using in the first picture, that needs to go on. Other than that, a strap would come in handy, so I'll probably attach one at some stage.

In terms of performance, it does well. I don't really feel like testing numbers, but it has some kick behind it. I would say it has the power of a CPS 2000 (or slightly higher, nothing too significant) but with more shot time. However, the riot blast was very disappointing, minimal range due to a lack of lamination.
I prefer on-board reservoirs to backpacks, so it's more convenient for me to use in that sense. It's definitely easier to use than my APH, even if it doesn't have the same raw power (still a beast of course).

There are 2 annoying mistakes in the alignment. 1, as I said in the first post, is the reservoir. I should have put in a 4" elbow at the end before reducing it, though in my tests that hasn't been too much of a problem, it's still slightly inconvenient. 2, I used the vinyl tubing in the wrong place. Instead of feeding from the reservoir to the first check valve, it would have made more sense to build the pump directly below the reservoir, and then have the tubing go from the first check valve to the second, where the firing mechanism could be around the same area. That would have saved a lot of piping, which makes pumping more responsive.

Homemades are a learning experience, and I learned a lot from this one, not to mention they're a lot of fun to make.

atvan
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 10:52 pm

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by atvan » Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:22 am

Nice work! Yeah, a strap would be good, and the CPH article has an easy way to attach them.

mr. dude
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:10 am

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by mr. dude » Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:10 pm

Well, I just redid the pump, as I hated the standard wooden dowel. I found old curtain rods that fit nicely, I gave them a few coats of spray paint to waterproof them (not sure what type of metal they are, most likely iron based), and put the o-rings on. One of the o-rings broke as I was putting it in, fortunately there's a second one. However, that did mess up my seal, now it leaks a lot.
My ideal pump has 3 o-rings, but I can never squeeze them in, so I always end up with a weak one.

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wetmonkey442
Posts: 320
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2003 12:00 pm

Re: And 3 Years Later...

Post by wetmonkey442 » Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:37 pm

Wow, that thing is a monster! Can't wait to see some stream shots.
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