Constant Water Pressure/Flow Concept
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:00 pm
Ok, this is my first post and my first attempt at designing and building a water cannon - or more accurately in this case a water machine gun.
I got the idea while playing with water guns while driving in a http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/ ... Series/XP/ Polaris Ranger. We would chase each other around the ranch in these rangers and shoot water guns at one another. Nice harmless fun but you do have to get pretty close and learn to shoot a moving object while on the move yourself and dealing with distance and wind velocities. Anyway....
Since the Ranger is a mobile platform we use a 55gal drum to refill the water guns - but why not turn the 55 gal (plastic, very heavy duty) drum into a water gun!
Basic concept: Utilize an EWP (electric water pump) that is made for high performance cars. and pump the water to a gun mechanism with an electric trigger (poppit valve or other valve system) see stcvalve.com and/or jeffersonvalves.com.
The result: a very high pressure/high flow water gun that can deliver steady streams or constant pulsed water shots via the programmable electric switch.
I estimate the cost of this project to be around $600 to $700 and probably 160 man hours of work and testing.
I'd like to get any feedback possible.
So far I have the following questions that i have yet to figure out.
1. The EWP produces between 80 gal per min to 110 gal per min flow. That is through the typical 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 inch fitting. Reduced down to 3/8inch what will the PSI be? Will it be enough to shoot water a distance of say 35 to 50 feet?
2. Any electric valve requires the water to take a different path and reduces the diameter then expands the diameter again. This will play havoc on the pressures and the turbulence in the water stream so I'm looking for a way around this but I still want an electric valve/trigger to activate the water gun.
I've learned a lot already from readying the physics portion of this forum so any tools you can suggest on resolving my problems will be greatly appreciated. Obviously the fluid dynamics and the multiple complexities of using high pressure hoses and reduction valves will complicate matters quickly.
Anyway - this newbie is looking for advice and help.
David
I got the idea while playing with water guns while driving in a http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/ ... Series/XP/ Polaris Ranger. We would chase each other around the ranch in these rangers and shoot water guns at one another. Nice harmless fun but you do have to get pretty close and learn to shoot a moving object while on the move yourself and dealing with distance and wind velocities. Anyway....
Since the Ranger is a mobile platform we use a 55gal drum to refill the water guns - but why not turn the 55 gal (plastic, very heavy duty) drum into a water gun!
Basic concept: Utilize an EWP (electric water pump) that is made for high performance cars. and pump the water to a gun mechanism with an electric trigger (poppit valve or other valve system) see stcvalve.com and/or jeffersonvalves.com.
The result: a very high pressure/high flow water gun that can deliver steady streams or constant pulsed water shots via the programmable electric switch.
I estimate the cost of this project to be around $600 to $700 and probably 160 man hours of work and testing.
I'd like to get any feedback possible.
So far I have the following questions that i have yet to figure out.
1. The EWP produces between 80 gal per min to 110 gal per min flow. That is through the typical 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 inch fitting. Reduced down to 3/8inch what will the PSI be? Will it be enough to shoot water a distance of say 35 to 50 feet?
2. Any electric valve requires the water to take a different path and reduces the diameter then expands the diameter again. This will play havoc on the pressures and the turbulence in the water stream so I'm looking for a way around this but I still want an electric valve/trigger to activate the water gun.
I've learned a lot already from readying the physics portion of this forum so any tools you can suggest on resolving my problems will be greatly appreciated. Obviously the fluid dynamics and the multiple complexities of using high pressure hoses and reduction valves will complicate matters quickly.
Anyway - this newbie is looking for advice and help.
David