Water Balloon Launchers

Dark Elite · Post by **Dark Elite** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 7:06 pm

First off, are water balloon launchers worth their price?

Can you get single-person balloon launchers?

And if so, where?

Just wondering, seeing as I can tie water balloons with over 2 litres in them, which are too heavy to throw far...

thanks in advance

goon · Post by **goon** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 12:45 am

I didn't think they were while I was into the sport. I rigged a spud launcher with a grill ignitor as the trigger to launch balloons. It was a cool idea, but it hit with good force and was a pain to reload, prime, and set off again. I dunno how the people with compressed air launchers liked it.

Neuro · Post by **Neuro** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:15 am

http://soakthis.5gigs.com/owbl.html

that one is extremely cheap and works well.

blaze · Post by **blaze** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 5:33 am

^ That's my site BTW. The article of the WBL was written by BlueSmudge, but it's my site. And don't judge my site right away, I'm still adding a lot of content to it. Oh and BTW, Doom hates my site. Just wanted to get that out. :Hey, that's funny.:

Dark Elite · Post by **Dark Elite** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:04 am

haha... thanks neobird, that looks pretty good, I'll try it... if I can get the parts... :blink:

[at]goon - That just sounds dangerous... ah well!

[at]blaze - Looks like a good site so far... keep working on it!

Why does bluesmudge hate the liquidator? BlueSmudge's Liquidator article...
OK, it's a small weapon, but it's at 2X, not one, and it's pretty tough for it's size...

RacerSoaker445 · Post by **RacerSoaker445** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 1:20 pm

Well, If you want one that can shoot over 120 feet, you can build mine....

And here is the Thread.

blaze · Post by **blaze** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 5:01 pm

Originally posted by Dark Elite@Jul 23 2004, 12:04 AM
haha... thanks neobird, that looks pretty good, I'll try it... if I can get the parts... :blink:

[at]goon - That just sounds dangerous... ah well!
[at]blaze - Looks like a good site so far... keep working on it!
Why does bluesmudge hate the liquidator? BlueSmudge's Liquidator article...
OK, it's a small weapon, but it's at 2X, not one, and it's pretty tough for it's size...

BlueSmudge hates the Liquidator because he owns GOOD guns. I hate the Liquidator because I own GOOD guns. Most people here hate the Liquidator because they own/have used GOOD guns! The Liquidator, even used as a backup, is a pathetic excuse for a weapon. I've seen it being shot. It puts the name Super Soaker to shame. And what's worse, it's the best 2004 gun there is. I wouldn't have put the review to on my site if it was a XPBackfire-esquepy inexperienced userish review that said "This is the best gun ever made! OVERALL SCORE: 100%".

Moving along...

I would try BS's WBL if I could open a 2" ball valve fast enough. I can't even open the ones at Lowes, let alone open them fast! The one he bought looked different...hmm. Anyways, 90 feet is pretty good, and the design is extremely simple. I would estimate the cost of the entire thing to be no more than $20. I don't know what he says it costs, as I never read the article except to fix spelling errors. Which I probably didn't even fix. :Hey, that's funny.:

blueviper · Post by **blueviper** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 1:18 am

Its hard to open the ones at Lowes because they haven't been opened before. Once you use them often they become much easier.

Soakologist · Post by **Soakologist** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 4:41 am

Water Balloon Launchers (WBLs) simply aren't practical in the majority of water battles.
Before I point out why WBLs are often not useful, let me praise them.
I've used a WBL before (the one Pepper gave me broke, though), and I have been absolutely stunned at its capability. A home-made WBL is like nothing else I've ever used or seen before. They can shoot water several times farther than any water blaster, stock or modified. There is an intangible excitement that overcomes the user when he sees the balloon soar seemingly endlessly into the heavens, hang in midair, the plummet to the ground and explode like a weapon of mass destruction. In fact, I will go so far as to say that playing with a WBL is more fun than playing with conventional weapons in many instances. Yet though they are a sight to behold, they simply are not viable in water warfare.
For the sake of reading simplicity, let me make a list of raison d'être explaining why they are impractical:
1. Pumping. There is simply no convenient way to pump WBLs akin to commercial water blasters. Compressors, in addition to being deathly heavy, are expensive and can be damaged or even rendered useless when exposed to water. Bike and sport pumps will easily slip off the air jack and require more pumping than a Monster XL (upwards of seventy pumps) to achieve full pressurization.
2. Loading. Even when youre not fighting, WBLs are a pain to load. The whole process of taking off pipes, buffering the balloon, making sure it doesnt pop, and replacing the pipes is not only time consuming but also difficult. Getting the pieces all situated correctly requires patience, practice, and a little bit of strength in order to wedge that pipe in. Having to reload in battle would be aquatic suicide.
3. Unreliability. Water balloons have a tendency to either pop before leaving the barrel or get stuck and not leave the barrel at all. Finding the optimum pressure for firing water balloons successfully also requires a lot of practice out of fighting, and the slightest changes in balloons sizes, pipe angles, lengths, and even temperature can throw the entire pressure formula off.
4. Size/firing. These things run on par with the Monsters X and XL in terms of size. Maneuvering quickly with anything the size of either of those beasts is no picnic, but that in addition to the awkward and sometimes stubborn twist firing system and requiring of precision aiming (theyre literally a one-shot deal) makes a WBL the most difficult weapon to shoot accurately.

In summation, I think that WBLs are fascinating, entertaining, and ingenious inventions, but their practicality is jeopardized by their difficulty in pumping and loading, unreliability, their size, and their firing systems flaws.

Perhaps one day, some crazy modifier out of Soakerdom will invent a small, self loading WBL with a hopper, trigger, and pump. Until then, save your WBLs for showing off to friends, barbeques, and precision sniping.

B)

BlueSmudge · Post by **BlueSmudge** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 6:59 am

I would like to point out a few differences about my WBL that are basically stated in the article. I will restate them to make them more obvious.

#1.) PSI. Most launchers can get away with a maximum of 100 PSI. Mine however takes 110-120 PSI to get a good 90 feet of range. This is because of the small PC. I mesured it at about 18 square cm. Compare that to aqualab's WBL's at around 75 square cm. In air pressure, amount is way more effective than high PSI.
#2.)Size. I can't actually say I have seen a regular sized WBL. But judging by the size of parts of pictures I have seen, they are fairly hudge. Mine compares to a 1500 in size. Only shorter. At about 2 feet in length and 8 inches in width, its small enough to fit its perpous. An "Offensive Water Balloon Launcher" as the article states.
#3.) Balloons. Any other succesful WBL has a 3" barrel diameter. Mine is 2".

. Its really not that amazingly small. Because of its high velocity it spreads the water out over 3' against wood. And 6" against my body. Thats enough to count as a "kill" in a 1HK match. (never use a WBL in a soakfest)
#4.)Filling. Asside from aqualab's fancy loading design, most people resort to lubing the balloon and barrel before use. This doesn't have to happen! Although I recommend greasing the barrel every now and again for added range, I don't require it. My methode involves first using packing (a plastic grocery bag works wonders) at the bottom (near the ball valve) of the barrel followed by a balloon a little smaller than the barrel. I use a custom ramrod to get it in easily. It is basicaly a alluminum rod handle zip-tied+duct-taped to a 1" Pipe insulator. It fits perfectly into the barrel and is foam so it doesn't break the balloon.
#5.) Price. WBL can sometimes reach an upward price of $40 (still cheaper than many soaker homemades) or more if costum or selenoid valves are used. Mine costs around $20. Comparable to most CPS soaker prices. The Prices are roughly this: (rounded to neares dollar)
$01-2X 2" Endcaps
$01-1X 2" "T"
$10-4X High pressure tire valves ( I couldnt buy them in singles, I guess ill be making some more launchers

)
$10-1X 2" ball valve (You may spend more or less depending on the quality of the valve. The one I got was the cheapest and easiest to open. I saw better one's up to $30)
$03-1X 10' of 2" piping.

Dark Elite · Post by **Dark Elite** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:37 am

BlueSmudge hates the Liquidator because he owns GOOD guns. I hate the Liquidator because I own GOOD guns. Most people here hate the Liquidator because they own/have used GOOD guns! The Liquidator, even used as a backup, is a pathetic excuse for a weapon. I've seen it being shot. It puts the name Super Soaker to shame.

It's not meant to drench, it's meant to shoot targets off people, and that doesn't need a 20X nozzle. <_<

ANYWAY....

Thanks Soakologist, that sums it up well.
And BS, that creates even more reasons to make yours

Thanks again everyone, I'll think it over.

Drewsky92 · Post by **Drewsky92** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 8:22 pm

When I have the money I'm making Blue Smudge's WBL.

Dark Elite · Post by **Dark Elite** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 10:08 am

Yeah, I'll probably do that as well. Anyone else with WBL launcher designs?

Spinner · Post by **Spinner** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 1:38 pm

Check out AguaTech. Impressive work...very attractive...

RacerSoaker445 · Post by **RacerSoaker445** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 2:36 pm

Mine is an improved AquaLabs WBL, it is cheaper to make and needs less PSI to shoot further.