Super Soaker Central

Last night when I was looking around at water balloon launchers online, I came across this gun called the Stream Machine:

Stream Machine

It looks pretty simple, all you do is put it into the water and pull the handle back, then push the handle in and the water sprays out. It says that they can shoot up to 70 feet, which is awesome compared to my last homemade.

I'm thinking I might just take apart my old gun and use some of the extra pieces from my water balloon launcher and try to build a better one using some of the stuff I've learned. Here's my idea:
Gun Idea

I like the idea of their gun because it really doesn't require any pumping, and the range/output is determined by how hard you push the handle in. The only problem I saw with it was that you need to be by a water source such a pool/pond/bucket to reload. With my improvements, all you do is close the valve and then pull the handle back. This should pull the water from the backpack into the gun, taking away the need to be close to a water supply all the time.

Well I hope you like my idea, or have some good advice for it. And if anyone happens to have one of those Stream Machine guns...do they really work that well? I figure if I could even get 50 or 60 feet, it would already beat my old gun. I can't really see any reason why my idea shouldn't work as good, if not better than what they have (but maybe that's just me).

Originally posted by Leprechaun71588@Feb 22 2005, 04:54 PM
Last night when I was looking around at water balloon launchers online, I came across this gun called the Stream Machine:

Stream Machine

It looks pretty simple, all you do is put it into the water and pull the handle back, then push the handle in and the water sprays out. It says that they can shoot up to 70 feet, which is awesome compared to my last homemade.

I'm thinking I might just take apart my old gun and use some of the extra pieces from my water balloon launcher and try to build a better one using some of the stuff I've learned. Here's my idea:
Gun Idea

I like the idea of their gun because it really doesn't require any pumping, and the range/output is determined by how hard you push the handle in. The only problem I saw with it was that you need to be by a water source such a pool/pond/bucket to reload. With my improvements, all you do is close the valve and then pull the handle back. This should pull the water from the backpack into the gun, taking away the need to be close to a water supply all the time.

Well I hope you like my idea, or have some good advice for it. And if anyone happens to have one of those Stream Machine guns...do they really work that well? I figure if I could even get 50 or 60 feet, it would already beat my old gun. I can't really see any reason why my idea shouldn't work as good, if not better than what they have (but maybe that's just me).

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Stream Machines are supposed to be OK guns if you like piston guns, which I admittedly don't. As you noticed, you have to be constantly by a water source. So I suppose they would be OK for base defence, but useless for practically everything else.

Piston guns in general are subject to big limitations, including the fact that they can be harder to aim. Still, they're very simple in concept. I would say, though, that the future in water guns looks like it may well be Constant Air Pressure, not Piston, which is a return to pre-Super Soaker days.

If you can make a piston gun that works for you, though, go for it! B)

Those guns would only get 70 feet if you're a body builder. Realize they are trying to sell you a Stream Machine and most people won't get over 40 feet. That is completely honest and the truth. Never believe a manufacturer's reported range because they are trying to sell it to you! Even our beloved Big Bee has said that they take the farthest shots from a series, which is a form of deception in my opinion!

Very nice drawing! The design essentially is that of the ZX series of water guns. Check out our review of the ZX-1000 if you want to see a similar gun.

I've made a homemade piston before, and they'll perform about as well as the store bought ones. Try making this gun and tell us how it works. Who knows, you might really like it!

Wow I am surprised you haven't heard of one well my local wal mart sells those just made by a different company and they have a trigger so you don't have to pull back trust me pulling back will effect your aim. For my squad I buy them in bulk and they only total to 5.99 each and they have the triggers. If you are thinking of buying or making one try to use them to protect your base because they are very affective as far as total drenching goes but make sure you have an open water supply. Oh and that is quite a splendid idea.

Soakup, I'd love to welcome you to the Hello I Don't Use Commas And My Posts Are Very Hard To Read But I Don't Listen To Repeated Warnings club!

While the above is silly, I do hope you get the point.

Also, a gun can't be a piston if it has a trigger. By their nature, pistons can't have triggers. If you could, please explain these other guns and I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Well I got the parts today and I've got most of it built. It looks like it's coming together pretty well so far. I should have it ready to test tomorrow afternoon after the glue is done drying.

I would also like to point out that a couple people missed a whole paragraph of my first post in which I explained that:

The only problem I saw with it was that you need to be by a water source such a pool/pond/bucket to reload. With my improvements, all you do is close the valve and then pull the handle back. This should pull the water from the backpack into the gun, taking away the need to be close to a water supply all the time.

That's why it has a backback attached, so I don't have to be by a water source.

If you did it right you could probably make a backpack for a stream machine.

Your piston action gun looks neat. I personally don't like piston because its hard to aim and it can be uncomfortable. One thing I see that might be a problem is the ball valve. Once you pull back the water into the chamber and open the ball valve, water might start coming out. From the looks of it there wouldn't be a deluge, but it would do a small amount of trickling. I think once you get the hang of it it won't be a problem.

Well I finished putting it all together today and tried testing it. I didn't have a backpack built yet, so I just tested it out in my bathroom sink...

The thing pumps great, the gun was full with about 15-20 pumps. I then opened up the ball valve to shoot it, and some water did leak out, but that had to be expected since I was pointing it down into the sink.

It didn't have any problems shooting, but I noticed one thing that was odd...I figured that all you would get would be one long shot out of each set of pumps. But I was able to pull off a couple shots before I needed to close it and start pumping again.

I then took it outside for a range test and decided I could just use my backpack from my old gun. I pumped it up, but that's where the problems started. I got the gun full and then pushed in the handle, but no water came out. There was more water shooting back at me than out the nozzle. so I took it apart to see what was wrong...apparently I build the pump very XPBackfire-esquepily. It's hard to explain how I built it, but the glue that was holding the rubber in place didn't hold so the waer was able to just go right past the pump. I think I'll be able to fix it with some electrical tape, but if not, I'll just have to go buy something else to use for a pump.

Sorry well here it is those weird piston like trigger guns are made by a company named splash and they are double barreled the guns worked by dipping the head of it in water suck it up then you have an option either pull a trigger to shoot or or pull back the piston.

they were cheap too.

Edit:

For the second time:

Soakup, I'd love to welcome you to the Hello I Don't Use Commas And My Posts Are Very Hard To Read But I Don't Listen To Repeated Warnings club!

Well I finally got the gun finished. All I needed was some electrical tape to finish off the pump, but I somehow lost my roll that I had just bought, so I went to get more today.

I really haven't gotten to do a range test or anything yet, it started raining here shortly after I got finished. I did do a couple test shots in my back yard, and I am pretty happy so far with what I saw...

+ Since I fixed the pump, it only takes one pump to fill the chamber with water.

+ I made the tank for my backpack out of 2 2-liter bottles by cutting the top off of one and the bottom off of another and then putting them together. The means my tank will hold close to 3.5 liters and it gets about 5-6 shots per tank. I might somehow hook up another set of bottles with it, but that probably won't happen for awhile.

+ The range was looking fairly decent for when I used my biggest nozzle, and even better for my small one. (but no 70 feet like the Stream Machine was supposed to get)

+ It's already looking more reliable and better than my old homemade. It is a lot easier to load and fire. In the time it took me to pump my other gun and shoot it, I could probably come close to emptying my tank.

+ The cost was only about $5 for me, but all I had to buy was the tape, 2 end caps, and a rubber thing to use for the pump. Everything else I had leftover from my WBL and parts I salvaged from my other gun. (Altogether, I would estimate the cost at $20-25)

I'll do some range tests and whatnot tomorrow if it's warmed up and stopped raining...

I guess the tech area has just been waiting forsomeone to post. well I found my mysterious blaster on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllVie ... 64343&rd=1

Originally posted by Doom@Feb 22 2005, 06:05 PM
Soakup, I'd love to welcome you to the Hello I Don't Use Commas And My Posts Are Very Hard To Read But I Don't Listen To Repeated Warnings club!

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Still partially true soakup.

You could probably build a douchenator for cheaper than the piston gun you made, so why do piston?

You could probably build a douchenator for cheaper than the piston gun you made, so why do piston?

:blink:
1.) because that's a waterballoon launcher, and this is a water gun.
2.) because this is a lot less complicated
3.) because I wanted to try building my own thing
4.) because I was trying to be creative
5.) because I already have a waterballoon launcher
6.) because I already had all the spare parts lying around
7.) because that's a waterballoon launcher, and this is a water gun.
8.) " "
9.) " "
10.) " "


On a lighter note, I have pictures of my gun all finished.
Pic 1
Pic 2
The handle to the pump is used to hold my different nozzles. I bought a cheap little Nerf type gun and took a nozzle off of it and now I can shoot the foam darts from it too. Of course, it doesn't have the greatest range or accuracy, but I thought it was pretty cool. I think after I get this gun up and running, I'm going to focus more on Nerf guns. After doing some research online, it looks to me like there are a lot of cool things you can do with those guns.

EDIT: didn't want to double-post

I got a chance to go do some shots today, but still didn't measure for range. I would've, but I noticed a big problem with it. When I use the small nozzle, there is a massive stream breakup which I assume is killing the range. When I use the big nozzle, there is a lot less breakup, but of course, the range isn't quite as good and it lowers the shot time by a lot.

Not bad, I like it because it looks much better than some homemades.