I was bored today in school.

Number 1 and 2 are guns, 3, 4, and 5 are details. I've figured out by now that the first one won't work. The top ball valve on #2 is for 'priming' it, which will get rid of the air and make pumping more efficient. As long as it's primed, the check valves can be as far apart as you want. I've almost figured out a good trigger, but I need some time to do some dismantling of a few of my stock guns.

#3 and #4 work by grinding down on the ridges on the inside of the connector.
On the left side of #5 there is some smaller pipe sandwiching a washer, the washer holds the end of the pump. The smaller pipe can just be a modified bushing, since the next size down probably wouldn't fit well. The back of #2 is an empty stock, as detailed in #4. The bottom of #2, right above the check valve, is the handle.

Questions/Comments/Criticism?

I don't understand how this is necessary or even an improvement. We've already established that even when the pipe between check valves is completely full of air, it would only take a pump or two to completely "prime" the system. That is far less complicated and expensive than adding a ball valve to "prime" the system. In fact, I believe that pumping out the excess air would not only be easier and more convenient, but faster as well.

Nice idea, but it simply isn't an improvement over the current systems.

#3 has been thought of before, but it is good to see someone who hasn't made that design and left that space open via pipe as many do. ;)

The stock in #2 would be a terrible idea. You're not going to need stability or have a shotgun-sized massive recoil. To me, that would only make using that water gun less comfortable. I couldn't imagine stretching that far to reach the ball valve to fire.

Is #5 meant to be a pump that works on both strokes? If that was your intention, then you should know that your setup will not work as drawn. I'm just checking right now, so let me know if that was what you meant. The design will work as a double-stroke pump with a few modifications.

No, #5 is a regular pump. It would take a pipe going to the end of the pump and a few check valves to get it working on both strokes, right?

As for the priming, yea, I see what you mean now.

It's going to be a while 'til I get to work on the trigger, I have to write and essay today, I will have to do two days worth of homework tomorrow, and am going to an all-day contest on Wednesday.

Oh, and with the structural modifications, would it be possible to to make a cps chamber with balloons? I'm working on a diagram.

EDIT: Here it is:

Yes, in fact it would probably be easier to make than those designs. I've made one and there is are a few threads about exactly that already posted.

Design Development
One that was built

And the later parts of this thread are about cps homemades made with the much better-than-balloons LRT.

I thought of a few more ideas today, mainly a trigger!


The trigger is based off of a homemade Nerf valve by Zero Talent. The forward stopper/block thing can be moved to where the nozzle would be, effectively replacing it. You can now have a real trigger at the back of the gun, instead of a ball valve at the front. The pressure needs to be in between the two stoppers, and when the trigger (the pin going though the two stoppers) is pulled back, it allows water to go through the hole in the front stopper. :)

That's a good system, but you could make an even simpler one based on a standard Nerf air valve. Here's a 30 second off center paint drawing:

If it's that simple, why haven't we seen one in a homemade yet? It's basically just a pin/stopper being pulled back to let the water flow forward.

There's been a lot of talk about trigger homemades and I'm pretty sure some people knew about this kind of valve, so I don't know why it hasn't been used yet. ;)

Drenchenator's been working on a water gun valve operating on the same principle as his homemade Nerf gun. He hasn't finished it for several reasons, but he'll eventually finish it. We've got a lot of rubber sheeting we can use to do a variety of things.

So many people have used small hand pumps to pump air. What's stopping those pumps from pumping water? All you have to do is hack it up some to find the air inlet, and hook up a hose to it. Hand pumps can be small, and you don't have a bunch of extra space occupied by big check valves (because they are in the pump).

I'm talking about small air pumps, like the ones used on these (scroll to the bottom).

EDIT: what about something like this?


EDIT2: I almost have 200 dollars. After I get 200, the rest I make is going into homemades.

Ok, here are the sizes for the parts:


And here is a revision of the overall gun:


With the pump on top of the barrel it can be moved back so you can have a longer pump. Larger diameter PVC goes over the barrel and is connected to the pump, so you can still use the pump like if it was below the barrel. With the PC facing down, you can put the water tank on top of the gun instead of mostly off of the back. :D

Interesting...

I've been one of the people supporting triggers on homemades, so it's obvious that I'm supporting these ideas. However, I think we're missing that all these nice designs do not allow for linear flow at all, and they might even restrict the flow itself. That said, I have certainly thought of modified solenoids in many applications--however, they are far more expensive and require special design features to eliminate the possibility of shorting out. Great ideas all around!

The designs shown are basically a standard trigger valve on anything not "pinch type" or "Max-D"

I would know - I've opened my CPS 27K trigger valve to do some repair work, and this is roughly what it entails.

Solenoid Valves are intended to carry water - they won't short out, etc. I would be more worried about what happens if your batteries run flat.

I would look at utilising a ball valve and have a mechanism to put the "trigger" in a more comfortable place. A standard linear to rotary convertor would be appropiate here.

Standard trigger for CPS guns. XP's, BBT guns, and Max-D's use mini ball valves, and classic SS guns use a pinch trigger.

If you modified the valve, not only would it open faster, but it wouldn't require batteries. No batteries means no worries about losing power.

There is a thread around here that discussed attaching a trigger to a ball valve, but it would require more force to open than your finger can supply, and would open much slower than a piston valve.

PLEASE EXPLAIN IN DETAIL :) :ph43r:

@ puddle: Exactly what do you want to be explained in detail? The ball valve trigger mechanism?

@ joannaardway: The modified valve is like what m15399, and I believe the process of making one was actually detailed on a Spud gunning site. You connect a trigger-like switch on a cord that can be mounted on a handle, but I didn't realize it didn't use batteries--and that's even better.

Whether you use a ball valve or the modified solenoid, I suggest using a full-hand trigger as opposed to a single-finger one. The modified solenoid in that Spud article was, I believe, the size of one's hand; and it is clearly the best option for ball valves. Of course, greasing a ball valve works wonders.