I think I'm going to alter the configuration to a side connection. It'll be interesting to see if that changes the heating location. Air warms up when compressed and cools when it expands. The compressor heats up air a lot due to the mechanical friction forces as well. I'd expect the whole chamber t...

Got a new valve and I'm all set. I'm now using a Lawn Genie 1" anti-siphon 180 degree valve and it sounds very good. It has a much better solenoid design compared to the Rain Bird with bigger ports. I bet you could open them up even more but I'm not going to bother. Best sound seems to be with a sli...

Thanks for the link. I've been on that site. My prototypes are pretty much identical to their concussion cannon except I have a honking goose instead!

Anything that isn't auto-resetting and able to fire every ten to fifteen seconds is a non-starter.

I've seen some info on a coaxial design that fires a ball into a diaphragm to release all the air at once. I'm trying to get more detailed information.

The solenoid is being actuated by 22 volts DC (from a regulated power supply).

I should add that the honking occurs when the cannon is fired, even very short blasts (1/10 of a second).

Thanks Captain Obvious. I read the troubleshooting guide and the Wiki before I posted. Care to point me to the section of the guide that talks about curing honking in electricaly activated sprinkler valves? why dont you read the sticky at the top of the section that you just posted in, that explains...

I'm working on a concussion air cannon for Halloween. The idea is to generate a loud report to scare visitors and to set off sound activated props. I've build a few prototypes (one using the chamber and barrel from my propane combustion spud gun) and have not had good results. I'm using an electrica...

Doh! Sorry about that!

I can see how that makes sense. We fire our guns out in the desert where there's nothing to burn but flaming projectiles could be a big problem in other places!

I had my new gun out for the first time this weekend and the biggest hit were the tennis balls. We were getting about seven seconds of hang time for empty balls fired straight up.

I'm wondering if anyone has a method for getting the balls to burn in flight?

Thanks!