First gun

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor. Show us your combustion spud gun and discuss fuels, ratios, safety, ignition systems, tools, and more.
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toon
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Sun Jul 11, 2010 8:03 am

Yesterday I made my first spud gun and today i tested it and it wouldn't shoot.
I used axe as fuel.
Can the problem be that i put an open flame in the combustion chamber?

any help would be great

Sorry for my bad english^^
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Sun Jul 11, 2010 8:26 am

What are you using for ignition? You might have simply sprayed too much deoderant into the chamber...
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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clemsonguy1125
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Sun Jul 11, 2010 8:31 am

Sounds like your using a pilot hole, I had better luck holding the flame on the outside of the hole
That is all.
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Gun Freak
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Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:48 pm

Can you at least give a picture or some sort of detail on the gun, then we may be able to help.
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toon
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Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:47 pm

its a T out of pvc and at the side i made a hole where the candle lighter fits in. i'll see if i can post a picture. and what is a pilot hole?^^
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toon
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Sun Jul 11, 2010 3:30 pm

this are photos of my spudgun
Attachments
here is put the candle lighter in
here is put the candle lighter in
3.jpeg (28.32 KiB) Viewed 3817 times
combustion chamber
combustion chamber
1.jpeg
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kydavies
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Sun Jul 11, 2010 5:11 pm

first off thats "Y" not a "T" and you are losing a lot of power due to the pilot hole. i dont have much experience in combustion cannons but try different fuels
mikemurph wrote:yea, the ammo has been changed to a more aero dynamic projectile. it consists of the back half of a dart, and a hot glue ball
AHahahahah!!
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toon
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:33 am

kydavies wrote:first off thats "Y" not a "T" and you are losing a lot of power due to the pilot hole. i dont have much experience in combustion cannons but try different fuels
So you are saying the cannon is ok, but it loses some power thanks too the pilot hole but it will work? and that i just need to try other fuels


Thank you very much for the help
metalmeltr
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:26 am

You are also losing power because the Y is an inefficient combustion chamber, a piece of 4" pipe would be better
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:02 am

You are probably spraying too much fuel, try with a very short spray. Also, there are better sprays to use, like starting fluid:

Image
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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toon
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:03 pm

If my first gun fires I am happy i don't need to be fire. it just need to fire and probabely i gonna make a stronger and better one later.
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toon
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:51 pm

lol it just worked, i was using to much fuel and man it was loud and hard xD

I love it^^

And guys thanks for all advice
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jakethebeast
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:14 pm

good thing to got it working, but the "y" is very bad combustion chamber, next time try with normal "T", it would work better
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Techie
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:53 pm

toon wrote:loud and hard
I love it^^
uhuh......


yea the hole makes it lose alot of power, i can't imagine its very safe either.
Youshould to pick up a cheap electric lighter and use the piezo igniter from it to fire it.
[Techie] 12:04 am: heck why dont i just light a fire under random cars
[Techie] 12:04 am: that aughta be fun while it lasts
[mark.f] 12:06 am: Just give us the ignition coils before you do.
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Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:46 pm

jakethebeast wrote:good thing to got it working, but the "y" is very bad combustion chamber, next time try with normal "T", it would work better
But in a spray-n-pray with a touch hole ignition system its not like the shape of the chamber is havinga significant affect on the guns performance. :D

(And a T is not going to be much better than a Y)
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