First hybrid build

Harness the power of precision mixtures of pressurized flammable vapor. Safety first! These are advanced potato guns - not for the beginner.
Scrambles622467
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Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:44 pm

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This is what I have so far, it's all 2 inch galv steel pipe. The 2 long pieces on the sides are the chamber wich is 226 cubic inches not including all the misc atachments. Now I just have to get the piston made for the piston valve and the ignition set up. Does any body have any advice on an ignition system? I've looked at spark strips and spark plugs but I am not sure which would work best.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:07 am

Holy reducers batman!

A spark strip with multiple ignition points is technically more efficient than a single spark plug but you should be OK with the latter really, with all that volume even at low mixes you'll be obliterating pretty much anything you put in front of the barrel...
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
Scrambles622467
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Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:11 pm

I'm thinking about putting a spark strip in each chamber, I just haven't figured out how to cone t the wires and still have it be air tight. Any ideas? I looked into that universal spark strip but my only concern is weather the curent will pass through the bolts or just electrify the whole damn and shock me, I have a 1.9 million volt stun gun to put to use.
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PeteS
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Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:06 am

I have had good luck using auto or motorcycle spark plugs. I use ones with a 10mmx1.0 thread and bought a tap for that size. autotoolworld.com has a decent price on the tap.
[center]My wife upon seeing my latest hybrid and hearing an explanation of it:
"That really isn't a potato cannon anymore, is it?"
[/center]
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Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:24 pm

Electrifying the entire cannon isn't the most efficient circuit, but it won't zap you if that's what you're worried about. Even if you are holding it bare handed, the circuit would rather run through the conductive metal than your flesh.
You don't have to worry about holding the circuit bare handed, you'll only get zapped if you complete the circuit.
Scrambles622467
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Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:03 pm

My other question is what is the best way to preasure test this thing, my idea was to take one of each part that's in my gun connect them all together then, pump it full of hydronic fluid till it breaks. How do you guys do it?
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:44 pm

Scrambles622467 wrote:How do you guys do it?
Most people don't, if you have used correctly rated fittings and put them together correctly it's not really necessary.

What mix number are you planning to take it to?
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
Scrambles622467
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Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:03 pm

I plan on taking it to 15 maybe 20x but I think it be a very good idea of preasure testing before those levels.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:15 pm

What is your lowest rated fitting?
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
Scrambles622467
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Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:20 am

Well according to engineer toolbox I don't have a damn thing to worry about, if I keep it under 4000 psi.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:15 am

In that case you should be fine up to 20x mixes ;) frankly even at 10x you'll be thinking the whole thing is a bit overkill.

One thing I would be careful about is allowing it to recoil freely, otherwise it will put stress on where the barrel tee meets the chamber.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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PeteS
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Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:27 am

How long of a barrel do you plan to use? It looks like it has enough chamber volume for an extremely long barrel. Especially at those mixes, unless you are going VERY long it looks to my not so expert eye as if it would perform just as well with a much smaller chamber. Have you tried playing with the numbers with the Hybrid Gun Design Tool?
[center]My wife upon seeing my latest hybrid and hearing an explanation of it:
"That really isn't a potato cannon anymore, is it?"
[/center]
Scrambles622467
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Wed Mar 05, 2014 12:58 pm

I didn't even know there was such a thing haha. I plan on using 3 different bArells depending on how far I'm trying to shoot I'm thinking 5 a 10 and a15 foot barrel, I am extremely curious to see how far one of these things will throw a potato cuz the last combustion I built could hit 1400 feet regularly.
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Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:06 pm

Scrambles622467 wrote:I am extremely curious to see how far one of these things will throw a potato cuz the last combustion I built could hit 1400 feet regularly.
I'm afraid you will be disappointed, even at low mixes the potato will exit the barrel as a cloud of fragmented starch. I heard there was a crazy Kiwi who has been using frozen lemons...
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:33 pm

Not if they are cut and frozen with liquid nitrogen....... Then they will be indestructable!!!!
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