piston vs burst disk

[jon_89]

So I just built a cannon with a 2x30 inch chamber and a 1.5x48 inch barrel. Well after shooting it using a modified sprinkler valve I realized using it was a mistake. My question is should I use a triggered burst disk or a 2 inch piston? Thanks in advance.

[Ragnarok]

My own choice would be the piston valve, as they're less work to operate, if a little less powerful.

Basically, as valves go, the piston valve is probably the best compromise between effort and power - it can take some fettling to work in the first place, but the gains are worth it.

[Hotwired]

Burst disks take a lot of faffing about to reset the valve while piston valves reset automatically.

You could make a clamping mechanism to make things faster with disk replacing if you were feeling particularly industrious.

[psycix]

Burst disks are for pure power and basically only for records and experiments.
You need some burst material each shot, which may cost money. Also it costs alot of time and hassle to replace the BD every shot. -Not for recreational or normal guns.

Piston valves are powerful, cheap, reliable and fast valves for normal cannons. -- Easy on use, and very powerful.