Whats my best option for building a launcher. I'm picturing all copper and brass. Either a sprinkler or push button valve. Electric or manual. Obviously with a safety relief on the pressure vessel. Not looking to spend a fortune, just need something for next season.
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Step 1 - make sure all the fields by you allow home made launchers.....most don't. -
Buy a havoc get a breach mod call it a day.
They hold there value so you can always sell it for what you got in it.Comment
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Yes I will have permission
My team Has a havoc but it was down. Not sure why didnt ask, but i dont feel like investing in a second one.
Just trying tryget a backup plan put together.Comment
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Only a Few fields allow launchers. Even fewer allow home brew. The ones that do don’t know they are giving up liability insurance if you blow your hand off.
Invest in a rebuild kit for the havoc and keep it on hand.Comment
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unless you are well versed on the physics of thin walled high pressure vessels don't even attempt this. it's a bomb just waiting to blow unexpectedly.Comment
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Not going to add too much to the talk about safety that others have mentioned, but know what you are making and don't do shortcuts. PVC is only an option for the barrel, nothing else.
But on to what I did:
Many many years ago I built a launcher with a sprinkler valve, regulator dropping the pressure below 100psi from a compressed air tank (acted in as a velocity adjuster), and a large metal reservoir rated to 4 times the max pressure I was going to use. It was all inline and I added in supports around the sprinkler valve body for structural integrity. It was heavy, sounded like a train horn, and I loved it. Unfortunately I did disassemble it as fields stopped allowing home made versions for insurance reasons.
I have seen others that utilized a pressure washer handle attached to an air tank (dono if it had a reg) and the barrel consisted of a "volumizer" and then where the rocket was to sit. This allowed air to fill the barrel first and acted as a buffer from air just impacting the foam rocket and breaking it. the volumizer section acted as the velocity adjuster where longer was lower velocity and shorter was higher velocity (if my memory is correct).Comment
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I appreciate the safety concerns. It's the right thing to do since you guys don't know me. But I assure you it's the first thing on my mind. I've been a pipefitter by trade for almost 20yrs, so I'm well aware of what pressure can do. Again I plan on having a relief valve on the pressure tank. Probably 100psi. I plan on making the tank and barrel out of type L copper with brass fittings. That will be well within all safety ranges. The trick will be getting a valve with enough flow to make that low pressure work. I'm thinking a 12vdc solenoid valve is the way to go right now. Easy to make a safety with a kill switch. But I also found some brass bodied 1/2" button valves on the interweb. That might also do the trick, but making a safety for the button will be more difficult.Comment
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