Tater Guns

[Stonewall]

I built a new tater shooter over the weekend, and felt the need to show it off... It's made of 1", 2", and 4" schedule 40 PVC, a modified 1" diaphragm valve, and runs on compressed air. This is my first stab at an air powered tater gun, and I haven't made up my opinion on weather it's better than ether or not...

[Mike]

Looks pretty cool. What kind of pressure are you using? I like the compressed air but it's hard to beat the smell of ether and the residual smoke you get when you unscrew the gun for the next shot.

[Stonewall]

Looks pretty cool. What kind of pressure are you using? I like the compressed air but it's hard to beat the smell of ether and the residual smoke you get when you unscrew the gun for the next shot.

X2 on that... I just tired the compressed air because it looked like a quicker option, I can fire 5 shots in quick succession. I did my pressure test yesterday, and it didn't blow up at my compressor's max psi (160), so I guess the regulator I put on it was unnecessary... I have a plain old ether powered single barrel gun, but this is just going to look so much more intimidating mounted in the back of a pickup...

[LarryW]

Thats cool! Just dont blow your self up.

I think a tire bead seater would be cool for potatoes too. Like a cheetah!

[Stonewall]

Thats cool! Just dont blow your self up.

I think a tire bead seater would be cool for potatoes too. Like a cheetah!

Thanks! I burnt off my eyebrows once with a deodorant powered one. My dad thought it would be a good idea to use a ball valve instead of the screw on cap, but it didn't let enough oxygen in after shooting, so when I sprayed the deodorant in there it didn't fire. Like a dumbass (this was several years ago...) I looked to see if it was sparking...(it was) Fortunatly I was wearing glasses instead of contacts at the time, so the worst I suffered was melted together eyelashes instead of blindness....

Wouldn't a bead seater work pretty much the same as what I built?

[LarryW]

I think it would work the same but with the large volume of air it might work better. Yours might have similar volume though with the longer large pvc. After that it might be restricted with the smaller diameter before the manifold. The manifold it self might be the majority of the volume/speed your getting. Im just going by what I see. Im no expert, lol.

The one I had used the threaded cap. I put the sparker on the end of that. Once I thought I tightened it but it was cross threaded. When I sparked it, it blew the cap of that my hand was on and slammed it into the back of my car. It hurt a little but didnt do anything. That was my worst tator gun accident.

Now spray paint cans in the bon fire go me in more trouble, lol.
btw canned veggies in the fire blow up too. Got cream corn all over my buddies truck once, lol.

[Stonewall]

I don't know very much about them either...I just made the valve from what I saw on a youtube video, and the rest came when I was sitting in Calculus class lol. I probably loose some pressure in the manifold, with all the extra space that has to be filled first. This is just a prototype anyway, as it's my first air-powered one and only an experiment.

Ya'know, spray paint cans create shrapnel...every now and then someone forgets to punch a hole in the shaving cream can, and there is a nice explosion launching trash out of the barrel.... Cream corn grenade lol...

[JohnF]

First my nervous nelly bit: Gosh man, make the pressure reservoir out of metal, like black iron pipe. When PVC fails as a gas pressure vessel it explodes/shatters and then shreds everything around it and has been known to kill people. Compressed air has a lot of stored energy. liquid does not compress. That pipe is for 240 PSI of liquid.

Check out OSHA
PVC does this
wear your helmet

Or put it inside a something that will catch all the bits if/when it does explode. Like a shrapnel blanket. seriously.

And now, in your best Crocodile Dundee: That's not a cannon, This is a cannon.

[LarryW]

Duct tape it, lol.

I forgot to say in the last post. I suggested the bead seater because its rated for the compressed air.
Did you know a 2 liter pop bottle will take 150lb of air. I put one under a pallet with a hose connected to the cap. Long hose btw. I opened the valve and it picked that corner of a 2000lb pallet up. I started playing with pop bottles and compressed air and got careless with them. Only time one ever blew up was in my hands when I was squeezing the air out. Filling it back up, squeeze it out. Pretty soon started getting warm and it popped. I was in a International straight truck at the time and it broke the ash tray. Something hit me in the leg pretty good. My ears rang for a 1/2hr it seemed. I was lucky. I never had any issues until I stressed the plastic out. I almost hesitate to say it but if a pop bottle can take that, it seems pvc would be ok. But it is a different material.

[Stonewall]

I looked at the OSHA thing, but did you notice the dates on those? Latest one was 1989, 22 years ago. I would imagine PVC pipe technology has improved since then. I know some people that have had PVC air lines throughout their shop for years with no problems.

Duct tape would probably be a good idea though, plus it would look really cool...

Cold temps may make it more dangerous, if the pipe gets brittle.

[JohnF]

The date is irrelevant, PVC has not changed, PVC for air lines can last years or minutes, PVC is already brittle, duct tape probably won't save you, PVC is not rated for compressed gas.

Slide a big ABS pipe over it - oh hey - go down to the section on plastics. How do they describe PVC failure?

The pop bottle is rated for compressed gas. They are designed to expand like a balloon and pop their cap or burst. They don't shatter.

[Stonewall]

Well, where can I get some ABS pipe?

[JohnF]

HomeDepot/Lowes/hardware store. If you are building a restraining tube for the system you already have then check out the big black corrugated drain pipes. If you are rebuilding then the heavy pressure rated black pipe is ABS. Get schedule 40 or schedule 80.

Edit: use ABS glue! And I wouldn't put bends in the reservoir.
And really, the corrugated pipe will only slow down the shrapnel. I wouldn't stand anywhere near it.

If you do rebuild you should take the tank you've built far outside (not pressurized), attach a long hose to pressurize it (to the max of your compressor as you've stated), put on your eye protection and stand mostly behind a protective barrier at least 50 yards away and shoot it with a 22. Take video and post it here

To be clear, attach the hose to an empty compressor, plug the compressor in (on an extension cord) from far away and let it all fill until the compressor stops. Unplug compressor. Watch out for the loose end of the compressor hose.

[Stonewall]

Thanks, I think I'll just replace the pressure chamber with ABS, I don't think the barrels will explode. Not to mention I already spent alot of money on ball valves and elbows!

[Robinhood02]

the best spud gun i ever built used oxy/acetalene with a piazo igniter , no air mixture probs with that system, but the abs didnt seem very reliable so i was a bit afraid of using it, but boy could it shoot a spud, up to about 2 blocks