Water cannon

[cornking69]

OK, this is a little nutty and not exactly your usual forum subject, but ...
Every 4th of July we take our boats out and have a water fight. I'd like to make some sort of water cannon that can draw water from the lake and spray it 15 to 20 feet -- not riot dispersal force -- just a good spray.
What type of pump would serve my needs and be affordable?
Any other tips about setting up the water cannon would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[LiQuId]

a pump that can do this is going to cost you, maybe a bilge pump.... thats what youtube thinks.

 

[speedbump]

Yeah, it's gonna cost ya. The other thing is; what kind of available power do you have on your boat? Do you have 115 or 230 volt AC?

 

[havasu]

I'd be looking at a gas powered water pump from Harbor Freight. Everything there is dirt cheap, but again, so are their products usually.

 

[johnjh2o]

This may be what your looking for.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-STREAM-MA...017?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c25ee3f29

John

 

[Valveman]

It doesn’t take much pressure to shoot water a long way. 10 PSI will shoot water 23’ straight up and 40 to 50 feet sideways. The trick is keeping the water together and not letting it fog out of a barrel. Google “linear flow”. Have you seen the jumping jet fountains that look like they are shooting a perfect glass rod of water? They work on about 3 PSI. The trick is to lower the water pressure before it goes into a smooth barrel. You can use a ½” PVC pipe as a barrel. Stuff a Brillo pad made out of Stainless Steel wire in a 1” coupling. Then bush down to the ½” PCV pipe barrel. You will need about 12 GPM at 10 PSI or better. Some sprinkler vane straightners in the barrel will also help. Makes a perfect rod of water come out the barrel. I use this method on my demonstrators as in this video.

www.spatter.net/csv-video/amps-csv-vs-vfd-dsl.wmv

 

[Kinge]

It doesnt take much pressure to shoot water a long way. 10 PSI will shoot water 23 straight up and 40 to 50 feet sideways. The trick is keeping the water together and not letting it fog out of a barrel. Google linear flow. Have you seen the jumping jet fountains that look like they are shooting a perfect glass rod of water? They work on about 3 PSI. The trick is to lower the water pressure before it goes into a smooth barrel. You can use a ½ PVC pipe as a barrel. Stuff a Brillo pad made out of Stainless Steel wire in a 1 coupling. Then bush down to the ½ PCV pipe barrel. You will need about 12 GPM at 10 PSI or better. Some sprinkler vane straightners in the barrel will also help. Makes a perfect rod of water come out the barrel. I use this method on my demonstrators as in this video.

www.spatter.net/csv-video/amps-csv-vs-vfd-dsl.wmv

Hi Valveman! I am attempting to do the same as the original poster. I am considering using a pool pump I found on Craigslist. It has 86 gpm output. What plumbing parts would you suggest from there?

 

[ESTIMATOR]

Home made with pvc pipe and parts. No electric!

 

[Kinge]

Thanks! I have seen that video. What I am looking to build is a lot bigger than that. It is a water fight between boats.

 

[havasu]

You do that at Lake havasu with a guy who just spent hours, waxing down his boat, and you won't need a water cannon, you'll need a bullet proof vest!

 

[Kinge]

It is a planned event that happens every year at our local lake. Everyone dresses up like pirates and there is a water battle. It is all in good fun and everyone involved knows what they are getting into.

 

[Valveman]

Hi Valveman! I am attempting to do the same as the original poster. I am considering using a pool pump I found on Craigslist. It has 86 gpm output. What plumbing parts would you suggest from there?

Lol! Sounds like fun. I would use a piece of 1" PVC pipe about 3'-4' long. That should do about 40-50 GPM and back the pump up to 20-30 PSI, which will shoot a long ways. The trick is to put some vain straighteners in the 1" pipe. Shove about 3-4 pieces of 1/2 thin wall PVC in the 1" pipe. Smash them together so they stay stuck in the pipe. They will work as vane straighteners and hold the flow together and make it shoot much further. Laminar flow nozzles look like they have a bunch of straws stuffed inside them. Have fun.

 

[wpns]

I'd go looking for that takeoff plug on my jet drive. 8*)