SpudFiles

I tried searching the forums a bit, but no luck.

I've been planning on making a NERF football launcher(my first) for airsoft use, so I wanted something portable, and preferably light.
I had an idea to use a co2 tire inflator such as this: http://www.genuineinnovations.com/bicyc ... -plus.html
for filling my launcher. The site has a chart saying that 1 12g co2 cartridge can fill some bike tires up to 90psi.

My plan is to use this to fill a pvc chamber using a schrader valve. I also plan on putting a gauge on the chamber for safety issues. Then a modded sprinkler valve/blowgun and 2"sch40 barrel for the NERF Pocket Vortex football. Once I get the trouble shooting done I plan on some aesthetics to make the launcher look more like an RPG-7 XD

Anyone tried this before? Tips? Ideas?

Thanks in advance guys!

Howzer

Should work....

If i were you i would put a 100psi pop off valve on there,.... just to make sure the pressure dosent go any higher than you want it to.

Also, as always use pressure rated PVC and fittings... and then fill slowly... co2 has a tendency to get cold... and liquefy.

those co2 cartridges are not cheap. you might think out this for long term use. i would buy a hand bike pump instead.

pressure rated of course! I always do my research XP

also, where would be a good place to mount my schrader valve and pressure gauge and/or pop-off(forgot to mention it but i had been thinking of a safety relief)?
Most of the ones I've seen have been mounted in the end of the cap, or through the side of the cap AND pipe. I don't want my fill valve on the end of the cap because I plan on added an aesthetic onto the back end, but I don't want to mount too many things onto the sides for sake of structural integrity. Is it safe to mount valves/gauges/etc onto the side of the pipe?

I think I might tee down between the valve and the main chamber and mount the schrader valve there, making a handle. That should help with the RPG-7 look.

geardog32 wrote:those co2 cartridges are not cheap. you might think out this for long term use. i would buy a hand bike pump instead.

12g co2? Those are definitely cheap. I've got dozens of them lying around the house anyways.

Besides, I want to use this for Airsoft Mil-Sim Operations, so I need some thing quick to use on the fly.

Oh also any suggestions on a pressure chamber size, i'm thinking 2" or 3" pipe about 10-16", or maybe just 1" pipe by 18"? or maybe 2"pipe by 18"

Remember I'm trying to make it look somewhat like an RPG-7, although I may just make the working gun, then make a completely aesthetic shell for it.

How are those cheap, use can get 5 for about 4 bucks, so if you shoot a cannon the cost 30 bucks to make 100 times, thats 80 cents per shot, you will spend 80 bucks in co2, You wont get more than one powerful shot per cartridge

I guess we just have different definitions of cheap

For my application that will work out perfectly. I plan on using it for Airsoft gaming, so I'd imagine I may use it 5-10 times in a day, or less. I don't see myself firing this thing more than 100 times in a year, so it's not really an issue. The main purpose here is portability. Besides, it's going to have a schrader valve anyways, so for recreational firing/testing a bike pump is still available.

on another note, I was thinking of wrapping the gun in fiber glass reinforced tape(?i think i read of someone using this), or some kind of reinforced tape to prevent shattering incase I decide to run around with this thing loaded. Any other suggestions for shatter-proofing?

as far as mounting gauges and fill valve, mout them in a place were two pieces of pvc overlap for strength.

as far as shatter proofing. it sounds like you want to keep it safe from maybe dropping it so i think you want some rubber on it to protecting from shock.

yeah, at this point i'm almost thinking of making some kind of protective housing for the chamber, with shock absorbers.

Search for DavidVaini's burst disk cartridge. He does this, and does it quite well. If you are interested in finding out how much pressure will be provided in a chamber of a certain size, you can check out my Portable Tank Calculator in the Hubb Library, or you could search the SpudWiki for 12g cartridge.

yeah, i've checked out the burst disk cartridge, i might try that for a later design, but i'd like to get my hand at constructing launchers first, so I think a simple in-line sprinkler valve launcher is going to be a good start. Thanks for the info though, I just downloaded all of your pdfs.