SpudFiles

I've been out of the spudding business for quite a while, but the other day I saw an interview on G4 for MakeTV. They showed a basic pneumatic cannon, with a sprinkler valve, but...this one was different. It was electrically triggered, with a switch. I was under the impression that the pilot valves used in sprinkler valves, when used for their real use, don't open very fast to let the water through - mainly because they don't need to.

So now, what I am wondering is, how did they make an electronically-triggered sprinkler valve with such a wimpy pilot valve to work with?
Thanks!

It works, but the performance is very poor compared to a modded valve. But, the TV doesn't know that, and neither does most of the audience. So... I guess it doesn't matter for the show's sake.

Yep, any cannon will work when you wire up the solenoid, but it simply becomes much more powerful when you tap a blowgun into it.

Read my book. It's in the sig

I know the guy you're talking about, John Cornwell or something, blue cannon, same valve I have, Rainbird PGA-200. The guy's a douche. He acts like he's god's gift to the internet, and goes on about not revealing how he modified his valve because of safety reasons, bitches to youtube about people reposting his video...Meantime, most of the decent cannons on this site can trash his.