SpudFiles

Hello, spudders!
I was exploring my dads old garage and found a box full off different 2 inch IBC valves and some pipes, and the first thing that came to my mind was a spud gun =D Unfortunately the pipes are too short to be used as a barrel, but maybe I find an use for them too.

There are at least 4 different types of valves, probably more. Most of them are balls, but there are some butterflies and plugs too. They are meant to be used with 1000-1200L fluid containers so I think they should be able to handle enough PSI.




Has anyone used IBC valves with pneumatic spud guns before? They are manual and slow to open, but the slugs give a quite good airflow right away, and I could probably use two valves at the same time, by connecting the levers together. I could probably also make a spring system that pushes the lever fully open after a certain point has been reached.

Got any design ideas?

Yeah ball valves have great flow. The bad thing is the crap opening time... Most people spring load theirs and a few have made pneumatic rams... It'd be cool to see two together with a ram. You'd have a beast!

deathbyDWV wrote:Yeah ball valves have great flow. The bad thing is the crap opening time... Most people spring load theirs and a few have made pneumatic rams... It'd be cool to see two together with a ram. You'd have a beast!

They'd be great for a first gun, but I think pneumatic rams are a bit overkill (ball valves don't have that insanely great flow to be worth it).

But they are much easier to find rated at redonculous pressures than any other type of valve, so while at low pressures it may not be worth it, the higher pressure you go, the more attractive they become.

So which would be the best? Butterfly, plug or the round ball?

I believe plugs would be better than balls, because they have a bigger opening at start. When the valve is 1/3 opened, the opening of the plug is a square, while the opening of a ball valve is just a segment of a circle, with the same height as the square.

I would not trust these at much pressure, IBCs are not pressurised containers and those holding liquids which generate pressure such as volative solvents usually have check valves incorporated in the top cap to relieve pressure.

Still, looks like they would be ideal for a low pressure big bore fun gun