Potato gun in the winter?

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor. Show us your combustion spud gun and discuss fuels, ratios, safety, ignition systems, tools, and more.
Blackspire
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:06 am

I've never shot a potato gun in the winter, and I'm just wondering if the ABS will become brittle because of the cold? I'm talking cold as in, canadian winter cold...-20 celcius.
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WOW!!
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:17 am

Iam not good with the C to F but I guess that is WAYY to cold. I know if it was PVC it would blow up. I am not to sure about ABS. But I would'nt try it.
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SpudStuff
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:42 am

yes you don't want to risk it.
Blackspire
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:27 pm

Damn, I kinda knew that was coming haha. Looks like it will have to go into hibernation for a couple months. If you kept it somewhere warm, and then took it out for a couple minutes it would be fine though. As long as you don't have it out long enough to let the plastic become brittle, it would be fine.
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POS
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:29 pm

Use metal once in winter period, i should say.
Blackspire
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:44 pm

If I had a mig welder in my garage I would make once, since I am a welder :D .
dinsdale
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:00 pm

Fire it out a window
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POS
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:01 pm

Cant you use couplers or soldering the things together, instead of welding ?
Blackspire
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:07 pm

If I made it out of metal, I would probably use oxy-acetylene in it, so it would be pretty beefy.
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WOW!!
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:39 pm

You could take towels and wrap the, all over the cannon to keep it warm. And fill it some were warm and like dinsdale said try it out a window.
Blackspire
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:16 pm

WOW!! wrote:You could take towels and wrap the, all over the cannon to keep it warm. And fill it some were warm and like dinsdale said try it out a window.
Not that I don't trust my potato gun, but I don't want to risk shooting it from inside just incase it did blow. And come to think of it, there are no windows I know of that are in a suitable spot to shoot a potato gun..
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POS
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Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:52 am

blowing inside is the least you should worry about. Worry about it blowing in your hands ...
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boilingleadbath
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Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:56 pm

Google indicates that ABS is fairly tolerant of low temps - and I suspect that the pressure rise in a cannon is slow enough that it's increased brittelness shouldn't matter.

If your lawyer asks, though, I DID NOT tell you this.
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ProfessorAmadeus
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Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:59 pm

If i where you, i just wouldn't shoot it in the winter.... Plus i dont like being outside in the cold.
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Blackspire
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Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:06 pm

ProfessorAmadeus wrote:If i where you, i just wouldn't shoot it in the winter.... Plus i dont like being outside in the cold.
I live in an igloo, remember? Me being cold isn't the issue. I'm just not sure about the heating up and cooling down..Whatever, I guess it will just have to go into hibernation.
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