SpudFiles

I know i know, and i *did* look thru the "read this first" threads...


I have a Rain Bird CP-075 this is my first gun, i am not real picky as far as "it's just gotta shoot a tennis ball 2 miles or else"... i just wanna impress the family for Christmas.

Point being, i LIKE having the electric solenoid, but can i mod the sprinkler exhaust to make it faster/better and still keep the electrically activated solenoid part?
If so how?

Would removing that center peg thing and drilling it out do the trick?
Please dont shoot me for being a newbie.

Tom
oldendayscarriage@yahoo.com

Get rid of the electronics, they only complicate matters and in most cases make the performance worse too.
Drilling out the center "thing" and threading the hole to accept a blowgun is your best option i think.

Welcome to Spudfiles

ok well if you like the solenoid sitting there just as show thats fine it's out of the way but it might leakin the long run, so i would remove it and epoxy over it. as far as the limiting rod in the middle i'd leave it in cause there is probably a guide rod in the middle of it. I wold put the pilot hole off to the side as close to the center "thingy" as possible and then epoxy the 1/4 fitting in. use locktite 5 minute epoxy works the best.

BigGrib wrote:ok well if you like the solenoid sitting there just as show thats fine it's out of the way but it might leakin the long run, so i would remove it and epoxy over it. as far as the limiting rod in the middle i'd leave it in cause there is probably a guide rod in the middle of it. I wold put the pilot hole off to the side as close to the center "thingy" as possible and then epoxy the 1/4 fitting in. use locktite 5 minute epoxy works the best.

Thanks Grib, i was not clear enough with my description

So remove the big solenoid thing on the left (as shown in the above pic) and fill in the entire cavity with epoxy?

Then remove the black screw thingy in the middle and drill it out (assuming it doesn't have a guide pin) and install a blow gun?

If there *is* a guide pin, drill a hole right next to it, and do i then need to epoxy over the hole where the black screw thingy is too???

Too many dang holes .... making my hair hurt!

By the way, if i take out all these screws in the cap, is there going to be a spring jumping out at me?

yougot it almost right if there is a guide rod in it you dont have to remove the black screw thingy, which is actually a limiting rod, it limits how far the piston/diaphragm can open, so you can actually turn down your shots if need be, i would leave that in, actually so all you need to epoxy is the solenoid hole and then drill your pilot hole and epoxy that in and you;re set. it doesn't look like you have a manual pilot release so you dont have to worry about that. anyway good luck on the whole deal and if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.
Grib
edit
http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/gribs-f ... 11816.html
ths is my first cannon and in the third picture you can see on the left of the valve the epoxied area where the solenoid used to be. if you want you can also use a hose which is posted toward the end of the third page with the shortened hose, which i like haveing the hose cause you can mount the blowgun wherever you want like jsr says better to have a 95% efficient gun that is comfortable than a 100% efficient that is uncomfortable to shoot.

well, u dont have to take out the solenoid to mod it, i didnt and mine works fine

Well, there is no "pin" really, just a helper spring in the middle under the cap, there is a small nub in the center of the phram, but i was wondering if i could mount the blow gun directly to the center of the top of the cap.

Assuming it wont impede the spring of course, making it flush to the inside, and sealing it with the "5-minute epoxy" would this work?

I have the same valve, and all I did was remove the whole top part and drill a hole off center for a nipple. That screw thingy needs to stay there as it is the guide for the spring inside. I left the solenoid on mine and it works great.

ShowNoMercy wrote:I have the same valve, and all I did was remove the whole top part and drill a hole off center for a nipple. That screw thingy needs to stay there as it is the guide for the spring inside. I left the solenoid on mine and it works great.

Ok so I have never modded a rain bird, i've only modded irritol valves 1 and 1 1/2 valves and i know my 1 1/2 valve which has a guide rod, the screw thingy is not just a guide for the spring. the spring doesn't need a guide rod. the screwy thingy is a limiting screw to limit how far the piston can open. If you pressure up your gun and you screw the screw thingy in all the way your valve will barely open shooting your gun very slowly. if you open it up all the way you get the best performance out of it.

anyway take the screw thingy out and just drill it out to 1/2 inch and thread and epoxy your nipple in. dont worry about being able to turn down your gun unless you're gonna be shooting it in your back yard and you like in a heavy urban area where you might need some added control over your shot.

now are you going to attach the blowgun with a hose or directly to the valve

I'm telling you if you drill a hole there, the spring that holds the diaphragm down wont have a guide on that end.

Ok guys, i understand what is being said about the spring guide, if you look inside the cap, there is a "bowl" that the spring sits in, i drilled it so that the edges of the "bowl" are still intact, and the 90* elbow fitting i installed is flush on the inside where the top of the "bowl" was, and i am going to attach a hose to that and run it down to the end of the gun and put the blowgun at the end of the hose which should be no more than 6 feet, i think it needs to be as short as possible right?

The reason for the hose is this, the cannon i am building, the working part i.e.; barrel, valve, and tank, is just shy of 7 feet in length.
(yeah it's that big)
The working part is going to be inserted inside a pseudo cannon/shell that will make it look more like a scale sized civil war cannon.
I am working on a wood carriage that will have two big steel wagon wheels i found here on the farm years ago and had no idea what i would ever do with them.

I found some Krylon spray paint that is supposed to bond to plastic, and it has a "hammered" look to it. That is going on the cannon "shell".

The hose is going to have to run from the halfway point where the valve is, down to the end of the shell.

I would prefer to have some extra length on that hose so that someone could stand at least a few feet away when firing it.

Any thoughts?

(pictures will be forthcoming as soon as the wifey gets home with her camera)

You could get another, smaller solenoid valve and have that pilot the main valve and trigger that smaller valve electronically, therefore giving you an infinite amount of room to play with.

oh dude you're getting way too complicated for this guy. usually you're not going to want to have a hose that long but dude play with it and see how you like it but you will notice a faster firing time if you shorten the hose but do whatever you feel you need to do. but play with it and see what works best for you after all i will never have to fire the thing only you.

Sorry, I was just voicing the way I would try it. How about a ball valve with a string attachment so you can pull it open from a far? That would go with that time period too.