Chamber To Barrel Ratio

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.
JDSpud
Private 2
Private 2
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:56 pm

Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:09 am

When your building a regular combustion spud gun, what raitio should you use between the area of the chamber and the barrel.

~JDSpud
garrettee
Specialist
Specialist
Posts: 173
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:18 am
Location: Louisville,Ky

Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:25 am

I'm really not tring to be a d*ck, but search old posts(search) and check the Spudwiki section because it's very useful.
" It's ok for a man to commit adultry if his wife is ugly" Howard Stern
User avatar
Pete Zaria
Corporal 5
Corporal 5
Posts: 954
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:04 pm
Location: Near Seattle, WA

Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:14 pm

It depends on the fuel.

As Garrattee said, you should search the forums and read the wiki. There's lots of info on this.

It's rumored (or should I say, agreed upon) that between 1:1 and 1.5:1 is best for hairspray and aerosol combustions, while .8:1 - 1:1 is best for metered propane. Keep in mind, if your chamber is too big you don't loose power - you just make more noise. For this reason I always tend to go a little chamber-heavy...

Peace,
Pete Zaria.
User avatar
jjjd
Specialist
Specialist
Posts: 117
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:39 pm

Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:23 pm

yeah search it up next time please
dgr-c
Private 2
Private 2
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2005 3:28 pm

Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:48 pm

JDSpud wrote:When your building a regular combustion spud gun, what raitio should you use between the area of the chamber and the barrel.

~JDSpud
Lighten up guys. He didn't ask how many people would like to tell me to go f*ck myself.

Here's some research
http://www.burntlatke.com/launch.html

Try this online calculator
http://www.burntlatke.com/ratcalc.html
User avatar
Bluetooth
Corporal 4
Corporal 4
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:57 am

Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:57 pm

I agree that he should have searched too but they weren't being too mean. 1.5:1 (even for metered propane Pete :wink:) is a powerful ratio .8:1 is very efficient. The "best" fuel mix is 4.3 (don't ask why its such an odd number, it's
from Burnt Latke and he does bunches of tests to prove his data).
User avatar
boilingleadbath
Staff Sergeant 2
Staff Sergeant 2
Posts: 1635
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:35 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:56 pm

JDSpud, you probably meant volume, in which case all of the above responses are correct.

However, if you acctualy meant <b>area</b>, it's another beast - and the response is "as big of a chamber diameter as is practical".
Post Reply