Page 1 of 2

my first spud gun a mini wont work

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 7:13 pm
by p.mac
:( i have a tylonel bottle with a pen shell comming out, the a bbq lighter taken apart and the click spark thing attached to two thumbtack going into the bottle, i clog the barrel with a spit ball, then spray axe or pam, or hairspray, close the lid and click the sparker, nothing happens, but when i open the lid and click the lighter, flames burst into my face, any sugjestions

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 7:21 pm
by FiveseveN
You're using too much axe (or pam, or hairspray). Any fuel needs oxygen to burn. Except oxygen, of course :D

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 7:41 pm
by darkpyro
yeah you need to have the right fuel air mix
and when you open it do it away from your face :)

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 7:56 pm
by drac
FiveseveN wrote:You're using too much axe (or pam, or hairspray). Any fuel needs oxygen to burn. Except oxygen, of course :D
Oxygen is an oxidizer I thought, so it would need a fuel to burn. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 9:20 pm
by FiveseveN
Come to think of it, it does make more sense that way. We did an experiment in chem class a couple of years ago when we ignited oxygen with an incandescent toothpick. Don't know if it'll ignite from a spark, though.

Anyway, it's kind of offtopic :)

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:56 pm
by natey14
drac wrote:
FiveseveN wrote:You're using too much axe (or pam, or hairspray). Any fuel needs oxygen to burn. Except oxygen, of course :D
Oxygen is an oxidizer I thought, so it would need a fuel to burn. Maybe I'm wrong though.
Pure oxygen is highly flammible, the reason why you can light a match is because of oxygen but its such a small amount in the air that it doesnt get out of hand.

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:05 pm
by guitarfreak
i agree with the above posts,too much fuel.it mught pay to spray the smallest amount in there,then blow gently in the chamber to add a bit more oxygen.

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:18 pm
by boilingleadbath
Pure oxegen interacts with stuff... but we don't say that oxidezers burn. That's just bad grammer; fuels burn, oxidizers oxidize. (or something like that)
Yeah, shure, I'll agree: oxegen doesn't need oxegen to burn, it needs <i>fuel</i>.

However, if you blow a regulator up because you tried to put O2 through it, that's not my fault. That's your fault, for using a regulator with oil in it - which reacted spontaneously with the high pressure O2.

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 12:16 am
by darkpyro
guitarfreak wrote
blow gently in the chamber to add a bit more oxygen.


dont blow into the chamber because your breath is co2 so it wont help just let it dair itys self out also dont use hair spray if it is a mini use butane from a lighter in that case you will not have to air it out and it should work just fine.

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 12:55 pm
by CS
darkpyro wrote:dont blow into the chamber because your breath is co2
HOLY SH*T! Using mini pill bottle guns is about the farthest thing from exact science. Although your breath is mainly CO2 it doesnt make a difference. Im not mad but you guys are taking the science of a mini way to indepth. The reason I know this is because I blow out my chamber to get it to fire. Please stick with the orignial topic. It is hard for noobs to get answers when there topic of "how do I get my mini to work" in a matter of few posts turns into a whole dif conversation about something that usally the noob has no understanding of. Again im not mad its just I remeber when I was a noob and I would ask a question about "spark plugs" or something and then it would turn into a conversation about the "conductivity of zwiffle particles on Pluto". This site is supposed to be informative so please try to stick to the main topic.
Thank You! (sorry for being the one to always get on everyones case)

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 4:09 pm
by boilingleadbath
Pimpmann, don't be a retard. If one's breath <i>was</i> O<sub>2</sub> free, it would be counterproductive to use one's breath to blow out the chamber.
However, it's not - even if you hold your breath for a minute, only half of the O<sub>2</sub> has been removed... so if we assume that the average spacing between breaths is 6 seconds that means you exhale air with a 19.9% concentration of O<sub>2</sub>.... meaning that it would work.

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:12 pm
by SPARTAN-2415
Hey there, ive made a mini, and got it to work, but only for about seven firings. Im not sure what is going on with it. Its made out of a 35mm film canister and pen barrel, with those peizo-ignitors that come off the electric lighters. Ive made it strong, using epoxy round the barrel itself, and the spark can jump across the gap nicely. The wire that the spark goes down is paper clips . I now cannot get it to fire at all, and ive checked the amount of fuel I have been using. I use Brut deodorant and Lynx, but still cannot get it working. Can anyone help me out here? :cry:
it really is driving me nuts.. cheers SPARTAN-2415

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:52 pm
by beebs111
right gaurd.......... thats my fuel, butane should work fairly well too

Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:09 pm
by guitarfreak
boilingleadbath wrote:Pimpmann, don't be a retard. If one's breath <i>was</i> O<sub>2</sub> free, it would be counterproductive to use one's breath to blow out the chamber.
However, it's not - even if you hold your breath for a minute, only half of the O<sub>2</sub> has been removed... so if we assume that the average spacing between breaths is 6 seconds that means you exhale air with a 19.9% concentration of O<sub>2</sub>.... meaning that it would work.
thankyou,youre right btw,only about 1 percent of the oxygen that you breathe in gets used.

Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:14 pm
by SPARTAN-2415
Would model engine glow fuel work? i know that contains nitro methane... or am i just being stupid? hmmm, i feel a bigger cannon coming on...