MrCrowley wrote:I'm guessing, without seeing pictures, that you have some small diameter fittings on the chamber maybe connecting the chamber to the valve, and that the recoil of the water in the barrel put too much strain on these fittings.
Sounds right to me.
I thought most spudding veterans knew that firing water was a bad idea because the large weight of it could cause damaging recoil. Additionally, if there's any bends between the valve seat and barrel (guaranteed in a sprinkler valve cannon), this can cause a "water hammer" effect.
I'm sure I remember reading these things on Spudtech's forums when I was getting into the hobby. Obviously, the knowledge has been forgotten with the loss of those forums.
Not to say I didn't do it a few times myself when I started out, but I had a swarm of problems with cannon damage and stopped.
I've tried it again a couple times since with cannons which didn't have the design problems that make it damaging (example: Behemoth) and avoided mishap there - but not all cannons have that luck.