Safety Section
Yeah its gonna get stickied. Gotta give the credit to Joel from Spudtech for all these.
Spudgun Do's and Do-Not's
Let it be noted that PVC pipe/fittings are not intended to be used for the purpose of constructing spudguns.
First, please...
...do have fun with your spudgun. That's what it is for. If you think it is a useful tool for a task, or serving as an effective offensive or defensive weapon, please forget you even know what a spudgun is.
...do treat is as a real gun/weapon, although it is not such. Even if you KNOW it is not loaded or charged, it isn't funny to point it at someone else. This might scare that person, leading them a reason to point it at you in the future, perhaps charged...
...do launch potatoes in a safe locale. This usually does NOT mean a residential housing tract. A good rule of thumb is if you THINK (do NOT test your theory) you can hit your neighbor's house with something out of your launcher, chances are they will hear it and call the cops.
...do learn about how to safely build and operate them using this site and the many others out there that deal with spudguns and related activities. Ask questions. Although I don't have all the time in the world to address every question I try to answer any I feel relevant. Make sure to check out my FAQ section.
...do always make sure you have enough spuds and fuel for an outing you have planned. Nobody wants to be labeled as: "...the guy who ran out of spuds and/or hairspray and there was still daylight left!" NOT cool!
Following...
...do not use a spudgun in a reckless manner (you can see this coming, kinda reciprocal of the above rules). Many instances exist when, even 'just once,' it was fired at something, or where someone else heard it and got scared, and the cops get called.
...do not use a spudgun in cold weather. This means less than 32ºF (0ºC) for PVC launchers. ABS launchers can go a bit colder, but not much colder than 0ºF. The plastic gets too brittle and it might shatter on you.
...do not use it in very hot weather either. Temps above 100ºF should be avoided as well, as the plastic's physical strength starts to precipitously decrease above this temperature.
...do not 'rapid fire.' High temperatures applies to multiple firings as well. Say a continuous duty of one round every minute, or 'rapid bursts' of no more than three rounds, with a five minute wait afterwards. This of course only applies to combustion launchers.
Not to be outdone by the previous rule, rapid firing of a pneumatic launcher can lead to cold-brittle failure, even on a hot day...WHY?!?! Dumping a tank of air rapidly causes a rapid decrease in the air temperature. This cold air cools the plastic, and depending on how big a tank/pressures reached and a lot of other factors, can really cool the pipe down. This does NOT make a good refrigerator for beer, just be careful, no faster than one round per minute.
Spudgun Do's and Do-Not's
Let it be noted that PVC pipe/fittings are not intended to be used for the purpose of constructing spudguns.
First, please...
...do have fun with your spudgun. That's what it is for. If you think it is a useful tool for a task, or serving as an effective offensive or defensive weapon, please forget you even know what a spudgun is.
...do treat is as a real gun/weapon, although it is not such. Even if you KNOW it is not loaded or charged, it isn't funny to point it at someone else. This might scare that person, leading them a reason to point it at you in the future, perhaps charged...
...do launch potatoes in a safe locale. This usually does NOT mean a residential housing tract. A good rule of thumb is if you THINK (do NOT test your theory) you can hit your neighbor's house with something out of your launcher, chances are they will hear it and call the cops.
...do learn about how to safely build and operate them using this site and the many others out there that deal with spudguns and related activities. Ask questions. Although I don't have all the time in the world to address every question I try to answer any I feel relevant. Make sure to check out my FAQ section.
...do always make sure you have enough spuds and fuel for an outing you have planned. Nobody wants to be labeled as: "...the guy who ran out of spuds and/or hairspray and there was still daylight left!" NOT cool!
Following...
...do not use a spudgun in a reckless manner (you can see this coming, kinda reciprocal of the above rules). Many instances exist when, even 'just once,' it was fired at something, or where someone else heard it and got scared, and the cops get called.
...do not use a spudgun in cold weather. This means less than 32ºF (0ºC) for PVC launchers. ABS launchers can go a bit colder, but not much colder than 0ºF. The plastic gets too brittle and it might shatter on you.
...do not use it in very hot weather either. Temps above 100ºF should be avoided as well, as the plastic's physical strength starts to precipitously decrease above this temperature.
...do not 'rapid fire.' High temperatures applies to multiple firings as well. Say a continuous duty of one round every minute, or 'rapid bursts' of no more than three rounds, with a five minute wait afterwards. This of course only applies to combustion launchers.
Not to be outdone by the previous rule, rapid firing of a pneumatic launcher can lead to cold-brittle failure, even on a hot day...WHY?!?! Dumping a tank of air rapidly causes a rapid decrease in the air temperature. This cold air cools the plastic, and depending on how big a tank/pressures reached and a lot of other factors, can really cool the pipe down. This does NOT make a good refrigerator for beer, just be careful, no faster than one round per minute.
Congratulations! That sentence, if it could be called such, is right up there with the worst I have ever seen here. This isn't MSN, you should at least try to write legibly. It also states a completely inaccurate fact.100 % onygen is to dangerous 4 combustion
100 % oxygen can't combust, by definition, and combustion mixes where air is replaced by pure O2 are completely fine, if somewhat pointless, as long as you don't use them in plastic launchers.
As far as safety goes, I can say confidently from personal experience, that:
If it is possible for a system to fail, it eventually will, so be prepared.
Any system that fails will invariably do so at the worst possible moment.
Cleanout caps are the physical incarnation of Satan, and should be avoided at all costs. Flying cleanout caps can be regarded as something of a tracking munition.
Ball shaped ammo has a tendency to ricochet at alarmingly high velocities, at precisely the wrong angle.
When using non-disintegrating ammo, use an appropriate backstop. Accidentally shooting through walls doesn't make anyone happy.
Spudfiles' resident expert on all things that sail through the air at improbable speeds, trailing an incandescent wake of ionized air, dissociated polymers and metal oxides.
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and gomer pyle pumped gas in mayberry.giarc69 wrote:100% os do combust you dumb ass i have a gas blenders certification from padi for scuba diving and have a cert in enriched air so kiss off jack ass
please learn the science not the procedure.
if 100% O2 combusted all by it's lonesome, do you think they would have oxygen tents, croup tents, incubators, oxygen hoods in hospitals?
- jimmy101
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Nope, "100% oxygen" does not combust. No way, no how. End of story. (Your blenders certification class need to get it's chemistry right.)giarc69 wrote:100% oxygen does combust you (insert childish insult here), I have a gas blenders certification from padi for scuba diving and have a certificate in enriched air so (insert incoherent insult here)
Edited by MrCrowley for the good of the forum and to give this guy one more chance.
For combustion you need two things. An oxidizer and a reducer. The reducer is commonly called "fuel". Without both of those things combustion is impossible.
100% oxy will not combust unless there is fuel present, in which case it is no longer "100%".
A chamber filled with pure oxygen will not ignite with a spark.
A chamber filled with oxygen plus a fuel (even a fuel which is normally considered non-combustable) will ignite with a spark if the spark is close enough to the fuel.
Calling me a dumb ass doesn't further your point in any way, it simply shows that you are incapable of grasping the logic and reasoning necessary to defend your point.
On the scientific aspect, in agreement with Jimmy, oxygen is an oxidiser, and not a reducer (or fuel in the common lingo). In a pressurised oxygen rich environment, anything that is even remotely flammable can combust, such as hydrocarbon based greases, which you seem to refer to in your slightly incoherent response to my original post. Essentially, the pressurisation can raise the particle energy above the ignition energy of the mixture, so the pressure is the ignition source. If there is a mix of lubricant and oxygen, it is no longer 100% oxygen, is it? Lubricant doesn't cause oxygen to combust, oxygen causes lubricant to combust.
@Benstern: Cellular core pipe is bad too, but it doesn't really exist where I live, whereas I have had bad experience with cleanout caps in combustions.
On the scientific aspect, in agreement with Jimmy, oxygen is an oxidiser, and not a reducer (or fuel in the common lingo). In a pressurised oxygen rich environment, anything that is even remotely flammable can combust, such as hydrocarbon based greases, which you seem to refer to in your slightly incoherent response to my original post. Essentially, the pressurisation can raise the particle energy above the ignition energy of the mixture, so the pressure is the ignition source. If there is a mix of lubricant and oxygen, it is no longer 100% oxygen, is it? Lubricant doesn't cause oxygen to combust, oxygen causes lubricant to combust.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Oxy-acetylene isn't pure oxygen, it isn't even a pure substance. And 100% acetylene doesn't combust either, however it can decompose violently under the right conditions, since it becomes rather unstable at over 15 psig.100% cant combust
how about oxy acetaline
@Benstern: Cellular core pipe is bad too, but it doesn't really exist where I live, whereas I have had bad experience with cleanout caps in combustions.
Spudfiles' resident expert on all things that sail through the air at improbable speeds, trailing an incandescent wake of ionized air, dissociated polymers and metal oxides.