Gasoline Powered Soda Bottle Rocket Launcher. Designed & Tested By C.L.Raub

Step 1 What You Need.

You will need the following items.

2- 3" PVC pipe 15" long
3- 3" PVC Clean outs with caps
1- 1/2 12" long plastic threaded pipe
1- 3" PVC pipe cap
1- 3" PVC pipe coupler
1- 2" PVC 90 degree
1- 14" piece of 1/4" copper tubing
1- primer bulb
1- on / off / on momentary switch or off / on momentary if you use a piezo igniter.
1- coil , condenser , relay or piezo igniter.
1- 12 volt portable air compressor
1- can PVC glue
1- roll solder
1- small tank for gas 1/2 to 2 oz
1- small one way valve
1- pressure gauge minimum 50 PSI (air pump may include gauge and air T ) .
1- air T
1- 4 feet tubing 3/8 OD 1/4 ID for air
1- 4 foot small gas tubing that will fit in the big tubing , the smaller the better.
1- 4 foot spark plug wire
1 7.2 to 12 volt stick pack battery, available at hobby shops.

Comments

[el_roboto_loco]

dude...where did you get that air pump?

[akatsuki666]

im sry,im new at this stuff lol. one more thing. how do you run the air t to the launcher as stated in step 16.do you connect it to the air tube which connects to the copper which has the gas line running thro it? If thats it it looked quite clear but i dont wana blow the thing up once i turn it on. thanks agin

[akatsuki666]

let me get this right if im wrong correct me. the gas line is inside the copper tubing. there is a spark thingy with piano wire that is like 1/4 in from the copper. so the gas is inside the copper tubing, the spark goes from the wire to the copper, the gas explodes..but the end of the copper tubing is soldered shut.. so how does the little boom thing make the bottle go up?

[smeata]

Gasoline dissolves plastic, especially pvc.

[Biopyro]

Gasoline does not dissolve PVC!

[covey12]

actually it does, it won't dissolve ABS which can't hold pressure at all, because PVC is not made for chemicals and ABS is

[Biopyro]

http://www.pvc4pipes.org/faq/chemical-resistance-pvc-pipes.htm
http://www.rutlandinc.com/industrial/RPT.PVC.Chemical.Compatibility.Chart.pdf

Sort it out covey, go check the spudfiles forums.

[firebird11692]

you have more of a mortar setup. still awesome though.

[mortso]

Dude, shock is the least of your worries. You are using Sched 40 PVC I think, maybe not, but it's max rated pressure decreases with size. In your 3" size it's only about 120 PSI. When your compressed fuel/air ignites you're probably pushing 1200 psi. A high speed camera might indeed show the chamber swelling like a balloon. You need to use Schedule 80 PVC, completely sterile and clean glue area, 48 hours cure time, then wrap the whole thing in a blanket or get a shield. I've done this for a long time, had some cannons blow all to hell just missing my face and once sticking the piezo igniter in a tree behind me!! You have a great design it's just under-built for the pressures. My 2ç worth!

[TheGodsMustBeCrazy78]

Actually the pressure is never contained in the pvc, The ignition chamber is inside the soda bottle, the only thing that may rupture is the bottle in which case the ejecta will shoot out the front of the bottle. This isn't a spud gun. It isn't built to hold pressure its just a launch assembly. Thanks for the warning though.

[mortso]

I need to look more closely... my apologies.. but Sched 80 would be safer just in case... You can buy Clear PVC in short lengths but it's hella expensive, like $15 a foot for 2"... might be cool to build a demo gun out of that—it would be totally transparent for videos etc. Anyway, you've got a cool design and sounds like you're pretty safe... just remember Murphey's Law... "What Can go wrong Will go wrong"... I put my stuff behind an old Plexi MC Windshield now.. lol

[mr builder]

i going to buid it how much is it going to cost$$$

[TheGodsMustBeCrazy78]

You can find all the parts for under $50 even less if you scrounge around.

[vince q]

i know it's been a while since you posted this but i've just found this. about how much did this cost you?

[BlueFusion]

Very cool. I have also been building something like this, using compressed air only. Very interesting hybrid of a compressed air type cannon and a traditional spud cannon with fuel. I did try launching bottles using internal combustion (hehe) by putting the bottle on my butane torch, waiting and then lighting the torch, but it didn't work as well as this. What is even more interesting is that if you use water as well, it becomes a triple hybrid of air cannon, spud cannon and bottle rocket launcher. This is such a creative, well designed hybrid build that it definitely deserves to win. Everybody vote for it, NOW!

[evanwehrer]

I made something similar but in an over the shoulder type form.

[gotja]

i been just using air (my parents would never let me use gassoline) lol and i shot a tenis ball agians a brick wall and hte tenis ball got destroyed lol and i got to 50-75ish psi any ideas how to change this into a all air one?

[BlueFusion]

stop saying "lol" you're not laughing out loud

[moomoomossop]

yeah seriously why do you care if gotja says "lol" or not? everyone COOL says lol so there! lol :P [Molly xx]

[gotja]

it realy wasnt a laugh maby it was a laugh to some1 but it was like a hehe kinda laugh btw y do u care

[TheGodsMustBeCrazy78]

Thanks. I have a lot more projects if this one goes over well. I have been making all kinds of things since I was about 5 years old. My brother talked me into entering this one.

[Outlander]

Maybe it's just me, but where does the gasoline come in? I see a tube thats being pressurized by a pump and lunching a water bottle. So what does gasoline have to do with any of this?

[orangesrhyme]

The pressure increased the fuel's combustion qualities. You can see the smoke from the gas in the vid if you look close.

[space-cow]

You should try Kerosene its a little more powerful than gas plus Nasa actually sent up a rocket using it.

[mkamchin]

how much did it cost you?

[ilikebombs]

hey if u used denatured alchohol or something else instead of gasoline would it take more pumps of fuel for the same effect as gasoline?

[pbpenguin5]

that's crazy, nice job. and no one died firing that?

[TheGodsMustBeCrazy78]

Nope not one .

[ilikebombs]

lol

[ilikebombs]

awesome

[kishida]

Very detailed instructions, but could you add a chart and/or description of the path of the air and fuel?

[qdogg]

How about just hooking up a can of starter fluid (ether) to the tube & dispensing w/ all the associated priming & vaporizing hardware? If you use metal pipe you could use acetylene gas w/some air & get some righteous action (provided the bottle doesn't melt!)

[darkblood]

I got something like this: BBQ Sparker at my local hardware store for about 20 bucks. It uses a flyback power supply and a single AA battery to make sparks to light a BBQ. The beauty of it is, you can hook it up across two points about a quarter of an inch apart, and it will fire hundreds of sparks per minute as long as you hold the button down. Makes an easy upgrade to a spud gun.

[el_roboto_loco]

I bought one of those on the net after I read your comment. It's something I needed for a project and would be one less circuit to build, unfortunately mine doesn't work. It uses a single AA. I would send it back, but I'll open it up and make it work, and see how they made it, although I know how it works, but I want to see the transformer. It's sealed up pretty tight and it'll be a job just cutting it open.

[taimaster2005]

I got my launcher to successfully launch today! There are still some improvements I need to make though. I usually have to push the launch button several times to make the bottle launch because (even with a relay) it only sparks when I let go of the button. I'm thinking about using a 555 timer to make the pulses so it continously sparks. Also, I'm using my rc car gas (nitro, alcohol, and oil mix) instead of gasoline. Gasoline is stinky and is rough on the plastics. Thanks for the design! I can't wait to get out to a field to see how far I can get stuff to go.

[BlueFusion]

You need to hook the relay's power up through its own normally closed connections so when it switches, it immediately switches back. No 555 timer needed, 60+ times per second switching.

[TheGodsMustBeCrazy78]

The relay should work unless the coil draws to much power and there is not enough to open the relay, as the relay opens it cuts it's own current and the coil field collapses (it sparks) then repeats. I have glow fuel 20% nitro I will try it.

[taimaster2005]

I'm still haveing trouble getting my launcher to fire everytime. Sometimes it fires and sometimes it doesn't. I don't know if i'm putting enough fuel in or the oil in the glow fuel is causing issues. Also, right after I charged the battery (12v) I got a continuous spark but when it drops below 12v (which happens pretty fast) I don't get the continuous spark. I have a 9v relay sitting here, do you think that will give me the continous spark since it's a lower voltage relay (but will be overvolted)? Can you test your launcher with the glow fuel so I can see whether that is the problem or not?

[TheGodsMustBeCrazy78]

I'm using a 6 volt relay, 12 volts doesn't seem to hurt it, it's only on a very short amount of time. The relay contacts will burn up before the windings. Maks sure your fuel is well vaporized, you should only use about 1 ml of gas or 2 ml of glow fuel. Try gas it's cheaper anyway and go with the lower volt relay.

[Technical Renaissance]

What's the range? Noise level? Great design.