Nerf Vulcan AC power mod

The goal of this mod was to move away from a battery pack and make the Nerf Vulcan EBF-25 a stationary assault or defense weapon. This is ideal for target practice and fixed position defense.

Step 1 Find a 9V power supply

Rummage around the basement and find a spare 9V AC/DC power converter. Most if not all DC converters will have the output voltage and output current printed on the back. You will need to find one that can supply 9V at 600 mA. I didn't have any that were that large, so I combined two of them. The bottom one is 400 mA and the top one is 200 mA. I tried using just the 400 mA supply first and it just didn't have enough juice to keep the motor running. These power supplies came from old wireless phone rechargers.

Comments

[Terracon52]

what would happen if i put 2 9v batteries in it? would it melt and overheat?

[MSgt_JGC]

what are you thinking about? are you going to put the batteries in series?
or I forget what the other one is LOL1

[MSgt_JGC]

if you put it in series it might melt the motor.

[aeronut01]

I recently had a friend -of -my -mom hand me her son's vulcan and asked me to fix it.  After doing so I decided to have some fun with it.  I took the batteries out and wired a JST female plug to the battery tray.  I plugged in a 12.3V,  22amp lithium-polymer battery off my R/C airplane (22amps people!!).   Not only did it NOT fry the motor,  it more than doubled its firing rate!  Went from about 125 Rounds Per Minute to about 290+ Rounds Per Minute.  So if you're considering plugging in 9-15 volts into the vulcan, DO IT.  However, don't hold the trigger down for 10 minutes non-stop.  Your motor is 'technically' being overvolted and will heat up slightly faster than normal.  The motor won't burn out though, unless you're firing 1000 rounds non-stop off an extended belt towards a group of people:D

[somebody12345]

Would a normal 18 volt drill battery work???

[aeronut01]

Yea, would work perfectly. Just make sure you install the battery with the correct polarity and don't hold the trigger down for like 10 minutes (though you'd probably be out of ammo long before?). I wouldn't go much higher than 18 volts though, so forget the 36 volt drill batteries. The little plastic gearboxes inside these guns are not meant for super high speed. If you want to get your hands dirty, you could take the gearbox apart and grease it with gearbox grease for electric airsoft guns (any other grease will work fine though); it'll extend the life of the gearbox and give you a little faster rate of fire. You're looking at at least 425 rounds per minute, some have claimed as high as 600 rounds per minute at 18 volts. As for attaching the battery, some alligator clips should be fine. Or You could just solder some wire to the battery connection springs (the springs that the battery tray slides into) and run the battery externally. Good luck

[somebody12345]

thanks for the reply

[MSgt_JGC]

Dont mess up the polarity otherwise it wont work.

[cld0000]

That is true though, although it'd be nice if there's a mod that would have a continuous cooling system(maybe like the idea of using a similar system employed in the air conditioner or refrigerator units) that wraps around the motor, although that would just probably make battery life short, and make the Vulcan more of a turret if plugged into a AC outlet.

[MSgt_JGC]

I dont think your going to find many (if any) AC outlets out in the field.

[aeronut01]

How about a small computer fan?  It is very efficient because of its brushless  motor and would run perfectly using my 12V battery.  The fans are flat so finding a spot to put one into would not be a problem.  The fans are also really light, so they won't weigh the gun down and they're cheap too (about $10).

[seabee890]

I am thinking(and at this point it is going to get dazngerous) That you have the beginings of a remote weapon. since you have the cords, add a webcam and a couple movement motors for pan and tilt somewhat like the usb rocket launcher. You will have to balance the weapon very well to avoid using stronger motors. then you can set up a small ambush and flank the enemy at the same time from the other end of the hall. I have not finished reading all of the suggestions in this, so if i have copied someone elses idea, it was not malicious, I just get distracted easily.

[nbagf]

my vulcan battery holder looks different maybe its just because its newer. Any reason why this might be?

[knex gun and grenade maker]

would a computer 125 volt work

[iApple guy]

what if you used a 9 volt battery instead of using all of those d battery,s?

[wader 88]

that would melt all the gun

[mettaurlover]

Nope. Not at 9V and 600mA. 24V and 4A will blow out the motor and melt its housing.

[dji435]

What would happen if I used a Gamecube power supply with a 12V 3.25A output? Would it just increase the firepower or break the gun? Great mod by the way!

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

most likely fry the electronics with all that amperage: 6 tenths of an amp vs. 30 tenths of an amp. it might even melt some of the gun!

[uberdum05]

No, it will just allow the circuit some headroom for if it needs to push a bit more current to the motor, the adaptor will allow for that because of the headroom. Its like my projects, I always use a 1amp power supply for a project that uses something like 100mA for a bit of headroom. :)

[hhhttt]

and another question. which is positive, white stripe or plain black wire?

[hhhttt]

would 500MA work?

[cowscankill]

I have a 10 volt DC convertor, but I tohught it would be cool if it would run on batteries or outside power source. Couldn't you add two switches to change between batteries and an outlet source?

[cld0000]

or just simplify it to a SPDT switch that goes something with one side AC, middle off, and the other side battery.

[bogott]

I think you can. My friends and I are actually trying to amp up the power by pushing up the voltage even more. So far, we haven't had any luck with the power supplies we have been using (surplus from Axeman). Working on that. Hopefully another post will be coming soon!

[cowscankill]

I was thinking that owning a Vulcan would be cool, but I like how pneumatic guns are easily mod-ible.

[Thundertydus]

See! You are stalking me!

[cowscankill]

Whaaa--? I was here first! YOU'RE STALKING ME!

[tots]

do u think a 12v adapter A 1000mA would increase fire rate or fry the motor? also how many volts do you think would fry it?

[cld0000]

It would, but it will damage the motor over time.

[Spartan Warrior]

yer a vid would be nice and do I have to get 2 9v adapters so that this hack can work

[Spartan Warrior]

Thanks mate this is going tot help me alot and how many rpm does this hack get the gun to fire

[djlolypop]

i was thinking on when i get my nerf vulcan for my birthday 02/11/2010 i will get the size of it and make a new box then i can fit my 9.6 v battery then i use tin foil to conect the + and - to the gun or maybe grind down the thing in the middle so i can fit it in there i dont whant my battery to be lose inside when im shakeing it

[veemon123]

yeah i love this mod but would a plug in with a output of 12v and 700ma
please tell me i want to know

[bigbrotherjtf]

Hey guys I am new here but this mod really helped me out with my mod on my nerf vulcan.

What I did definitely broke the warranty but I was not to worried about it all I did was instead of running the wires through the battery compartment I put a hole in the side of the gun for a power converter to plug into ( 2.5mm x 5.5mm to be precise)

The converter I am using is a universal (multiple voltages, max 12) at a max of 1200 mili-amps.

[emericanskater]

do you think a 550mA would work?

[blowfo]

a vid would be nice

[Weelious225]

I'm going to try connecting it to more than 9 volts and see if I can get something equivalent to ManaEnergyPotion's mod without all the work (and the LED counter+paint job).