THE TYPES OF POTATO CANNONS

 there are two types of potato cannons. combustion and air.

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also, these things can kill you

Step 1: COMBUSTION CANNON

 The first type the combustion cannon.
it uses a gas, an ignition source, and a compressed area to launch projectiles

Comments

[ramicaza]

2 things.
electric actuation is not more powerful. Blowgun is because it opens MUCH faster and has higher flow.

Also, you forgot hybrids. Other than that, great instructable

[drumerdude250]

It doesnt matter usually about the chamber size unless you have a really long barrel, the bigger chambers just take longer to fill up

[monkhm]

 true, but this one is more powerful then i can imagine, i made a massive silencer for it that turns my shotgun combustion cannon into a clap. but this still is so loud my neighbors complained!!

[jj.inc]

I have one that launches water filled 700mL pop bottles over 400 feet, its not loud and has a chamber almost twice as big as yours, your neighbors must have their hearing aids up too loud.

[monkhm]

LOL you have any pictures or better any instructables?? also i figured out the sound problem. having the air go from 5-1 inch was bad, but going from 1- a pinhead via the solenoid was what gave it the elephant noise, i wanna make a mechanical trigger, but now i have school and electronic projects,if i do do i till be sure to post it

[jj.inc]

Yea here is my instrucable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Multi-Barrel-Air-Gunpaint-ball-tennis-ball-pota/
Ok, I also wondered about the small valve causing performance loss, so if you make it bigger it will help. I didn't realize you had a 5 inch tank, I though it was 3, mine is 4 inch so I guess they are about the same size.
I also realized my 3/4inch paint-ball barrel is really loud.

[monkhm]

Yea it took me... I dunno 2 years to figure it out, but it was right in front of me all along, and Thanks and our cannons use the same kind of switching which is cool, but I also made mine modular, so I have a barrel, trigger, and chamber.
I have
2 chambers
1 trigger
3 barrels

Thats only the air guns lol

[jj.inc]

Where do you get 5 inch pvc?

[monkhm]

Home Depot

[jj.inc]

I guessed so. Your lucky for your combustion gun, I am not allowed to have one.

[monkhm]

It's my preferred one, it's much quieter, all thanks to the silencer, it sounds so funny

[jj.inc]

Thats hard to imagine, what do you use for fuel, I am thinking propane

[monkhm]

believe it or not, the only thing that I got to work, is lysol. Yea i know, I've tried butane,propane, gasoline, starter fluid, AXE, every thing. but the only thing that worked was lysol. I can't explain it..... it's dam weird.
But yea it's the silencer
Check out redjacket.com, dudes got a suppressed shotgun.... I WANT ONE!!!!!
Btw what movie was that from again?? i've herd of it but i forgot

[jj.inc]

I am not sure on the movie, when you say doesn't work, does it just not ignite, or does it not have enough power. Propane, and butane are both heavier than air so getting it to mix in the chamber can be hard without a fan. Gasoline and starter fluid you would have to vigorously shake the gun for about a minute and only use like a half tablespoon of it. For AXE and Lysol, if you hold them both upside down then one probably is full of gas, and the other liquid. One dispense the liquid, which would most likely be the AXE, and the other would dispense the gas aerosol mix. If your holding them right-side up, then they probably have straws, I have used Lysol for a flame throwing setup, both the aerosol and air freshener air combustible because if you spray it on a paper towel it burns up almost instantly.

[monkhm]

They just wont ignite. I've tried lighting them in a petri dish with the bare igniter, after letting them vaporize a little, and still nothing. I just don't get it...
I'll prob make another one to replace this one, plus this one is a pain to push, so i'll make one from scratch

[jj.inc]

Try finding some canned oxygen, it will give your combustion a huge boost, they are at sports stores and I actually saw some this weekend at a ski rental store. You can also try nitrous oxide canisters for whipped cream. I wonder if you just don't have a large enough spark, you could try a butane lighter to start it.

[monkhm]

Yea, im using a BBQ igniter now and the spark is small. I'll try that O2, that will def give my cannon a huge boost.

[jj.inc]

I don't know if you care anymore but I found out why Lysol works. It is a germ killer which means it probably contains alcohol which is very flammable and easy to ignite.

[monkhm]

Still why wont butane or AXE or other flamable things work?

[jj.inc]

My guess is that they are just harder to ignite, butane for sure is especially hard to mix with the air in you combustion chamber. If you had a good 1/2 inch spark I am sure anything would go off but that isn't easy to get. I think it would just be easiest to use the Lysol.
By the way, do you air it out after every shot.

[monkhm]

Yup. I even blow out the excess fumes, always being safe so I don't make myself high on spent lysol, my friend got a good wiff once, wasn't pretty...He almost coughed a lung out.

[jj.inc]

that doesn't sound good, I was cutting pvc pipe in half, then realized it was toxic, I have finally gotten over my cough although they might not be related.

[monkhm]

When I made my first combustion gun, my dad helped me,and we put the trigger in first to make sure it was all good. he was looking down the barrel and clicked it to see the spark,and the fumes ignited and lit his eyebrows on fire.... Good Times

[jj.inc]

yea, I have had a much smaller chamber before, but I like this one much better because it always has more than enough, which doesn't but me because it fills up in 2 seconds +/- 1.

[pyrofire]

HOLY CRAP, 1000 feet .  And at less than 1/3 the possible pressure.  That is great.

[KahlZun]

Does freezing the potato make a difference to impact?

Someone told me once that a frozen potato in a spud cannon can go right through a car door...

..Anyone know if they're right?

[monkhm]

 yes it does. it makes it go much farther and go through more. look up Mythbusters chicken gun revisit and you'll see the difference for yourself.

[TheFawns]

Im making one of these :)  

[monkhm]

 gl

[toogers]

you forgot one kind, a hybrid cannon. it uses compressed air and ignitor+fuel.

[monkhm]

I've heard about those but they're really hard to make + I'm too lazy and poor to make one lol :)