Water Rocket - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Chug · 04-21-2003, 09:32 AM

Have you guys ever built a water rocket using a 2L bottle?
well, i built a water rocket with a 2L bottle and a bicycle pump and it works fine. But the rocket can only take in 2-3 bars of pressure before popping off the cork flying off at about a 2 storey high. Now the thing is, 2L bottles can take up to 6 bars of pressure. If i can just get the pressure up a few more bars, i am sure my rocket can fly higher.

WEll, my problem is that I need to get a mouth piece of the bottle so it will be strong enough to contain the pressure in the bottle, as well as letting me release the mouth piece.

Can anyone give me some advice on how i can get the mouth piece or make one?

Thanks.

magic_hat · 04-21-2003, 08:07 PM

im not sure really how that works......but i do know how you make a bottle blow up with some chlorine tablets and .....well i forgot the other ingredient but it makes a big bang!

Chug · 04-22-2003, 02:25 PM

thanks magic_hat for the suggestion!

hotzot · 04-22-2003, 11:33 PM

try hot wax around the cork

GoldenOuroboros · 04-23-2003, 03:18 AM

Rather than using a cork try something with abit more grip. I did this 'experiment' when I was in high school, made one at home, brought it into school, got in the school paper. Got most of the class wet cause I told them to stay in close, the only wise one was my teacher who stayed back..

My last 'experiment' that I whipped up was a potato cannon.. looks very cool at night cause you get a 2 foot long blue flame belowing out the end..

Ganguro · 04-23-2003, 08:38 AM

When i was in high school we did something like this for science olympiad.
This page could help you out
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...ncherhbase.htm

When I was in highschool we made our base out of metal and had a "tong" shaped peice go over the lip of the bottle opening to help hold it in place. Just be sure not to make it too tight, or when you yank it to launch to rocket, it will just the entire rocket toward you and launch in your face.

Zooksport2 · 04-23-2003, 02:13 PM

Here in Oz, coke bottles have screw on plastic lids. I know u gotta have the same in Toronto... Go to the local tyre shop and ask him for a "snap in" tubeless tyre valve. remove the core and insert this valve through a hole you drilled into the lid of yer bottle. You may need the tyre shops pulling tool to get it through. screw this back onto the bottle, attach air compressor, 120 -150 psi, no probs.... have fun. BUT unless you got heaps of spare valve, you gotta find the old bottle

Chug · 04-23-2003, 02:13 PM

hey, thanks for the advice and the experiences guys! hehe
Really appreciate it.

Bigwahzoo · 04-24-2003, 09:40 AM

My method for holding the pop bottle down is slightly different. I first got a block of wood and screwed 4 eye screws in a small square. Insert the bottle for launching and then insert a u shaped piece of metal of the top of the lip. Add pressure then pull out the u shaped piece of metal. This worked quite well and provided hours of entertainment.

Chug · 04-24-2003, 02:16 PM

I kind of have a vague picture of what ur method is Bigwahzoo. But can you be a little bit more clear? thanks.

kulit · 04-29-2003, 10:40 PM

Here are a few pages you might want to consider. I browsed them when I developed my first launcher design.

My current rocket design involves two 2-liter PET bottles with broken cds for fins. The launcher is made of 1/2" pvc pipe, cable ties, cut out portions of PET bottles, adhesive, some rubber bands, and a length of rope.

This one averages the height of a 15-storey building. I've also added a parachute system for recovery.

The 4 sites below should jumpstart your experiments

http://www.geocities.com/wrgarage/
http://homes.managesoft.com.au/~cjh/rockets/
http://www.smoke.com.au/~ic/water-rocket.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7914/how.htm

GoldenOuroboros · 04-30-2003, 06:07 AM

hehe... length of pvc pipe around 2 inches in diameter, duct tape that to an old fruit tin, put a small hole at the top of the fruit tin, just under where the duct tape joins it, put a bit of metho in the bottom, say about a table spoon or two, pour it down the pvc pipe, cut a potata so the segments are about 2 inches wide, jam this on the end of your pvc pipe so the 2 inches is length wise down the pipe. Jam it down to the bottom of the pipe with a peice of broom handle, best to measure this before hand so you don't end up pushing the peice of potato into the can. Then! hold the side of the can NOT near the hole, put a match over the hole..

Looks great at night. Theres a new fuel come into the supermarkets, supposed to 100% hydrocarbons, I want to try it in mine, but don't want to.. due to the fact that it could possibly explode.

Oh, make a few wrappings of duct tape around the join.. I've had instances where the thing has weaked cause of the heat that's generated and the flame has burst out the side rather than pushing the potato out the pipe. You have been warned

phoenix1002 · 05-02-2003, 03:27 PM

For water bottle rockets, what we used was basically 2 metal hooked arms that were held in place with a u shaped piece of metal. The arms were attached to a metal spike that we shoved into the ground so it didn't kick. Then, we had a rubber test tube cork with a hose that went through the center of the cork and was connected to the bike pump. We shoved the cork into the bottle, hooked the arms over the lip around the mouth of the bottle, and put the u into the arms (there were holes for it). Then we pumped it up, and pulled the u out with a string. We got a 20 oz bottle to go farther than the football field.

If you want to make a spud gun, my suggestion is avoid the explosive variety, and go for air pressure. You don't get the flames, but you can adjust the air pressure depending on what you are shooting and how far you want it to go.

My setup is this:

3 feet of 1.5" pvc (you can go bigger if you want)
1.5" brass ball valve
2.5 feet of 2" pvc
1.5" male and female screw adapters
1.5" to 2" adapter
2" end cap
car/bike tire valve
lots of West Systems 2-part epoxy

I used 1.5" pvc because that was the biggest ball valve i could find. I put screw adapters on the back of the barrel and on the front of the valve so I can alternate barrels (I also have a .5" barrel, and will probably make a larger one for tp rolls). I drilled a hole in the end cap, and put the car tire valve through. I put a metal washer in first, just to reduce the chance of the valve falling out. Then I filled the end cap with epoxy until it was at the same level with the back of the valve. This supports the valve and prevents it from being blown out the back, but you have to be careful not to fill the valve with epoxy. When that was dry, I epoxied the end cap to the 2.5' segment of 2" pvc, epoxied the adapter to the other end and to the valve. Let it all dry at least a day, just so its cured fully. I wouldnt' suggest pvc cement, it breaks easily.

The resulting air cannon should have a 3' removeable barrel and a 3' compression chamber and release valve. The screw adapter also makes it easier to move around... 3 feet versus 6.

I use a bike pump with a built in pressure gauge. 80-90 psi throws potatos a pretty good distance.

My next project will be to make one that uses an electric compressor. I just have to figure out how to make an emergency release valve, so I don't over-pressurize it (I think the breaking point of pvc is about 150 psi).

Azharen · 05-03-2003, 03:30 PM

go here http://www.pitsco-legodacta.com/products/flight.htm They tons of kewl bottle rocket stuff.

Soda_BoB · 05-12-2003, 01:08 AM

Thanks for the info guys..I'll be dsure to try those out

04-21-2003, 09:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
Chug Upright Location: Toronto	Water Rocket Have you guys ever built a water rocket using a 2L bottle? well, i built a water rocket with a 2L bottle and a bicycle pump and it works fine. But the rocket can only take in 2-3 bars of pressure before popping off the cork flying off at about a 2 storey high. Now the thing is, 2L bottles can take up to 6 bars of pressure. If i can just get the pressure up a few more bars, i am sure my rocket can fly higher. WEll, my problem is that I need to get a mouth piece of the bottle so it will be strong enough to contain the pressure in the bottle, as well as letting me release the mouth piece. Can anyone give me some advice on how i can get the mouth piece or make one? Thanks.

04-22-2003, 11:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
hotzot We're having potato pancakes! Location: stalag 13	try hot wax around the cork __________________ The Bully Boys are here!

04-23-2003, 03:18 AM	#5 (permalink)
GoldenOuroboros The Cheshire Grin... Location: An Aussie Outback	Rather than using a cork try something with abit more grip. I did this 'experiment' when I was in high school, made one at home, brought it into school, got in the school paper. Got most of the class wet cause I told them to stay in close, the only wise one was my teacher who stayed back.. My last 'experiment' that I whipped up was a potato cannon.. looks very cool at night cause you get a 2 foot long blue flame belowing out the end.. __________________ Can you see me grin grin grrriiiiinnnning?!

04-23-2003, 02:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
Zooksport2 Casual... Real Casual Location: Orstraylia	Here in Oz, coke bottles have screw on plastic lids. I know u gotta have the same in Toronto... Go to the local tyre shop and ask him for a "snap in" tubeless tyre valve. remove the core and insert this valve through a hole you drilled into the lid of yer bottle. You may need the tyre shops pulling tool to get it through. screw this back onto the bottle, attach air compressor, 120 -150 psi, no probs.... have fun. BUT unless you got heaps of spare valve, you gotta find the old bottle __________________ "And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking. Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but your older, shorter of breath, and one day closer to death" ...pink floyd

04-29-2003, 10:40 PM	#11 (permalink)
kulit Upright	Here are a few pages you might want to consider. I browsed them when I developed my first launcher design. My current rocket design involves two 2-liter PET bottles with broken cds for fins. The launcher is made of 1/2" pvc pipe, cable ties, cut out portions of PET bottles, adhesive, some rubber bands, and a length of rope. This one averages the height of a 15-storey building. I've also added a parachute system for recovery. The 4 sites below should jumpstart your experiments http://www.geocities.com/wrgarage/ http://homes.managesoft.com.au/~cjh/rockets/ http://www.smoke.com.au/~ic/water-rocket.html http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7914/how.htm __________________ I came, I saw... actually i saw hence I came

04-21-2003, 08:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
magic_hat Tilted Location: The Altered State of Drugachusetts	im not sure really how that works......but i do know how you make a bottle blow up with some chlorine tablets and .....well i forgot the other ingredient but it makes a big bang!

04-22-2003, 02:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
Chug Upright Location: Toronto	thanks magic_hat for the suggestion!

04-23-2003, 08:38 AM	#6 (permalink)
Ganguro Army of Me	When i was in high school we did something like this for science olympiad. This page could help you out http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...ncherhbase.htm When I was in highschool we made our base out of metal and had a "tong" shaped peice go over the lip of the bottle opening to help hold it in place. Just be sure not to make it too tight, or when you yank it to launch to rocket, it will just the entire rocket toward you and launch in your face.

04-23-2003, 02:13 PM	#8 (permalink)
Chug Upright Location: Toronto	hey, thanks for the advice and the experiences guys! hehe Really appreciate it.

04-24-2003, 09:40 AM	#9 (permalink)
Bigwahzoo Insane	My method for holding the pop bottle down is slightly different. I first got a block of wood and screwed 4 eye screws in a small square. Insert the bottle for launching and then insert a u shaped piece of metal of the top of the lip. Add pressure then pull out the u shaped piece of metal. This worked quite well and provided hours of entertainment.

04-24-2003, 02:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
Chug Upright Location: Toronto	I kind of have a vague picture of what ur method is Bigwahzoo. But can you be a little bit more clear? thanks.

04-30-2003, 06:07 AM	#12 (permalink)
GoldenOuroboros The Cheshire Grin... Location: An Aussie Outback	hehe... length of pvc pipe around 2 inches in diameter, duct tape that to an old fruit tin, put a small hole at the top of the fruit tin, just under where the duct tape joins it, put a bit of metho in the bottom, say about a table spoon or two, pour it down the pvc pipe, cut a potata so the segments are about 2 inches wide, jam this on the end of your pvc pipe so the 2 inches is length wise down the pipe. Jam it down to the bottom of the pipe with a peice of broom handle, best to measure this before hand so you don't end up pushing the peice of potato into the can. Then! hold the side of the can NOT near the hole, put a match over the hole.. Looks great at night. Theres a new fuel come into the supermarkets, supposed to 100% hydrocarbons, I want to try it in mine, but don't want to.. due to the fact that it could possibly explode. Oh, make a few wrappings of duct tape around the join.. I've had instances where the thing has weaked cause of the heat that's generated and the flame has burst out the side rather than pushing the potato out the pipe. You have been warned __________________ Can you see me grin grin grrriiiiinnnning?!

05-02-2003, 03:27 PM	#13 (permalink)
phoenix1002 Psycho Location: lost	For water bottle rockets, what we used was basically 2 metal hooked arms that were held in place with a u shaped piece of metal. The arms were attached to a metal spike that we shoved into the ground so it didn't kick. Then, we had a rubber test tube cork with a hose that went through the center of the cork and was connected to the bike pump. We shoved the cork into the bottle, hooked the arms over the lip around the mouth of the bottle, and put the u into the arms (there were holes for it). Then we pumped it up, and pulled the u out with a string. We got a 20 oz bottle to go farther than the football field. If you want to make a spud gun, my suggestion is avoid the explosive variety, and go for air pressure. You don't get the flames, but you can adjust the air pressure depending on what you are shooting and how far you want it to go. My setup is this: 3 feet of 1.5" pvc (you can go bigger if you want) 1.5" brass ball valve 2.5 feet of 2" pvc 1.5" male and female screw adapters 1.5" to 2" adapter 2" end cap car/bike tire valve lots of West Systems 2-part epoxy I used 1.5" pvc because that was the biggest ball valve i could find. I put screw adapters on the back of the barrel and on the front of the valve so I can alternate barrels (I also have a .5" barrel, and will probably make a larger one for tp rolls). I drilled a hole in the end cap, and put the car tire valve through. I put a metal washer in first, just to reduce the chance of the valve falling out. Then I filled the end cap with epoxy until it was at the same level with the back of the valve. This supports the valve and prevents it from being blown out the back, but you have to be careful not to fill the valve with epoxy. When that was dry, I epoxied the end cap to the 2.5' segment of 2" pvc, epoxied the adapter to the other end and to the valve. Let it all dry at least a day, just so its cured fully. I wouldnt' suggest pvc cement, it breaks easily. The resulting air cannon should have a 3' removeable barrel and a 3' compression chamber and release valve. The screw adapter also makes it easier to move around... 3 feet versus 6. I use a bike pump with a built in pressure gauge. 80-90 psi throws potatos a pretty good distance. My next project will be to make one that uses an electric compressor. I just have to figure out how to make an emergency release valve, so I don't over-pressurize it (I think the breaking point of pvc is about 150 psi). __________________ I'd rather be climbing... I approach college much like a recovering alcoholic--one day at a time...

05-03-2003, 03:30 PM	#14 (permalink)
Azharen Insane Location: Queens, NY	go here http://www.pitsco-legodacta.com/products/flight.htm They tons of kewl bottle rocket stuff. __________________ To the True Warrior, Death is merely an Ally...

05-12-2003, 01:08 AM	#15 (permalink)
Soda_BoB Psycho	Thanks for the info guys..I'll be dsure to try those out __________________ Just because you paranoid.don't mean they're not after you...- Kurt Cobain-Chopper Read Project Dolphin: Join the TFP Typing Team!