Here's' how you can become the coolest person on the block by building a device to make it rain candy!
I started this project with a trip to my home improvement store for these PVC parts.
I'm gonna get the hard stuff out of the way, so I'll measure different lengths of
schedule 40 PVC pipe and start cutting. I'm mainly using 2" and 1" pipe for the
cannon, and 1 1/4" pipe for the detonator. A chop saw worked well for me, but
I had to be careful because sometimes things like that happen.
All the pipe is now cut to the lengths I want, and before I glue the pieces in place
permanently, I'm gonna dry fit them all together to see how they fit. My design
is for 2 separate 12" air tanks, joined together with 1" pipe, and connecting to an
in-line sprinkler valve. I'm also gonna add a manual ball valve and an end cap
that I'll thread a pneumatic adaptor onto later. This 90 degree elbow will be my
base for a 2 foot tube of 2" PVC pipe that will act as my cannon barrel.
It's looking really good and I'm very happy with the design so it's time to glue it up.
I'll use some purple primer to get the PVC ready for gluing, making sure to put a
coating on all the parts that will be connected.
Now I've finished gluing it back together using PVC cement and am adding some
thread tape to these connector nipples to ensure an air tight seal. I expect this
system will be pressurized around 135 PSI and this should help prevent leaks.
It's time for a pressure test. I'm gonna start around 60 PSI and test for leaks,
then slowly work my way up over 100.
I've closed off the manual valve and disconnected the air hose and I don't hear
any air leaking, so I'm going to test the sprinkler valve release by shorting it out
on this 9 volt battery. It's actually a 24 volt valve, but a single 9 volt battery seems
to work fine for this purpose.
And the valve works great, so it's time to wire up the detonator.
I'll take the 1 1/4" cap and drill a hole just big enough to insert a
momentary switch, and then I'll drill a 1/8" hole in the bottom cap, to feed my
wire through. This is doorbell wire and I'll tie it in a knot to prevent it from pulling
back through the cap again. Now I can add the 1 1/4" x 4" pipe body to the
base, and then prep the wires for a good connection.
I'll wire the momentary switch in series with the battery and sprinkler valve,
then give it a quick test to verify it's all working correctly. Perfect! It's all working
great so I'll secure the switch, and tuck the battery and wires into the detonator body.
Now I'm wrapping the wire around some scrap 1" pipe, it to give it a neat
coiled look, then I'll get to work on a wad for the barrel.
This is the piece that will push the candy up and out, and I'm going to make it out
of these plastic cups. I'll cut the bottom quarter inch off the bigger cup, and then
shave about quarter inch from the top of a 3oz cup. When joined together they
make a perfect fit into the 2" barrel and when it's time to load the candy, I'll push
them to the bottom with a makeshift ramrod. These are super cheap and
surprisingly durable, but still gentle enough to convert this cannon into an
Epic water balloon launcher! Look for that in another video!
Alright, this system is looking pretty good, but I want it to look amazing. So I'll
clean off the UPC stickers with some adhesive remover, and then
spray paint it red and black.
Everything is back together, and I'm really happy with how this is looking.
The daunting question now is, will it work, or was this all for nothing?
Time to test it out.
The plastic cups are in place, and I'm using these jelly candies for practice.
It's ready to go in 3 … 2 … 1 … FIRE!
Amazing!
These candies shot up around 100 feet in the air, and completely covered the back
yard, making an exciting candy hunt for my kids, and a hit novelty at the birthday party.
Well I'll call that an epic success!
If you liked this project, perhaps you'll like some of my others.
Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com