Splicing 2L bottles

[Jamie5335]

To join the discussion, I use Spliced bottles in my rockets. I cut the bottoms of and shrink them using water at 72 degrees. Then I glue them with a polyurethane glue and wait a day for it to dry. After that has dried I then put a 7.5 cm sleeve over the top of the seam and wait for that to dry for a day. Then to finish I put a 7.5 cm square over the weak point where the sleeve ends meet. I then let them dry for a further week, and then pressure test them to 130 psi (I dare not go any higher!). They go up to 130 nicely without leakage and I have found that they deform slightly so you can put a bit of glass strapping tape over the ends to reinforce them. This helps dramatically in stopping the deforming bottles!

Cheers and Good Luck!

[U.S. Water Rockets1]

To join the discussion, I use Spliced bottles in my rockets. I cut the bottoms of and shrink them using water at 72 degrees. Then I glue them with a polyurethane glue and wait a day for it to dry. After that has dried I then put a 7.5 cm sleeve over the top of the seam and wait for that to dry for a day. Then to finish I put a 7.5 cm square over the weak point where the sleeve ends meet. I then let them dry for a further week, and then pressure test them to 130 psi (I dare not go any higher!). They go up to 130 nicely without leakage and I have found that they deform slightly so you can put a bit of glass strapping tape over the ends to reinforce them. This helps dramatically in stopping the deforming bottles!

Cheers and Good Luck!

What is the diameter and height and volume of those bottles you are using? They seem larger than standard 2 liter bottles. Perhaps it is just an optical illusion?

[bandsons]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet...

Here is a tip to keep a nice straight splice:

Use something like a rod or pipe (anything that is long, straight, and fits very snug into both ends) to insert into the bottle before the glue starts to dry. In my case a plunger handle was the perfect fit... don't worry I washed real good after they dried :-)

[U.S. Water Rockets1]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet...

Here is a tip to keep a nice straight splice:

Use something like a rod or pipe (anything that is long, straight, and fits very snug into both ends) to insert into the bottle before the glue starts to dry. In my case a plunger handle was the perfect fit... don't worry I washed real good after they dried :-)

This is a good idea, but if you ever decide to build longer spliced rockets, this method becomes difficult, because getting a perfectly straight and stiff (not flexible) aligning rod/tube is harder the longer it is. You should also make sure to get good practice at aligning the bottles using a straight edge or table top.