pvc rocket

[Rocketman]

I was wondering if anyone has ever used pvc pipe for a water rocket? It is easily available in my area and it is capable of holding a lot of pressure (depending on size). I am thinking of using it so I like to know all of your opinions on it. I am also putting a pvc union on the rocket so that there can be multiple chambers separated by burst disks. I'd appreciate any help, thanks.

[WRA2]

PVC can be used in the rocket construction but we would recommend that you follow the WRA2 safety rules and maintain a distance of 50 feet (15 meters) away from your rocket when pressurized. PVC can shatter into sharp pieces if the rocket explodes. These pieces will not show up in an x-ray either.

There was a discussion on PVC use in this forum a few months ago.

http://www.wra2.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=92

Also before you ask, metal should not be used at all in the construction of your pressure vessel.

[Tim Chen]

Rocketman: PVC also suffers from fatigue, so if you launch a PVC rocket many times, it will get weaker and weaker and the amount of pressure it can hole will get lower as time passes. It's like when you bend a paperclip back and forth it fatigues and eventually snaps. You should be allright as long as you take proper safety precautions.

[Rocketman]

Thank you, I am very aware of the safety precautions that go with pressurizing PVC, I guess the stress of landing would be the most likely time to potentially damage the PVC. Would it still be an effective rocket and have a good altitude even if it is much heavier than bottles for example? All I need to do now is come up with a good, reliable parachute system, because it if fails it is going to come down like a large dart and instantly shatter on impact, does anyone have any suggestions for that?

[The Mooseheads]

Thank you, I am very aware of the safety precautions that go with pressurizing PVC, I guess the stress of landing would be the most likely time to potentially damage the PVC. Would it still be an effective rocket and have a good altitude even if it is much heavier than bottles for example? All I need to do now is come up with a good, reliable parachute system, because it if fails it is going to come down like a large dart and instantly shatter on impact, does anyone have any suggestions for that?

A pipe shouldn't be at a disadvantage because it's heavier because the weight will give it momentum that helps keep drag from slowing the rocket down. A light rocket will not have the inertia to push through the air and will slow down. A lot of people put fishing sinkers or coins in the noses of their bottle built rockets to give them more inertia and to make them more stable in flight because of the nose weight.

[Tim Chen]

A pipe shouldn't be at a disadvantage because it's heavier because the weight will give it momentum that helps keep drag from slowing the rocket down. A light rocket will not have the inertia to push through the air and will slow down. A lot of people put fishing sinkers or coins in the noses of their bottle built rockets to give them more inertia and to make them more stable in flight because of the nose weight.

That sounds like a job for a good Water Rocket Simulator! You can get a real good clue about how high different weights will go when you just plug the numbers in and run a simulation. If you tweak the rocket a little lighter or heavier and run the sim over again you can learn a lot about how to fine tune a rocket.

[Rocketman]

That sounds good, thanks. Now comes the difficult problem of a parachute/recovery system, any suggestions?

[The Mooseheads]

That sounds good, thanks. Now comes the difficult problem of a parachute/recovery system, any suggestions?

If you're good with electronics, you could get a servo motor from a remote control plane or car and make a timer circuit to activate the servo some time after launch. Another option is to use a disposable camera flash circuit to energize a solenoid coil. Another reliable deploy is called a "Tomy Timer" and this is just a clockwork timer made from any wind-up toy you can get your hands on!

[Cloud Dancers]

The simplist form of deploy is called "backgliding" or "backsliding" but will only work for long rockets. This is usually accomplished by adding weight to the rear of the rocket and through trial and error you can get the rocket to come down sideways. This system can be finicky but has no moving parts.

[Tim Chen]

The simplist form of deploy is called "backgliding" or "backsliding" but will only work for long rockets. This is usually accomplished by adding weight to the rear of the rocket and through trial and error you can get the rocket to come down sideways. This system can be finicky but has no moving parts.

Technically, the simplest form of recovery is ballistic recovery. You just need to make the water rocket so sturdy that it can't break when it hits the ground. LOL!

[The Mooseheads]

The simplist form of deploy is called "backgliding" or "backsliding" but will only work for long rockets. This is usually accomplished by adding weight to the rear of the rocket and through trial and error you can get the rocket to come down sideways. This system can be finicky but has no moving parts.

Technically, the simplest form of recovery is ballistic recovery. You just need to make the water rocket so sturdy that it can't break when it hits the ground. LOL!

There's also "tumble" recovery. This is really easy to do with water rockets made from soda bottles. Less easy if you use a FTC. The trick is to make the rocket so it is unstable when not under thrust and it tumbles back down and the tumbling flight is slowed down by the drag.

[rolfkoedam]

hi iam using pvc rockets
and it's real great stuf
it can hold mutch pressure
only you have to doo when you put air in it use a wooden wall
how do you say that in english [sorry]
you then the wooden wall and then the rocket that's the safest way
now iam working on a site for pvc water rockets

here the link
http://h2orockets.webs.com/

[Mark Chen]

hi iam using pvc rockets
and it's real great stuf
it can hold mutch pressure
only you have to doo when you put air in it use a wooden wall
how do you say that in english [sorry]
you then the wooden wall and then the rocket that's the safest way
now iam working on a site for pvc water rockets

here the link
http://h2orockets.webs.com/

Hi there!

I think I understand that you are making water rockets from PVC pipe and you use a barrier wall made from wood as a way to prevent an exploding rocket from hurting anyone.

That's a good idea because PVC really shatters when it explodes.

Welcome to the forum!

[rolfkoedam]

jes that's what i mean sorry for my bad english iam from the netherlands
we test the rocket now with 36 bar and it's still holding
we are now making a new rocket
with all new plans in it
new launger very easy to loose and no leakings
a new nossle t type
we have a realy simple pump thath goes too 250 bar
that we never think on that before??
and we are going to use a paraschute deploiment system
with a timer with a servo too open the paraschute door
a onboard camara wireless
so it's going hard working here till the summer beginds

[Tim Chen]

jes that's what i mean sorry for my bad english iam from the netherlands
we test the rocket now with 36 bar and it's still holding
we are now making a new rocket
with all new plans in it
new launger very easy to loose and no leakings
a new nossle t type
we have a realy simple pump thath goes too 250 bar
that we never think on that before??
and we are going to use a paraschute deploiment system
with a timer with a servo too open the paraschute door
a onboard camara wireless
so it's going hard working here till the summer beginds

Wow! That sounds incredible!

I understand your english perfectly too!

Good luck with the project!