A preview of my new launcher*video update*

[U.S. Water Rockets1]

Do you have a way to guarantee that one tight rocket on the launcher will not get stuck and just release pressure out through the open launch tubes from the other rockets which just left?

[bugwubber]

Do you have a way to guarantee that one tight rocket on the launcher will not get stuck and just release pressure out through the open launch tubes from the other rockets which just left?

Yes, that was one of the issues I kept on the top of my design requirements. The first indication of trouble will come prelaunch. At pressurization, all of the bottles move up and engage the launch gate with an audible clack. If the bottle does not engage the gate, I know it is stuck. At that point, we can depressurize and adjust the bottle or just close its valve. I'd expect more trouble when compressor air is closed off, so launch tubes 2-5 can be closed after pressurization if needed. Of course I hope to avoid the need to do this.

For rockets that move and engage the gate, I predict a much lower incidence of stuck rockets.

The other reason for the valves is of course in case we don't want to launch 5 rockets at once.

I've also considered sanding the launch tubes above the o-ring but think I will hold off until I have a number of launches completed. I may just build a "skinny" tube that I can swap out on tube 1 at the launch site if we encounter a particularly sticky rocket.

So all that said, how did the first launch go? Here's the all important frame from that video:

thefreezeframe.jpg (32.49 KiB) Viewed 9 times

The bottle on station 5 appears to be lagging behind the others slightly. They are all out of view in the next frame. So I still have a few things to work on such as buying a higher speed camera ;-)

[U.S. Water Rockets1]

Do you have a way to guarantee that one tight rocket on the launcher will not get stuck and just release pressure out through the open launch tubes from the other rockets which just left?

Yes, that was one of the issues I kept on the top of my design requirements. The first indication of trouble will come prelaunch. At pressurization, all of the bottles move up and engage the launch gate with an audible clack. If the bottle does not engage the gate, I know it is stuck. At that point, we can depressurize and adjust the bottle or just close its valve. I'd expect more trouble when compressor air is closed off, so launch tubes 2-5 can be closed after pressurization if needed. Of course I hope to avoid the need to do this.

For rockets that move and engage the gate, I predict a much lower incidence of stuck rockets.

The other reason for the valves is of course in case we don't want to launch 5 rockets at once.

I've also considered sanding the launch tubes above the o-ring but think I will hold off until I have a number of launches completed. I may just build a "skinny" tube that I can swap out on tube 1 at the launch site if we encounter a particularly sticky rocket.

So all that said, how did the first launch go? Here's the all important frame from that video:

thefreezeframe.jpg

The bottle on station 5 appears to be lagging behind the others slightly. They are all out of view in the next frame. So I still have a few things to work on such as buying a higher speed camera ;-)

It sounds like you covered all of the bases. The only other answer would be one-way valves on each tube, but then you have a very dangerous situation if one does not launch you have no way to drain the pressure.

[bugwubber]

Do you have a way to guarantee that one tight rocket on the launcher will not get stuck and just release pressure out through the open launch tubes from the other rockets which just left?

Yes, that was one of the issues I kept on the top of my design requirements. The first indication of trouble will come prelaunch. At pressurization, all of the bottles move up and engage the launch gate with an audible clack. If the bottle does not engage the gate, I know it is stuck. At that point, we can depressurize and adjust the bottle or just close its valve. I'd expect more trouble when compressor air is closed off, so launch tubes 2-5 can be closed after pressurization if needed. Of course I hope to avoid the need to do this.

For rockets that move and engage the gate, I predict a much lower incidence of stuck rockets.

The other reason for the valves is of course in case we don't want to launch 5 rockets at once.

I've also considered sanding the launch tubes above the o-ring but think I will hold off until I have a number of launches completed. I may just build a "skinny" tube that I can swap out on tube 1 at the launch site if we encounter a particularly sticky rocket.

So all that said, how did the first launch go? Here's the all important frame from that video:

thefreezeframe.jpg

The bottle on station 5 appears to be lagging behind the others slightly. They are all out of view in the next frame. So I still have a few things to work on such as buying a higher speed camera ;-)

It sounds like you covered all of the bases. The only other answer would be one-way valves on each tube, but then you have a very dangerous situation if one does not launch you have no way to drain the pressure.

Cool, thanks for taking a look at it!