Do people still build their own accumulator tanks or do you just get the BC/Clippard ones? I built one out of some spare stuff I have, looks solid, I just don’t want to die with shrapnel to my neck pond side from a poor build.
Either way works, I think I have a slightly different type in each of my 5 battle-ready boats that use accumulators. Shrapnel concerns aren’t needed. I recommend pressure testing to 150 psi and sticking under water to identify any leaks, rework and try again if necessary
Spuds did a good tutorial on the making of these if that is of some help https://rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/making-small-accumulators-101.443418/ I think having the tanks connect directly to the solenoid valve is a slightly more/better/responsive? way of connecting the two together. what I'm saying poorly is the ready air volume is right where it is needed, at the solenoid. The mad scientists here can say it better I'm sure but that is the gist of it. Hope to see you on the water Craig
wow yeah, McSpuds definitely made that look like a doable thing. so just to make sure I follow, you put the accumulator tank on the downstream side (between solenoid and cannon), right?
NO! Regulator - accumulator - Solenoid - GUN I like building my accumulators. It's cheap and you can custom size it and add multiple hose outlets. I have an accumulator that has an inlet, of course , and 5 outlets
this is why I ask questions, lol. Hey so I just shot you an email, saw the saranac battle schedule on here a bit ago after I did so.
Any good rule of thumb for tank volume? CI per barrel? one tank per barrel? Does barrel length make much difference to how big of a tank to use? In my mind, if you were stuck having the longer distance between tank and solenoid than desirable, make the line between them as large of a diameter as possible for the least pressure drop.
Tank construction strongly depends on the boat size/# of guns I build a large tank for my N.C. triples When I built my Glorie I built my tank last to use the small available space. (small tank)
The only shrapnel concerns are if you use unsuitable materials, ie acrylic. Almost every metal you can use will split and vent pressure rather than turning into shrapnel. Your accumulator should be just fine. Volume-wise, the only thumb rules I have heard are for Big Gun cannons. For Fast Gun, it depends on how much gas your cannon takes and how many rounds you intend to fire in a row.
People talk about 1 cubic inch per gun as a good starting point. I haven't done complete testing to figure out the optimal point for my guns, its typically a geometric decision for me (i.e what fits/meets weight limits). I have 2 inch tanks for each gun in Missouri, it also uses larger feed tubes, the testing I did showed the 2" tanks perform a good deal better than another setup (pipe nipples) that was about .75. The tank size you have there looks fine. 'Optimal' will depend on a lot of factors (gun design, hose configuration, pistons, solenoids, etc) and vary based on that combination, but i wouldn't get hung up on those at this point. A lot of the more competitive types will use check valves in line at the 'inlet' of the tank. The idea behind them is for dual and triple gun turrets, having the pressure locked in the tank will prevent the gun that fires first from impacting the pressure for the other guns. Again, probably don't need to worry about that at this point
I guess I do not agree, In one boat I have poppets so it is easy for me to disconnect the gun and test fire with another poppet. (slower firing rate) . With one gun I notices my gun power go down after a few shoots without a tank.
It goes down after a few shots? Did you discharge and recharge the air system? I had dual sterns in the Baden way back when.. they worked fine.. even completely shot out a casement on Mike Mangus' Ship in Farmington.. no accumulator tank....
I know that this channel is old but I hope someone can still answer my question. It sounds stupid already, but what is the accumulator actually for I know that it builds up presser and then the solenoid releases it, but do you really need a accumulator? thanks -G
it does not build up pressure. it holds a volume of air near the guns to reduce supply issues. Most people only use them to feed duals and triples, but there are plenty of boats not using them at all, quite successfully.
