piezo lighter not working for potato cannon

Make a ramrod to push your projectiles down the bore. Mount the piezo push button into a wood 'pistol grip' and secure it to the chamber with a worm drive pipe clamp. The point of the sheetmetal screw needs to be within an eigtht (0.125') of the electrode so that the spark can jump the gap.Īlternately you can use a machine screw and a piece of brass shim stock (or any other thin, easily worked metal strips you have around) to form the electrode. Solder a small wire to this, and run the other end of the wire to a sheet metal screw that you will drive into the chamber alongside the electrode. This would normally contact the metal of the BBQ to provide the ground path. Back near the pushbutton trigger you will find a bright, bare, wire. Most electrodes use a 11/32 hole by the way.

With careful round file fitting, you can get a tight fit of the electrode into this hole. Measure the button's diameter carefully and drill a hole a bit smaller than that about 3 inches from the clean out plug end of the Chamber. The piezo igniter will come with a ceramic button on the end of a wire, with the electrode sticking out of the other end of the ceramic button. This makes for the simplest and most reliable ignition source. This will keep your projectile from slipping all the way down into the chamber when you seat it with your ramrod.įiring mechanism: Wal Mart carries replacement piezo electric igniters for BBQ's for around $10. This washer should have a center hole of around one (1') inch in diameter. Before you glue the barrel into the reducer fitting, drop a fender washer with an outside diameter of a bit over one and a half (1.5) inches into the reducer fitting. On the other end of the chamber goes a three (3') inch to one (1') inch glue on reducer fitting.īarrel: Three (3') feet of Schedule 80 Black ABS pipe, one and a half (1.5') inside diameter. This pipe is generally pressure rated to 175 PSI so you have a good eight to one safety margin.Ĭhamber: Eighteen (18') inches of schedule 80 black ABS pipe, three (3') inches in inside diameter.Ĭap one end off with a glue-on clean out end cap, be sure to leave the screw in plug out while gluing the cap onto the chamber. The hair spray model generates less than 20 PSI of pressure when fired. Use Schedule 80 black ABS pipe, it will tolerate the heat a bit better than the white PVC will, and is more prone to blowing out instead of shattering when placed under great pressure. Here's the basics for the hair spray version if you want to start with that one. When I get back I'll post some pics and let you know how it turns out and how it performs.

Secondly, any LEO's out there see any problem shooting this at any of the legal shooting areas in Clark County? Of course I know not to shoot potato's over Camino El Norte, but curious of what laws are involved on possesing such a thing since I've heard some county's/city's are very strict on these 'weapons'. Have any of you guys built one recently enough to give me any tips or stop me from having any headaches during the build? I'll prob start with the combustion type because it seems like less of a hassle to fire although it may be a little more dangerous. I've seen a few simple air operated and combustion versions that seem simple enough. I'm actually suprised the little boy in me hasn't built one yet after all the crazy stuff I've come out of my garage holding!Īnyway, I found a few plans on the internet for the PVC type. I'm definetly up for the challenge and handy enough to do it. Well the boy is bugging me to build a potato launcher with him.

Piezo lighter not working for potato cannon