O-Rings and PVC Glue
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Two things I've discovered since the article:

1) 4mm O-Rings work better than 1/8" O-Rings; they are slightly thicker, and you don't have to monkey around with filling the slot the same way. I used 4mm x 42mm rings, which worked but leaked a little bit, due to the excessive stretch I think. I want to try 4mm by 44mm, which should be nearly perfect (if they exist).

2) The PVC glue used inside the sliding valve, binding the PVC pipe to the Schedule-80 PVC core, fails after enough use, causing the piston to come apart at inconvenient times (e.g during a photo shoot). I recommend filing all mating surfaces and using a strong epoxy instead of PVC glue.
Posted by EdwinWiseOne on July 06, 2008 at 16:02:06 Pacific Time

O-Rings and PVC Glue
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I am trying a 2 part epoxy called Marine Tex on the piston to glue it together. Any boat store sells it for 12.00 for a small kit. I also bought 2" schedule 80 electrical, chucked it up in a small lathe and turned it down to fit tight into the 2" Lowes pool pipe sanded coupler. At ACE in Omaha, NE I found 44mm o-rings that stick out a little over the outside of the sanded coupler. What helped was turning the 2" schedule 80 electrical pipe to fit very snug inside the sanded coupler. I also built the air flow valve out of this schedule 80 2" electrial pipe that I turned down. I can send pictures if you would like them.

Posted by ktcrow on September 23, 2008 at 13:26:43 Pacific Time

Lowes in phoenix
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You need to think outside the {big} box. Even bright shinny ACEs don't carry the 3" parts. However, try an dingy, old ACE with 1' wide aisles piled to the ceiling with goods, often in a mall void of other stores,... like at 51st ave & Thunderbird.

They have all the 3" parts (3 newer ACEs didn't have any). Not only did they have insert couplers, they had them in every size. And there were 4 or 5 of the 2". The only part you cannot get there is the 2" o-ring, and that is because they only had 4.

Oh and they cut the tubing so you don't have to buy a 10' stick.

What they didn't have I was going to go 3 stores East to the Homeowner's Plumbing supply. Failing there would have been Sprinkler World up on Bell then SAN plumbing. Otherwise

www.mcmaster.com
Posted by jcmaker on March 22, 2008 at 22:08:31 Pacific Time

Extra Overview Picture
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Here:

http://www.simreal.com/makezine/boomstick_overview.jpg

Posted by EdwinWiseOne on March 12, 2008 at 12:25:22 Pacific Time

Part Variances
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Looking at the article in print for the first time, I notice that they swapped out the 3" repair coupling that I used in the original. (Note to those interested; Make rebuilds at least SOME their projects, to verify them, and sometimes takes new pictures).

A simple 3" coupling works fine to attach the air reservoir, nothing fancy needed.

Also, the parts list (edited by me to introduce this particular mistake) lists two 2" to 3" reducing bushings, and there are actually three used in the body of the article (two modified around the valve, and a third that attaches to the air reservoir assembly).

I think.

Too many parts!
Posted by EdwinWiseOne on March 12, 2008 at 12:16:50 Pacific Time

Part search
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I cant find the 2" insert coupling anywhere. One i ordered from plumbingsupply.com is to short. No Lowes in the Phoenix area has it and they will not mail order one. Please tell me where I can find one.
Posted by JMalmborg on February 26, 2008 at 20:15:10 Pacific Time

Part search
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Yeah, that one part is terribly hard to find. I found it in the "well supplies" section of Lowes. Here is all I know about it:

Lowe's item #153807 is a ProPlumber part, model PPFC200. It's special in that it joins 2" pipe from the INSIDE instead of from the OUTSIDE (which most other couplings do).

ProPlumber, also known as "Water Source" when called on the phone, and can be found at:

11129 NW 34th Ave, Suite A
Grimes, Iowa 50111
phone 800-346-7611

Lowes is their only major distributor.

It would be lovely to have an easier to find piston than this!

Doing the project in pipe sized up 1" in all diameters, I think, does provide for an easier piston, but it also costs a bunch more.

Posted by EdwinWiseOne on March 12, 2008 at 12:07:45 Pacific Time

Part search
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My local Lowes had the part but it wasn't with any of the other plumbing stuff. It was in a separate section with the pumps and pool supplies. People working in plumbing were clueless about it.

It took A LOT of sanding to get the part to fit and I'm still not very happy with the final product. If anyone comes up with a better piston design, I'd try it.

Finding o-rings was more of a challenge. I ended up using a metric o-ring (42mmx3mm I think) and not using the layer of caulk as described in the article.
Posted by sliptonic on March 08, 2008 at 11:42:59 Pacific Time

Part search
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The O-Rings should have been fairly easy to find -- assuming you have a reasonable industrial section in town. Everything uses O-Rings!

But then again, maybe I just got lucky.

Doing this O-Ring hack was one of the big things I dithered about on this project, but once you get it working, it does work nicely.

As for the sanding of the insert, a slow drill press, a steady hand, and patience, does wonders. Thought, frankly, I made three of them before I was happy, myself.

Posted by EdwinWiseOne on March 12, 2008 at 12:10:03 Pacific Time

Part search
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The exact dimensions of O rings need not be too critical in applications like this. Suitable seals can be made by cutting segments from larger diameter O rings of similar cross sectional area and gluing the ends back together with cyanoacrylate (superglue) type adhesive.
Posted by MadMechanic on April 27, 2008 at 16:34:47 Pacific Time

Part search
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Interesting idea! I wouldn't expect superglue to hold, but that's definitely worth a try.

I know they also make O-ring kits with O-ring glue, where you can make your own custom rings; but those were a tad spendy.
Posted by EdwinWiseOne on April 28, 2008 at 09:13:08 Pacific Time

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