The Super Soaker: A Game-Changer in Water Fighting

When I was a kid, the Super Soaker was an absolute game-changer in my neighborhood. Now that I'm a dad and know how to engineer, I decided to take it up a notch by creating the largest water gun ever, which holds the Guinness World Record for its size at seven feet long. This follow-up project is not just about aesthetics; it's also a demonstration of my capabilities as an engineer.

The Destructive Power of Water

Before we dive into how I made this massive water gun, let's take a moment to appreciate the destructive power of a stream of water traveling at 272 miles per hour. This speed is equivalent to a speeding bullet, and it's what makes this gun so formidable in a water fight. To put it into perspective, watermelons are great, but they wouldn't stand a chance against this powerful stream.

How We Made It

To create this behemoth of a water gun, I teamed up with my buddy Bob and his glorious beard (laughs). Together, we created a skeleton for the gun, which I won't show here, but if you're interested in learning more about how to construct a large-scale replica like this, he has uploaded a full video on his YouTube channel called "I Like to Make Stuff." The video description will have all the juicy details.

After some EVA foam and paint, we ended up with this incredible design. The first thing you should notice is that most of the mass is down in the handle, not up here (points to the top). This is because having a low center of mass is really helpful for stability and maneuverability when dealing with something as large as this gun.

The Design and Components

Let's take a look under the hood to see the design I arrived at with my buddy Ken. The components you see here are just a fancier version of all the components that make up this gun. They operate on the exact same principles, so we'll dive into how it works in the next section.

The Science Behind How It Works

To understand how this water gun works, I figured it would be helpful to ask the actual original inventor of the Super Soaker, one of my personal engineering heroes, Lonnie Johnson. One of my first questions to him was how he came up with this idea. (laughs)

"Lonnie, tell me about your inspiration," I asked.

"I got the idea in 1982 while working on the Galileo project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory," he replied. "I was doing experiments on my own in the bathroom in the evenings and wanted to develop a heat pump that would use water as a working fluid."

The First Prototype

Lonnie showed me the very first prototype he ever built of the gun, which was quite fascinating. We talked about some of the clever design elements, such as the tank holding the water doubling as the pressure container.

"This tank here that holds the water is also where we store the compressed air," Lonnie explained. "By using this single component for both purposes, we were able to create a more efficient system."

Rare-Earth Magnets

One of the coolest features of this gun is the cover held on with rare-earth magnets (laughs). This makes it incredibly easy to access the fill valve after you've shot a bunch and need to refill the water and gas.

Gratuitous Violence

Now, let's get back to the gratuitous violence (laughs) – a double rainbow all the way!

The Power of This Gun

To put the power of this gun into perspective, let's compare it to some other sources of pressure. The original Super Soaker was pressurized to 40 PSI, while the pressure from your home hose is just a little more than around 50 PSI. A fire truck hose comes in at around six times that at 300 PSI.

This beast is eight times the pressure of a firetruck at 2,400 PSI, which, in hindsight, might be overkill. One final really cool feature of the gun is you can swap out the nozzle depending on what you're shooting.

Nozzle Options

The nozzle with a small diameter opening has a high stream velocity but lower overall water output. It's perfect for cutting or puncturing stuff.

On the other hand, this nozzle is basically wide open at a quarter inch (laughs), making it great for getting things drenched fast or breaking things with force.

Testing the Gun

Now that we've fully tested the gun, I wanted to see how it would do in an actual water fight. So, we got together for a party with some family friends, but to make things fair, we took turns picking guns.

Of course, I got first pick (laughs), and boy, did I take advantage of that! The game was on, and I completely destroyed my opponents until I ran out of water.

Thanks for watching!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(water spraying)(birds chirping)(drills buzzing)(bell ding)(glass breaks)(water spraying)(glass breaks)(Mark Laughing)- Yeah.When the Super Soaker was first inventedit was an absolute gamechanger in my neighborhood.So now that I'm a dad andI know how to engineerI decided to once againlevel up my water fightingcapabilities with this.The Guinness World Recordholding largest water gun everat seven feet longas a follow up, of course,to my world record largest Nerf gun.But she doesn't just look good.So I'm gonna show you how we made ithow she stacks up againstthe original Super Soakerand then we'll talk about thescience behind how it works.But first, let's just takea moment to appreciatethe destructive power of a stream of watertraveling at 272 miles per hour.(upbeat music playing)(liquid splatters)(chimes playing)(upbeat music playing)- Watermelons aregreat, but I wanted to seehow she would fare in a real water fightin addition to running some further tests.But before we get to those,let's talk about how wemade it and how it works.Together with my buddyBob and his glorious beardwe created a skeleton for the gun.In fact, I won't show it herebut if you want all the gory detailson how to construct a largescale replica like thishe uploaded a full video onhis awesome YouTube channelcalled I Like to Make Stuff.I'll put a link in the video description.And in the endafter some EVA foam and apaint job, we ended up here.So let's take a look under the hoodto see the design I arrivedat with my buddy, Ken.The first thing you should notice is thatmost of the mass is down herein the handle, not up here.That's because having a low center of massis really helpful forstability and maneuverabilityfor something really large like this.All the components you seehere are just a fancier versionof all the componentsthat make up this gun.It operates on the exact same principles.So let's start by talkingabout how this one works.And to do that I figurewe might as well askthe actual original inventorof the Super Soaker,one of my personal engineeringheroes, Lonnie Johnson.Of course, one of myfirst questions to himwas how he even came up with this idea.- You see, I got the idea in 1982I was at the Jet Propulsion Laboratoryworking on the GalileoProject at the time.In fact, I was doing experiments on my ownin the bathroom in the evenings.I wanted to develop aheat pump that would usewater as a working fluid .I had made these nozzles,I had hooked up to a sinkand as I shot the stream ofwater across the bathroomand I saw how powerful it wasand how satisfying it was,I thought to myself a high pressure,high performance watergun would really be cool.- As I talk more with Lonnie, he showed methe very first prototypehe ever built of the gun.We talked about some ofthe clever design elements.For example, this tankhere that holds the waterdoubles as the pressure container.So each time you pump, you are forcingmore and more air into this spot,which makes it more and morecrowded with air molecules,which increases the pressure.And when you pull the triggerthere is pushing downon the water so hard,the only place it can gois through this tube and out the gun.And so this is why this tubeis intentionally bent down like thisbecause no matter whichway you tilt the gunit's always gonna be below the water lineand therefore water willcome out and not air.And so now in our case, instead of pumpingwe fill this tank up withhigh pressure nitrogen gas.And then this tank is filledwith about two gallons of water.And just like the Super Soaker,it has a tube that runs all the way downand is open at the bottom.So then this gas is ata really high pressureand it wants to get out.So when you pull thetrigger and open the flowit pushes down on the top of the waterwhich forces it up this tubeand out at 272 miles per hour.And the trigger is justthis ball valve joint here.But I thought it would be lameif every time you wanted a fireyou had to turn some handle.So we have pneumatic piston herethat's also powered by the nitrogen.And then we have asolenoid that's connectedto some double A batteriesback there for power.And so when you push thisbutton, it opens the ball valveand allows water to flow throughuntil I release the button.I'll put a link to the CAD files we madealong with a build list ofall of the components we usedin the video descriptionif you wanna make something similar.Oh, one final cool featureis we have this cover herethat's held on with rare-earth magnets.So after you've shot a bunchand need to refill the water and the gas,you can just easily access the fill valvesthrough this window here.And now back to the gratuitous violence.(upbeat music playing)(eerie music playing)- Oh, wow.It's a double rainbow all the way.There's some context onthe power of this gun.The original Super Soakerwas pressurized to 40 PSIand the pressure fromthe hose at your houseis just a little more than around 50 PSI.A fire truck hose comes inat around six times thatat 300 PSI.And this beast is eight timesthe pressure of a firetruckat 2,400 PSI, which inhindsight is probably overkill.One final really coolfeature of the gun isyou can swap out the nozzledepending on what you're shooting.So this nozzle has a reallysmall diameter openingwhich leads to a high stream velocitybut lower overall water output.So it's good for cuttingor puncturing stuff.Then this nozzle is basicallywide open at a quarter inchso it's a little lower velocitybut it's the maximum water output.So it's good for gettingthings drenched fastor breaking things with force.(glass breaks)(eerie music)So now with the gun fully testedI wanted to see how it woulddo in an actual water fight.So we got together for a partywith some family friends,but to make things fair,we took turns picking guns.But of course I got first pick.(upbeat music)(group yelling)(water splattering)(group screaming)(child crying)(group yelling)(water spraying)- So it worked awesomeand I completely destroyed themuntil I ran out of water.(group yelling)Thanks for watching.(upbeat music playing)(static sounds)\n"