Adding a Pressure Gauge on Potato Gun?

Question

I was wondering how you hook up an Air Pressure Gauge to a potato gun's combustion chamber to see how much pressure is built up in the chamber. (that way i can avoid going to high and blowing the gun up). Do i just need to buy one and then screw it into the PVC pipe or is there a certain procedure and adapter that i need to get an accurate reading. i would like to have a gauge i could hook up to a combustion potato gun (preferably) and a pneumatic gun also, so i could use it for testing purposes. i have NO experience in hooking up pressure gauges so please be as detailed as possible. thank you.

Answer 1

You could thread it straight into the combustion chamber or give yourself some slack by threading on an extension tube. If you use tubing make sure that it is designed for high pressure or your pressure reading could have substantial loss. Use a gauge that allows the arrow to stick at max pressure since you are measuring a dynamic system. Remember that since you are drilling a hole into the combustion chamber, you are creating a weak spot in the material which could allow material fatigue or failure to occur. You can reinforce the hole with some kind of flexible, PVC compatible glue or use a combustion chamber with adequate thickness. If you are really cheap you can wrap some duct tape around the chamber so that if it does explode shrapnel hopefully won't fly into your face. Since potato guns are illegal in some counties, everything I have written is for entertainment purposes only and should never be attempted by anyone :) .

Answer 2

who gives a crap?

as long as it shoots...., do you know at what pressure 3" schedule 40 pvc will explode???

stick to hair spray ( fuel ), stay away from starting fluid, & gas, etc... you won't have any problems!