Aqua Ace (A DIY Super Soaker)

I remember as a kid my parents one summer bought me the latest and greatest in water gun technology, a Super Soaker CPS 1000. At the time, I couldn't even hold the thing when it was full and had to rest it on the ground while I pumped it and then aimed and shot it at my brother, the fence, or anything else within range. This toy lasted for many years to come, but finally fell apart after countless summers of endless water fights.

That being several decades ago, I had expected water gun technology to have continued to advance over the years, but it appears companies refusing to pay patent licensing fees has caused all water guns using this pressurized technology to go off the market (Super Soaker history).

Over the summer I wanted to relive the experience of my childhood by being able to spray someone with pressurized water, however I was disappointed by the water guns currently on the market being unable to stand up to the performance of what was available in the late 90s. Then I remembered I'm an engineer, so I took it upon myself to build my own Aqua Ace, a DIY Super Soaker.

Note: I am not the first person to do this and there are plenty of others who have developed similar methods to blast water at their victims (see this example of a DIY Super Soaker). I did however struggle to find a comprehensive guide on how to create this style water gun, so hopefully this Instructable fills that gap.

Disclaimer: This Instructable features a device that pressurizes water and shoots it at high velocity. As with any water gun, take care at who or what this is aimed at. I am not responsible for any damage or repercussions that may occur if you follow this Instructable and choose to use it in the wrong context. You have been warned!

I prioritized using components that were cheap and readily available. Most items can be found at your local big box hardware store, whereas some other ideal components were sourced from Jeff Bezos Inc along with McMaster. I also chose to 3D print a few parts so some of the components would fit together more snugly, however this is optional and omitting these parts would probably be ok as well. I'll also note this parts will likely deform over time if they're left out in the sun depending on what material they're printed in (I just used PLA since that's what I had on hand).

Required parts:

1. (x1) 2" OD Pipe (at least 12" long, I used the 2' ABS since I didn't want to transport 10' of PVC) (Source: Home Depot) - $7.72
2. (x3) 2" Pipe Cap (Source: Home Depot) - $2.61
3. (x1) 2" Pipe Cap (threaded) (Source: Home Depot) - $4.54
4. (x1) 2" Pipe Male Adapter (Source: Home Depot) - $2.61
5. (x1) 1/4" Tubing (only about 2' needed) (Source: McMaster) - $1.06
6. (x3) 1/4" Tubing Barbed Fitting (Source: McMaster) - $4.11
7. (x2) 1/4" Tubing Check Valve (Source: McMaster) - $4.16
8. (x1) 1/4" Tubing to 3/4 NPT Elbow (Source: McMaster) - $1.52
9. (x1) Siphon Fluid Transfer Pump (Source: Amazon) - $14.99
10. This exact pump isn't required. You can use any other pump or similar mechanism as long as it can transfer fluid from one place to another (i.e. a syringe could also probably work). There are some examples of this type of mechanism that people have created using PVC pipe, however I could not find an O-ring at Home Depot that would properly seal the pipes so I chose to just go with an existing pump instead (increasing the overall cost slightly).
11. (x1) Garden Hose Nozzle (Source: Amazon) - $14.99
12. Any hose nozzle could work, I just went with this one based on form factor and overall look

• Total cost ~= $60

Supplies and optional parts:

1. Teflon tape
2. Pipe glue (make sure to use the correct glue for the pipe materials, I used PVC to ABS transition glue)
3. Zip ties
4. Hot glue
5. Flex seal and/or spray paint (optional)
6. (x1) Nozzle saddle (3D print, optional)
7. (x1) Handle saddle (3D print, optional)
8. (x2) Pump saddle (3D print, optional)
9. (x2) Pipe saddle (3D print, optional)
10. Pressure gauge
11. For the first iteration of the Aqua Ace I wanted to see how much pressure I could achieve in the pressure chamber so I installed a pressure gauge (Source: Amazon) onto the pressure gauge cap. This isn't required, but I found I was able to get around 20psi before the pump started to get considerably harder to operate and or pressure could no longer be held.

The best information I found on how my childhood water gun worked is here. I've recreated this explanation in the images for this step, but the steps are basically as follows:

1. Priming: Water is loaded into the water tank section
2. Loading: The pump is used to pull water from the water tank into the pump section. Check valve 1 allows the water to only flow from from the water tank into the pump section.
3. Pressuring: The pump transfers water from the pump section and into the pressure chamber. Check valve 2 allows the water to only flow from the pump section into the pressure chamber.
4. Drenching: Activating the hose nozzle allows the water to release from the pressure chamber until the pressure is released.

1. Cut the 2" pipe to length for the water tank and pressure chamber sections. I chose to have a 10" section for the water tank and a 2" section for the pressure chamber but these can be adjusted depending on how much water capacity and drenching capacity you want. I wouldn't recommend going below 2" for the pressure chamber as this impacts how much water can be shot out.
2. Drill holes into the three caps so the 1/4" tubing barbed fittings can be inserted. I used a 1/2" drill bit here, then used a similar sized brass fitting to pre-thread the holes so the plastic fittings could be installed later.
3. Install the 1/4" barbed fittings into the drilled holes with some teflon tape on the threads of the fittings. I also used hot glue here around the fitting and hole to help seal everything and make sure there were no leaks. I later sprayed this area with Flex Seal too so everything was fully sealed.
4. Cut a section of 1/4" tubing and install it on the inside of the cap and barbed fitting (use hot glue again to keep the two parts joined). This tubing should go at an angle to help allow water to easily be drawn from the water tank into the rest of the system.
5. Install the 1/4" tubing to 3/4 NPT elbow onto the hose nozzle using teflon tape on the threads. Be careful not to damage the elbow threads since they are softer than the nozzle threads. Use hot glue to fill in any gaps here as well as needed.

1. Glue the cap that has the extra tubing installed into the barbed fitting onto the long 10" pipe on one end and then the male adapter piece on the other side of the pipe using pipe glue.
2. Install the other two caps onto the short 2" pipe using pipe glue. Make sure to clock the two caps 180 degrees to each other. The nozzle that points up will be where the water comes in from check valve 2 while the nozzle that points down will be where the water flows to the hose nozzle.

It's probably easiest at this point to paint the components (at least a base layer) if desired. This is optional of course. I chose to use some Flex Seal as the base coat just to make sure all the joints I glued were filled and to give a rubber-like texture to the outside of the blaster. Make sure to tape off the nozzles and any exposed pipe inlets and threads to keep paint from getting into the blaster interior or messing with any of the fittings.

1. Use zip ties to clamp the hose nozzle, pump, and pressure chamber to the water tank (use the 3D printed parts here plus some hot glue to help control clocking and general placement). The actual layout used here is up to you, but make sure the tube fitting on the water tank that has the interior tube installed is facing up so the blaster is properly oriented to pull as much water from the tank as possible.
2. Cut and route 1/4" tubing to connect the water tank (the barbed fitting here should be facing up) to check valve 1, then check valve 1 to the pump inlet. The pump I used came with some tubing so I used this as a sort of adapter so the 1/4" tubing would properly fit in the pump. Make sure the check valve is installed in the correct direction so the water flows from the water tank to the pump (you can test this by blowing in each end of the valve to see which way the flow is restricted).
3. Cut and route 1/4" tubing to connect the pump outlet to check valve 2, then check valve 2 to the pressure chamber (the barbed fitting here should be facing up). Make sure the check valve is installed in the correct direction so the water flows from the pump to the pressure chamber.
4. Cut and route 1/4" tubing to connect the pressure chamber (the barbed fitting here should be facing down) to the 1/4" tubing to 3/4 NPT elbow connected to the hose nozzle.
5. Secure the floating check valves and tubing as needed.

Congratulations, if you've made it this far then you've created your own Aqua Ace! Simply add water to the water tank and then install the threaded cap onto the end to keep it in (this doesn't need to be tightened too much otherwise it will be hard to remove). Then just used the pump to pull water into the pressure chamber to pressurize, and squeeze the hose nozzle handle to release pressure! Remember to use your new pressurized water power wisely and only spray others if you're prepared to be sprayed back.