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PSA: My potato cannon misfire taught me a lesson about PVC cement
I was testing a new barrel design in my backyard last Saturday and the whole thing just blew apart at the seam. Luckily nobody got hit but it scared my neighbor pretty bad. Turns out I used the wrong type of cement for the fittings - needed the heavy duty stuff for pressure rated pipe. I'd been building these things for like 8 months and never had an issue before. Anyone else learn a hard way about material specs on homemade launchers?
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victorb749h agoMost Upvoted
Oh man, that's a rough way to learn that lesson. I had something similar happen with a small air cannon I built years ago. I used regular PVC cement on a coupling and the first time I put real pressure to it, that joint just let go with a pop. Sent a piece of plastic whizzing past my ear. It really makes you appreciate how important the right materials are, especially with anything that stores energy like that. Glad you and your neighbor were okay though. That kind of scare stays with you for a while.
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danielmason5h ago
Sent a piece of plastic whizzing past your ear? Man, that's insane. I've been lucky enough to only have stuff blow apart away from me, but having a chunk of PVC come at your head would make me rethink the whole hobby for a while. Did you end up switching to metal fittings after that or just double check every glue joint now?
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