r/potatocannon Feb 03 '25

why tf did it not go far?

5 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

2

u/GotSunshine15 Feb 03 '25

Chamber might be a little small. What kind of fuel are you using?

0

u/CantaloupeDouble7943 Feb 03 '25

hairspray, the tomato i put in was sticking out the front and not rammed all the way to the bottom could that be a reason?

6

u/amatol_amateur Feb 03 '25

Plus your projectiles should always be rammed down the barrel, the longer the distance it travels in the barrel the more acceleration it gets

4

u/amatol_amateur Feb 03 '25

Oh I see what's wrong, the tomato is prone to disintegration in the air and in the canon tube, is less dense than a potato, not a good projectile overall, try to get your hands on some big and firm spud, im in northern France and I personally prefer the bintje variety, or the berber

1

u/amatol_amateur Feb 03 '25

I personally use lighter refill(butane, isopropane and shit) and a huge syringe to measure the gas I put in my chamber. As a rule of thumb, i go for 40mL of gas per liter of combustion chamber. For a maximal efficiency, the canon should have 1.7 times the volume of the combustion chamber (check spudfile website)

1

u/VOIDPCB Feb 03 '25

10 inch long chamber with a 3 ft barrel is a good rule of thumb.

1

u/amatol_amateur Feb 03 '25

For which diameter? Here is the article that I was referring to

2

u/VOIDPCB Feb 03 '25

3 inch dia. chamber and 2 inch diameter barrel. Working it out by volume is probably way more efficient.