HHWRSA

This weekend we have upgraded the air hose on our launcher to the new 290psi (working pressure) air hose.  The air hose had Nitto connectors so we have continued to use these where a connector is needed.

First step was to remove the old coiled air hose and install a Female Nitto quick release to the Air pump hose. The air pump hose has an internal diameter of 8mm, so getting the 10mm barbed section down the middle of the air hose took a little while. Here is the pump with its Nitto quick release installed.

Air Pump with Nitto Quick Release - Closeup

and another pic of the pump

Air Pump with Nitto Quick Release

The Nylex High Pressure Air hose is 15m long and the male end clicks straight into the quick release on the pump.

Pump and Air Hose connected

The next part was to install a male Nitto connector to the abort section of the launcher.

For this we used a small section of the Nylex hose and one of the male Nitto connectors. As the Nylex hose has an internal diameter of 10mm this was relatively easy. The other end of the Nylex hose connects to the abort T piece which has a 12mm barbed section. This took a bit longer to get on, but some hot water and a few expletives later and it was on.

Abort section with Male Nitto connector

The male Nitto connector on the abort section clicks into the female quick release of the 15m air hose.

15m Air hose and Abort section connected

The Gardena quick release is still used to connect to the launcher itself. We will probably upgrade this in the near future now we know the 10mm hose will fit over a 12mm barb. We will also be replacing the plastic release valve with a metal one and increasing the length of hose from the release valve to the launcher.

The Gardena uses standard 12mm fittings, whereas the air hose use a standard 10mm fittings, so there needs to be a conversion at some point. Here is a pic of the pump and abort section all connected.

New Airhose - all connected

A quick test today up to 100psi showed no leaks, we will do a higher pressure test prior to the next launch day.

Also a small milestone, its  our 100th posting on the HHWRSA website and our 2 year anniversary of HHWRSA

After the demise of our foot pump at the last launch day, we needed to get a new one. We decided to look for something that would reliably pressurize to 130-150psi. After looking at 12V compressor options we have initially settled on a hand pump. We took delivery today of a TOPEAK Joe Blow Ace Bike pump.

This pump has 2 pressure chambers and a switch on the top which can be set at 60psi, 120psi or 200psi. In the different configurations it switches between the chambers to allow a lot of volume on the low pressure selector or a small volume but high pressure when choosing the high pressure selector. This should allow us to pressure up to 60psi quickly, then switch to the 120psi selector to get the pressure up from there.

The pump has 2 foot rests, a hand rail, the pressure selector switch, 2 long pressure cylinders, about a 1 m hose (looks like 6mm or 8mm) and a pressure gauge up to 260psi.

Here are some pics of the pump.

TOPEAK Joe Blow Ace Pump - Side View

Front View

Pressure Selector Switch

Pressure Gauge

The unit is surprisingly big, standing at approx 70cm high and when the handle is fully extended goes up to about 1.4m. Here is a pic with the handle extended, you can see both cylinder pumps clearly

Handle Extended