Tonite we were testing a launcher we are building for a customer. It had the recently noted ‘honking launcher’ problem. We tried a few of the new air dusters and several of them had the problem.
Recommendation to Kit Builders – Don’t cement the trigger to brass elbow and brass elbow to valve top joints. It is much easier to troubleshoot and repair without cement. If you have a bad trigger contact us.
We are working on a measurement system to test the triggers before they are shipped. This may create an additional delay in shipping some launchers, but we want them to work properly.
If your launcher won’t make at least 100 feet of elevation with 50 psi it may have this problem. Contact us.
If your pneumatic launcher makes a ‘honking’ type noise when you trigger it, this is an indication of low trigger airflow. It is also a sure sign of an underperforming launcher.
The Harbor Freight air dusters we use for triggers sometimes exhibit this problem when the valve is overtightened into the frame. Loosen the nut around the pin that the trigger pushes on about 1 turn. There is an O ring seal there, so this should not cause it to leak. The honking should cease and the performance increase.
In the past this happened very rarely (only once that we are aware of), but with the new batches of parts it has happened at least twice recently.
The other problem we have seen that causes inadequate trigger flow is the installation of the outlet jet on the air duster. This outlet jet should not be installed to allow the best trigger flow.
We’re back from the Pacificon convention. We had a good turnout at the presentation there, and lots of folks talked to us at our corner of the wife’s Cookie Lee table. Thanks for all the good comments and suggestions. We had a good show and there was a lot of new interest. We also have a couple of new speaking invitations to local clubs.
The next event on the calendar right now is the River City ARC meeting on wednesday the 8th of November. They usually have meetings on tuesday night, but this one is on wednesday.
Now we will work on the backlog of orders. Three are ready to go out, but there are several more in the queue to start on, and we’ve heard that we need to bring some to the meeting Nov. 8.