Separate Firing Chamber Blaster Usage

Written By: iSoaker.com | Page Posted: 19990622 | Page Last Updated: 20040115

Sample blasters:
SS100, XP70, XP110, XP150, XXP275

Firing Angle Limitations

Thanks to the shape of the separate pressure chambers, these blasters enjoy a slightly greater degree of freedom in firing than the pressurized reservoir blasters. (Note: Angles are approximations and may vary slightly between different water blasters.) However, these water blasters cannot maintain a vertical stream for long before the stream becomes misty. Remember that improper firing angles are the quickest way to depressurize and leave one defenseless.

Maximizing Use

Fill the water reservoir, pump up the separate pressurized firing chamber, then top off the water reservoir. Doing this gives one an extra full burst. For XP-class blasters with a pressure gauge, the pressure should be kept at maximum. As these blasters rely on air pressure, it is in one's best interest to pump up the firing chamber in-between shots to keep it fully pressurized. The range of these blasters is really dependant on tank pressure unlike CPS-based blasters. All non-CPS based water blasters suffer more noticeably from end-trickle problems as their air pressure decreases.

Increasing Range and Performance

Blasters with separate air-pressure chambers can actually be pre-pressurized with air before pumping in water. This will reduce the amount of water which can be loaded into the firing chamber, but range will be partially increased due to the added pressure. Note that all Super Soakers(tm) have a maximum pressure allowance before their safety-valves open to relieve it.

The SS300 I purchased had an interesting sticker attached to the backpack portion. Apart from the typical don't shoot people's eyes and face, don't use salt water, don't leave water in the blaster, it also recommended pre-pumping the firing chamber.

Benefits of pre-pressurizing separate air-pressurizing chambers in blasters are less water pumps to get a good stream, less amount of end-trickle, and, in some cases, better range.

Somethings to note when pre-pressuiring firing chambers of air-pressure-based soakers:

• to pump air when the reservoir is full of water, simply turn the blaster upside-down, then pump 10-14 times. This works for most blasters (but not, ironically, for the SS300. For the SS300, detach the hose, then pump in air);
• do not fire the blaster if upsidedown or fire at angles near to vertical (the blaster will mostly fire air);
• do not fire out the entire firing chamber's water supply otherwise you'll be firing out your pre-pumped air and will have to pre-pressurize the firing chamber again to improve blaster performance; and
• be careful not to overpump pre-pressurized chambers since the increased pressure may end up locking up some blasters (i.e. the trigger becomes extremely hard to pull). Unfortunately, this needs to be experimented with on a per-blaster basis.

Good soaking!