# taking the honk out if an air canon



## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

I was handed an air Canon today and told to make it work. It works great except for the loud honk that is typical of some of these. It is to be used in a very small space and to us the honk is more annoying than it is scary.

Details, typical build of an air canon. It uses an air dump valve the activates with a.pnumatic valve. The output of the dump valve is 3/4." There is nothing else attached to the output. This is all setup on a 5 gallon tank that gets its air from a 50 gallon industrial .compressor. 

All we want out of it is the rush of air.


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

You might find some information of use in this thread:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=22835&highlight=air+cannon+honk


----------



## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

I actually already read that thread. I have I different valve on this one. No sprinkler parts here. This one has an air dump valve that is what is used on profesionaly builts canons. I will keep looking though. I saw,an arrival on this years ago, I just don't remember where I saw it.


----------



## VexFX (Sep 27, 2011)

The honk sound may actually be cause by a vibrating diaphragm on the valve. Check to see if you notice any parts of the canon vibrating when fired, as vibration usually causes the sound. If so, you can insulate those parts to dampen the sound.


----------



## Cole&Jacksdad (Jan 20, 2011)

I was told if you use a quick exhaust after the valve, it will eliminate the honk.


----------



## Scarypumpkinpie (Feb 1, 2012)

Another option might be just to forget the air horn all together and go with a mini air compressor if all you are after is the hissing sound. The kind used to blow up an air mattress would be sufficient. If you already have it running, no one will think it is more than a motor running on a prop or something. The small ones have motors that are not very loud at all. You will still get that desired hiss, and they are fairly inexpensive, portable, and light weight. We used air horns last year for the first few nights. I agree with the annoying part. The cheap ones are not worth wasting money on if you decide to use air horns. Half the time the blast sputtered or just hissed with no blast, just sputtering damp air rushed out. I seem to remember by removing the nozzle we just got the blast of air. But, even then it did not give off the "hiss" every time. Sometimes they sputtered sounding more like a rapid fire BB gun, sometimes they just hung up and by the time it actually hissed the element of surprise was lost. Several of the cheap ones were duds that worked once or twice and then stopped. The good ones you buy in the boating supply section are more expensive, but worked consistently, blasting every time with the desired effect. However, we were running through them pretty fast, at least 3 or 4 a night. At 6-8 bucks a pop on the smaller easier to handle sizes, the cost was just not worth the effect. Plus, I just thought it was annoying like you said, so we just stopped using them. Another great thing about using something with an air hose is you can actually shoot it from a distance without being seen if you want.


----------



## gadget-evilusions (Jan 26, 2007)

If you can post a picture, I may be able to diagnose a problem.


----------



## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

gadget-evilusions said:


> If you can post a picture, I may be able to diagnose a problem.


I agree, a picture would go a long way. Some other details might be helpful like; what is the size of your selenoid valve? For instance, we had a problem with our selenoid valve being to small to effectively activate the dump valve.


----------



## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

I can't take a picture of it till this weekend. However it is not a horn. It looks just like the air canons you can buy profesionaly built from sites like monster guts. It is designed to give a hard blast of air to make a scare. They tend to be powerfull enough to move things. Larger versions of these have been made to luanch fruits and vegies.


----------



## jaac98 (Oct 26, 2008)

The amount of air pressure will also increase or decrease the honk. I use a regulator to adjust the pressure in the tank to get the sound that I want...the more pressure the louder the honk.


----------



## zombietoxin (Aug 3, 2010)

Obviously you have a goose stuck in there somewhere. Spread some corn on the floor in front of the canon and get ready to pounce on him when he sticks his head out.

Or...

You can change the valve to, as someone previously mentioned, a super quick exhaust valve. These are "piloted" valves which means they require another, smaller valve (the pilot) to control the exhaust valve. 

Sounds complicated, but its really not once you see one- and the safety factor goes waaaaay up over plastic valves.

Also as someone else mentioned- air pressure affects the output sound- so a regulator is really necessary. You can get nice reports with as little as 30psi, so don't think you have to run at 100psi to get a KABOOM. In fact- putting a 'megaphone' type pipe on the output and adjusting its length does more for the sound than just about anything else.

You also have to temper your excitement with hearing safety- no kidding. I used a dB meter from radio shack on mine and was able to get 122dB using a 3/4 exhaust valve at about 3 feet! Now according to OSHA-

85 dB and higher - prolonged exposure will result in hearing loss
90 dBA - no more than 8 hours per day (examples - lawn mower, truck traffic, hair dryer)
95 dBA - no more than 4 hours per day
100 dBA - no more than 2 hours per day (example - chain saw)
105 dBA - no more than 1 hour per day
110 dBA - no more than ½ hour per day
115 dBA - no more than ¼ hour per day (preferably less)
140 dBA - NO EXPOSURE TO IMPACT OR IMPULSE NOISE ABOVE THIS LEVEL (examples - gunshot blast, jet plane at takeoff)

So be careful!


----------



## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

There is actually a piloted quik exhuast valve on there. I just need to play the air pressure. I haven't had much if a chance to play with it since first writing this post. I know all about saftey, I am part of the environmental saftey and health team at my day job. The haunt I work for will probably be the safest in the state.


----------



## NickG (Sep 12, 2006)

I happened upon this thread while looking for something else and saw air cannon and started to wonder if any of you guys ever have seen a roofing nail gun without the mechanism on it that loads/drives the nails? Basically you're left with the large (usually aluminum) air chamber with a racket-ball sized cylindrical cavity. Hook one of these up to 125psi and you've got an extremely loud air cannon that will shoot anything you can fit into the "barrel" so to say. Granted, I realize our objective here is not projectiles, but I wonder if anyone's used this as a scare aid. There is almost zero lag between charge and fire time due to the small internal reservoir volume, but it sure is loud... and scary and they can be had for pretty cheap at flea markets


----------

