So, did I already mention that the Boom Stick crapped out this year?
It's had a rough run -- during a photo shoot, using it to make vortex rings at high speed, the piston component fractured. The PVC glue couldn't cope with the stress of HUNDREDS of firings and just let go.
So I epoxied it back together and it worked again!
Then, at Scare, I dropped it and fractured it just above the piston mount area, where the air is managed.
So I fixed THAT, and it worked.
But, it stopped working. Stiction, it seemed to me, probably aggravated by a misalignment somewhere.
So I tried a new lubricant -- a spray-on graphite, very exciting. Nope.
It killed an O-Ring so I replaced it. I also worked up a new firing protocol, and it worked mostly okay for a while.
But no. I think, ultimately, the stiction (which can be fixed by reducing the diameter of the piston) plus the piston repair which made the O-ring groove too narrow (so the O-ring can't deform, hence making it harder to fit into the target area and eventually damaging the O-ring) conspired to make it just... not... right.
Plus the dropping, plus the long runs. This Boom Stick is now retired.
Next up -- another one! Bigger! Better! Boomier!