83 replies to this topic

[SgNerf]

With the Nerf Stampede now available in stores, i've managed to get alot more sets to tinker and modify. I will be posting up some modding experiences on the Nerf Stampede soon.

In the meantime, here is a glimpse at how increases in voltage affect the Stampede's Rate-of-Fire (RoF).

Important Disclaimer: DO NOT attempt this modification unless you are familiar with electrical circuits and accept if your blaster is damaged in the process! Modify at your own risk!

Nerf Stampede - Voltage Increase / RoF Testing Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqc0N8J4Qh4

For my voltage tests, i just use different AA battery holders with various quantities of AA batteries so that i can see the effect of increasing voltage in smaller voltage "steps". Hence the use of alligator clips to interface temporarily with the AA battery holders just for testing purposes.

The 3.7V Li-Ion rechargable batteries i use are also AA-sized (14500), so i put them in AA to D battery converters, and since i wanted to test 6 of them, i simply used the original battery sled to hold those Li-Ion rechargables encased in the converters.

I'm actually planning to use Li-Ion rechargables in all my modded Stampedes for Nerf games (i have lots of those batteries). They also lighten the overall weight of the Stampede too. Will just use either 3, 4 or 5 of them (with battery spacers in the battery sled) to get a choice of 12V, 16V or 18V power... easy to tune and regulate for Nerf games.

Refer to my Nerf Stampede Mod Guide for all the other modification steps: http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=20208


- Update! -

I have test fired more clips and have found that voltages of above 20 Volts produce way too high a rate-of-fire to be able to reliably chamber foam darts from clips and magazines. Although some clips might be able to fire properly once in a while, the majority of clips will get jammed easily very often. Just a slight delay in dart advancement or a bent dart can cause jams to occur.

Testing with 18 Volts provided more manageable speeds, the rate of jams occurring is less but it still happens, especially when worn-out foam darts happen to get stuck in the clips. Not a good situation to be in during a Nerf game!

Overall, i've found 15-16 Volts to be just right in terms of improved rate-of-fire, yet with smooth operation and virtually zero jams occuring, even when slightly bent or damaged darts are used. Therefore, i'd recommend using 15-16 Volts for reliable operation in modded Stampedes.

With that note... here is a Clip Reload & Test Fire video of a modded Nerf Stampede running on 15 Volts:

Edited by SgNerf, 29 April 2011 - 10:59 AM.

[Vengeancedemon]

Looks nice just i think the bullets will jam and you'll burn out the motor.

[BritNerfMogul]

What would you say is the best voltage for the blaster? Giving the best life out of the blaster?

[VACC]

Looks nice just i think the bullets will jam and you'll burn out the motor.

You need a comma in there somewhere. Also, nothing on this site fires bullets.

[debandgeek12]

It looks nice, I just think that the darts will jam. You may also burn out the motor.

The darts jamming is not likely, whereas the motor burning out over time is.

[SgNerf]

What would you say is the best voltage for the blaster? Giving the best life out of the blaster?

I'm currently running my modded Stampedes at 15V-16V for Nerf games. Tried them out at an indoor test game and that RoF speed seems to be quite manageable. Firing in short bursts and occasionally in full auto, no overheating issues detected yet.

I guess only time will tell how long the stock motor can last with higher voltage. Replacing the stock motor with a higher voltage rated motor (and reinforcing the gear mechanisms) would definitely be one of the additional modifications to be done.

Edited by SgNerf, 02 September 2010 - 08:45 AM.

[Aj]

if you load the clip up at 22 volts does it shoot darts that fast or does it just jam? same at 16 volts etc

Aj

[Wes7143]

Do you think at any point, you would consider attaching a Tamiya large type plug (where the alligator clamps currently are), so that you would be able to use some hobby batteries, which can have very long MAH, and are fully rechargeable?

The batteries are available in just about any size, voltage, and MAH specs you want, for a price of $15-$70, depending on the quality of the battery.

[MavericK96]

Do you think at any point, you would consider attaching a Tamiya large type plug (where the alligator clamps currently are), so that you would be able to use some hobby batteries, which can have very long MAH, and are fully rechargeable?

The batteries are available in just about any size, voltage, and MAH specs you want, for a price of $15-$70, depending on the quality of the battery.

I was thinking about doing this. Seen it done with the Vulcan and it looks like a pretty easy mod. Just need to find some reasonably-priced 9.6v (or whatever the closest to 9V is) packs.

[HasreadCoC]

Could we get a video of you firing it with the Drum Mag? 36 darts firing that fast would be fun to watch.

[Wes7143]

I was thinking about doing this. Seen it done with the Vulcan and it looks like a pretty easy mod. Just need to find some reasonably-priced 9.6v (or whatever the closest to 9V is) packs.

I would guess that this site would have cheap battery packs. You can create your own size, shape, voltage, whatever. Or you could buy the "common airsoft batteries", making sure that the connector is "large type", and that it's not too big to fit.

[MavericK96]

Yeah, I've been looking around. Most of these battery packs are only about 1/6 the capacity of a D battery, so I'm wondering how long they will last with extended use in a battle. Can anyone comment on the charge duration of these packs? Or the power draw of the Stampede?

EDIT: I've been looking into it, and I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just get something like these, plus a charger:

http://www.amazon.co...d_bxgy_e_text_b

About twice the capacity as the max-rated battery pack, and would require no modification to the gun itself.

Edited by MavericK96, 02 September 2010 - 04:28 PM.

[Wes7143]

Yeah, I've been looking around. Most of these battery packs are only about 1/6 the capacity of a D battery, so I'm wondering how long they will last with extended use in a battle. Can anyone comment on the charge duration of these packs? Or the power draw of the Stampede?

EDIT: I've been looking into it, and I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just get something like these, plus a charger:

http://www.amazon.co...d_bxgy_e_text_b

About twice the capacity as the max-rated battery pack, and would require no modification to the gun itself.

Wow, those are some pretty high capacity batteries.. Anyways, I've got a 8.4V 1500 MAH lithium ion battery. It lasts about 6 hours of shooting for a high torque motor in an airsoft electric. It takes about 2-3 hours to charge with a smart charger. I think 6 hours of shooting is plenty for a nerf war. You would just have to remember to recharge it before the next one.

[MavericK96]

So it seems like it might just be a better idea to get two lower-capacity battery packs for the same cost and cycle between them if needed. I wonder if the power draw is really the same for the Stampede as for an Airsoft gun, though. Don't they typically have much smaller plungers?

[MavericK96]

Also, @SGNerf: What kind of battery life are you getting out of those 3.7V 14500's? Seeing as they're only 900 mAh or so.

[SgNerf]

Also, @SGNerf: What kind of battery life are you getting out of those 3.7V 14500's? Seeing as they're only 900 mAh or so.

I've been testing out a set of my 900mAh 3.7V 14500 Li-Ion rechargable batteries for the past few days and they have finally started to show lower voltage (i could notice my modded Stampede's RoF steadily decreasing)... time to recharge them.

I did some estimates and it worked out to approx. 40 x 18-dart clips worth of darts test fired over the past few days.

Not too bad... looks like a set of those rechargable Li-Ion batteries could easily last most Nerf games. Imho, 40 x 18-dart clips = 700+ darts. Thats alot of darts to fire, pick up and reload in a single Nerf game!

Edited by SgNerf, 04 September 2010 - 08:37 AM.

[SgNerf]

- Update! -

I have test fired more clips and have found that voltages of above 20 Volts produce way too high a rate-of-fire to be able to reliably chamber foam darts from clips and magazines. Although some clips might be able to fire properly once in a while, the majority of clips will get jammed easily very often. Just a slight delay in dart advancement or a bent dart can cause jams to occur.

Testing with 18 Volts provided more manageable speeds, the rate of jams occurring is less but it still happens, especially when worn-out foam darts happen to get stuck in the clips. Not a good situation to be in during a Nerf game!

Overall, i've found 15-16 Volts to be just right in terms of improved rate-of-fire, yet with smooth operation and virtually zero jams occuring, even when slightly bent or damaged darts are used. Therefore, i'd recommend using 15-16 Volts for reliable operation in modded Stampedes.

With that note... here is a Clip Reload & Test Fire video of a modded Nerf Stampede running on 15 Volts:

Edited by SgNerf, 04 September 2010 - 10:13 AM.

[Chadpuff]

- Update! -

I have test fired more clips and have found that voltages of above 20 Volts produce way too high a rate-of-fire to be able to reliably chamber foam darts from clips and magazines. Although some clips might be able to fire properly once in a while, the majority of clips will get jammed easily very often. Just a slight delay in dart advancement or a bent dart can cause jams to occur.

Testing with 18 Volts is more manageable, the rate of jams occurring is less but it still happens, especially when worn-out foam darts happen to get stuck in the clips. Not a good situation to be in during a Nerf game!

Overall, i've found the 15-16 Volts power to be just right in terms of fast rate-of-fire, yet with smooth operation and virtually zero jams occuring, even when slightly bent or damaged darts are used. Therefore, i'd recommend using 15-16 Volts for reliable operation in modded Stampedes.

With that note... here is a Clip Reload & Test Fire video of a modded Nerf Stampede running on 15 Volts:

In your opinion, would the stampede work well with stephans and if so do you plan on modding the cip to accept stepans?

[SgNerf]

In your opinion, would the stampede work well with stephans and if so do you plan on modding the cip to accept stepans?

Well, i currently use customised full length foam darts and stefans for my clip-fed blasters so i don't need to covert my clips to accept shorter stefans.

I guess its all a matter of what kind and type of shorter Stefans you are using.

If your current shorter Stefans can chamber and fire from modded Longshots or Recons smoothly with your modded clips, then they'd probably be able to work in the Stampede too.

[MavericK96]

I did some estimates and it worked out to approx. 40 x 18-dart clips worth of darts test fired over the past few days.

Awesome, thanks for that info. I am looking at getting a 9.6v 1600 mAh battery pack, and it looks like that should be plenty.

Also, thanks for the new info regarding voltage. I wonder if it would work well to get a 9.6v pack connected in series with a 7.2v pack, for a total of 16.8v, which is right around your recommendation. I was considering getting another 9.6v pack in series, but that would be closer to 20v and probably too fast for the darts to load reliably.

Have you noticed any heating up of the battery or motor when using 15-16v?

[MavericK96]

In your opinion, would the stampede work well with stephans and if so do you plan on modding the cip to accept stepans?

After an AR removal, I've been using my stefans (which are about 1/2" shorter than regular Streamlines) and it works fine with the Stampede. More accurate, in fact, it seems like. They also work fine in all other clip system blasters.

[HasreadCoC]

- Update! -
Overall, i've found 15-16 Volts to be just right in terms of improved rate-of-fire, yet with smooth operation and virtually zero jams occuring, even when slightly bent or damaged darts are used. Therefore, i'd recommend using 15-16 Volts for reliable operation in modded Stampedes.

With that note... here is a Clip Reload & Test Fire video of a modded Nerf Stampede running on 15 Volts:

Ok, here's a question that hopefully hasn't been asked yet, if that's 15 Volts, how many Volts is it at when the blaster is stock? I was wondering for reference so I could figure out the Volts increase to RoF increase pattern.

[SgNerf]

Have you noticed any heating up of the battery or motor when using 15-16v?

So far, when firing my modded Stampedes at 15-16 Volts, i've not noticed any significant heating up of the batteries or the motors yet.

I'll be linking a temperature sensor to the motor to measure its actual temperature in real-time soon, so that'll probably give a better idea of the effect of various voltages on the motor temperature. Will post up my findings soon.

Ok, here's a question that hopefully hasn't been asked yet, if that's 15 Volts, how many Volts is it at when the blaster is stock? I was wondering for reference so I could figure out the Volts increase to RoF increase pattern.

Stock Stampedes originally require 6 x 1.5V D sized Batteries to operate, so 6 x 1.5V = 9 Volts.

Edited by SgNerf, 04 September 2010 - 03:31 PM.

[durka durka]

I really hope that motor will operate fine at the higher voltages without negative conseguences. It would make modding the stampede so much easier.

[durka durka]

double post. disregard.

Edited by durka durka, 06 September 2010 - 04:00 PM.