Spudgun Fuels
Some basic fuel advice for using aerosol propellants:
Less fuel will often make your spudgun shoot farther. Always experiment with different amounts of fuel. It seems strange but when you combust a fuel inside of a closed container, such as a spud gun chamber, if you have too much fuel you will not have enough oxygen to ignite the fuel mixture.
Remember less is more!
Propane : Direct propane injection and meter
Right Guard : The choice fuel for aerosol propellants
Chamber Fan: More fuel efficiency
"Ghetto Propane Meter": Cheap, yet accurate fuel meter
Do not use high powered fuels such as acetylene, hydrogen or oxygen. If you do you will die. PVC is nowhere capable of withstanding the extreme power of these fuels, and will explode with much PVC shrapnel.
A list of fuels commonly used in spudgunning:
| FUEL | DESCRIPTION |
| Right Guard | See above link, its good stuff, clean and very powerful! Note: Supposedly Right Guard has stopped using flammable propellants. You can still use a generic store brand, just make sure the propellants are flammable. |
| Glade Air Freshener | Has propane, butane, isobutane as propellants, powerful, but has a large percentage of water and smelly stuff. |
| Starting Fluid (Either) | Very powerful, but a little difficult to measure out, usually 1/2 a second will be enough fuel. Hard to get a small enough amount of fuel. |
| Static Guard (for static on clothes) | This stuff rules, as good, or better than right guard! It is very clean burning, leaves no smell or buildup. Again, very powerful! (update, it is now "fresh scent"--not a bad smell, similar to hairspray smell) |
| Butane (for refilling lighters) | A clean reliable fuel, very powerful. The only drawback is that it is somewhat difficult to get the right amount. |
| Propane | Cheap, very powerful, EXTREMELY reliable, clean burning. Able to be precisely metered with a propane meter. |
| Oust Air Freshener | I haven't used it personally, but it is supposed to be powerful. Again, it has stinky stuff like glade air fresheners. I would assume performance would be similar. |
| Cologne (sd-40 alcohol kind) | Very stinky chamber, but a good fuel. |
| Hairspray | Terrible... it gums up your chamber, don't even mess with it. (Plus it's weak compared to many other fuels) |
| Super-Lube Dri-Film from Lowes | I've not used it personally, but it's supposed to be great! |
| Some Airbrush Propellants | I have not used it personally, but it would be clean burning, as it would be a pure fuel. |
| WD-40 | Used to work, but now the propellant is CO2,
forget it, its worthless now, wont even light...
However, if you find an old can (it wont have a blue dot around the nozzle hole) you are in luck! Its good stuff, but does leave a film in the cannon. |
| Old Spice Deodorant (aerosol) | Clean and powerful, similar to Right Guard Submitted by: Matt Kolenda |
If you have something to add to this, just post on the forum.
Coming soon FAQ: Why propane is safe, and why too much fuel wont light.