Hands-On: Water Warriors Pulse Master

[isoaker]

The Water Warriors Pulse Master is the largest blaster of the Aqua Pulse System series by Buzz Bee Toys Inc. Like the other blasters in the Aqua Pulse line, it uses a spring-based pressure chamber to power its streams. Unlike the smaller versions, the Pulse Master offers a nozzle selector with three stream sizes available to choose from.

While I have not had a chance to test it just yet, I have managed to take and post up some pictures of this blaster for now.

See the 2009 iSoaker.com CPS/Elastic pressure gallery

Here are some other basic stats for now:
Length: 59.5 cm
Width: 10 cm
Height: 26 cm
Weight: 1384 g

More to come...

Soak on!

[isoaker]

While the Pulse Master's factory stats for the PC volume is supposely ~115 mL, I only measured ~100mL during testing. What I was surprised at was the force of the stream coming out of this blaster! While the volume is low, force is quite high. In fact, on its largest nozzle setting, the Pulse Master pushes out its PC in roughly 0.5 to 0.6 seconds (basically at the threshold of my ability to time the stream).

Unfortunately, on its lower nozzle settings, while the streams perform well themselves, there seems to be some backflow/leakage from the nozzle selector, resulting in a good amount of dribble out of the base of the blaster (the nozzle selector is actually mounted more securely within the body of the blaster). Perhaps a little tightening of the selector may help, but haven't tried it yet.

Reservoir volume is ~2700 mL (~90 oz.) giving one ~28 full shots from a fully-loaded blaster. With that sort of capacity, I'd probably end up leaving the blaster set on max stream. Sadly to me, the nozzle selection doesn't include a fan setting, but then again, a fan spray with low volume wouldn't be too impressive.

If I find the time, I hope to have a full review up by the end of the week, but we'll see how it goes. I'll also try to post up some internal pics as well soon. As Fox noted before, these blaster don't use ball-valves, rather they use good ol' pull valves for firing. They have a great linear design, basically having the nozzle in-line with the PC. Overall, I'm very impressed by this series and am quite optimistic about the future of stock water blasters!

[isoaker]

Water Warriors Pulse Master full review now posted. Enjoy!

Might tweak a bit as the other blasters in the Pulse Series get reviewed. Other blasters will likely be reviewed in the new year as I'm presently working on other aspects of updating iSoaker.com.

Soak on!

[Fox]

Awesome review! Really hoping I can find that gun somewhere...

One thing I'd like to know is whether there was any pump lag on this gun; something I noticed on both of the smaller models. I really feel that the pump was the only hinderance on those guns, as removing the lag and perhaps increasing pump capacity as well would make a huge difference in usability.

[isoaker]

I'll test it again, but I'm not sure I really noticed any major pump lag with any of the Pulse blasters I've tried. Granted, since all the blasters appear to have an intake tube in the reservoir, the pump has to pull a little harder to draw in liquid so that would likely be the source of any lag. What I haven't tried, though, is holding the trigger down while pumping to see if I can sustain a stream. I've only done testing indoors so far 'cos it's a little cold outside here... snowed the other day.

[marauder]

Wow, I might actually buy that if the range is good! Do you think you can test that anytime soon? It's a nice 21C outside today, would be a good day for testing here.

[isoaker]

Well, being in North America... and considering it's starting to snow, methinks I won't be able to do any range testing any time soon. That said, from what I've heard, ranges on these blasters should be quite respectable, perhaps getting closer to CPS1000/CPS1200-type ranges, but obviously overall output isn't as much since the PC volume is low. Of course, once I can do range testing, I'll be sure to post up findings. Perhaps Fox can do some better range tests on the blasters he has? He quotes at least 35' in his other post, but that was eyeballing it, I believe.

[mr. dude]

Sounds great! Can't wait till April-ish!
Just a note, there's an error in the review, you used "weary" instead of "wary" in the last sentence under "Overall".

[isoaker]

Doh! Darn typo... I must've been rather *weary* when typing to make that mistake. Fixed now; thanks for letting me know!

[steelboot.]

Sorry to nitpick, but found a typo.
The last sentence of the "Pump" section should read:
"One minor problem is that the pump can end up stuck in an extended position once the pressure chamber is full; the pressure release valve does kick in if one forces the pump."

instead of:


"Once minor problem is that the pump can end up stuck in an extended position once the pressure chamber is full; the pressure release valve does kick in if one forces the pump."

[isoaker]

Never need to apologize for spotting typos. I'm sure there are many more throughout the site that I haven't caught yet. "Once" there was a typo; now it is fixed.

[Hannibal]

I'd love to see range tests. If it makes 40" (at 45 degrees), I'd jump at it.

[isoaker]

I'd love to see range tests. If it makes 40" (at 45 degrees), I'd jump at it.

From my understanding, the Pulse Master can get up to ~40'. However, I've not been able to do range testing myself (been sick + lots of snow on the ground still ) so it'll likely be a few months before I can do personal testing. I believe Fox stated streams of the Pulse Strike were getting >35'. The Pulse Master has even thicker stream settings so should get better range than the Pulse Strike.

[emperor_james]

I got one of these from Kmart and love it. The styling is cool, and the largest stream is very powerful. The top of the stream on the largest nozzle is significantly more powerful than the Vindicator or the smaller CPSs, it should make 40', although power drops of very quickly. As isoaker said the PC is very small. Still, its quick pressurization and power make it really fun to use. I really like that the largest WW guns are only $20, they really are a bargain, especially since this year they clearly outclass all super soaker models.

[Adrian]

This sounds like a great blaster. Buzz Bee is really bringing its "A" game. And from what I've seen, they're positively trouncing Super Soaker in the amount of product that reaches shelves. Glad to see there's a manufacturer out there who listens to the fans and cares about power.

Adrian

[teamfear]

I got one of these from Kmart and love it. The styling is cool, and the largest stream is very powerful. The top of the stream on the largest nozzle is significantly more powerful than the Vindicator or the smaller CPSs, it should make 40', although power drops of very quickly. As isoaker said the PC is very small. Still, its quick pressurization and power make it really fun to use. I really like that the largest WW guns are only $20, they really are a bargain, especially since this year they clearly outclass all super soaker models.

I cant find one in my area but if its that powerful I may buy it online. About the price I completly agree. 20 bucks at my toys r us gets you a super soaker 50 or the mighty secret strike!

[HBWW]

I gotta check this out. I just got back from Meijer and they have a whole armory there; a ton of WW's including blasters like the Hydra Pak, and some SS's, but no 50. Unfortunately, 100mL of PC isn't much to work with; you got to pump every few tap shots, though the power should hopefully make up for it.

iSoaker, I thought the weather was bad here in MI. I'll be eager to see the results of range testing when you can get it done. However, I'm more curious to exactly how potent the stream is.

I'm also curious as to how the pull valve is structured inside. It seems like that rod has to run down the entire length of the PC, which would be tricky to seal up.

[isoaker]

Water Warriors Pulse Master Review

Willing to share your experiences, thoughts, personal reviews on this product? If so, post below!

Note: you must be a member of iSoaker.net to be able to post.

[ncog]

Definitely yes. The only thing that lets it down is the trigger valve lag meaning that once you shoot at full pressure, most of the water in the pressure chamber is flushed out in one shot. This problem is only really a problem on the smallest two nozzles however, as the largest nozzle removes this weakness due to the short shot time. In spite of this issue it's still a very solid blaster and the best soaker (along with the Vindicator) released this year.