The Water Warriors Aqua Master Pre-Charge Krypton is the largest of the new Aqua Master Pre-Charge line by Buzz Bee Toys. This line employs a new system of pressurizing water in the firing chamber. As opposed to simply pumping in water into a firing chamber and compressing the air that was in there, the Aqua Master Pre-Charge line allows one to first pre-charge the 'back side' of the firing chamber, thus increasing the amount of pressure initially available when starting to pump in water. This is similar to pre-pressurizing one's soaker when using blasters with separate firing chambers. However, unlike pre-pressurizing, one will not get mist shots with the Aqua Master line since the pre-pressurized air is kept separate from the water in the firing chamber. The overall effect is better performance, though the increased stream power still does not perform as well as the Hydro Power or CPS-system when it comes to consistency of pressure.

The Blaster ::

Nozzle / Firing Chamber ::

The Krypton features three nozzle settings: a small, mid-sized, and large setting. The smallest nozzle offers the best conservation of water and greatest shot-time, but, of course, offers the least output. The largest of the nozzles is on par with the smaller CPS-cannons (i.e. the Super Soaker CPS 1000 and Super Soaker CPS 1200), but shot time is limited to between 1 to 2 seconds. The mid-sized nozzle is closer in size and output to the smaller one and perhaps would have been more useful if it were a fan or area-blast-type nozzle.

As noted above, the special feature of this series is the ability to pre-charge the back-side of the firing chamber. This is done by pressing a large button on the size of the blaster, switching the pump to air and pushing in water into the rear of the firing chamber. A sliding piston divides the two halves of the firing chamber, keeping the water and pressurized air separate. One continues to pump until this button pops back up, signalling that adequate pre-pressure has been achieved. The firing chamber, however, is actually on the small side despite the large volume held in the reservoir. While the smaller firing chamber volume means more full shots per fill, each full shot has a more limited amount of soaking power available.

As water and pressurized air do not mix using this system, the streams produced by the nozzles feel more coherent. However, there is one major drawback to this system as noted below.

Pump ::

The pump for the Krypton is long and pushes a good amount of water if using a full stroke. However, due to the extended yellow housing that protrudes from the front of the blaster, the pump grip tends to hit the end of the housing, giving a slight awkward feel.

Pre-pressurizing the firing chamber is done fairly quickly. The box recommends pre-pressurizing before filling the reservoir. However, it appears that when the button is pressed, the intake for air is not from within the reservoir, thus reducing the likelihood of accidentally pumping water into the back-side of the firing chamber. Air-pressure can be released by pressing a small orange button near the back of the blaster (this button can be seen in the upper-right of the Trigger/Grip region image).

On the box, it notes that after pre-charging, the blaster can then achieve full pressure by just a few additional pumps of water. The problem with this system is that due to the now increased pressure in the firing chamber combined with a fairly substantial pump volume, these few additional pumps are rather difficult to accomplish. The force required to reach full pressure is much larger than those unfamiliar with this system will be used to. As well, this added resistance seriously slows down how quickly one can pump.

Note: There is a way to adjust how much pre-pressurizing one does. This method is somewhat subjective and will require testing by the user at different levels to determine what amount works best for him/her. Basically, as opposed to pre-charging the blater right away, fill the reservoir and pump up the firing chamber with water. You will see the piston divider slliding along the transparent region. For greatest pre-charge, the piston should be closest to the nozzle (i.e. no water should be in the firing chamber). If there is some water there, it needs to be removed by pumping air into the front-side (done best using an empty reservoir) and expelling any remaining water prior to activating the pre-charge button. For the lowest level of resistance, no precharging should be done (thus the pre-charge button is never activated). The Krypton will still function even without precharging, but its performance is significantly reduced. For mid-levels, different amounts of water should be pumped into the firing chamber, then the orange pressure-release button should be pressed to equilibrate the back-side of the firing chamber with atmospheric pressure. Finally, the pre-charge button should be depressed and the back-side should be pressurized with air until the button pops back out. While this will reduce the overall effectiveness of precharging, it will make pumping easier. One just needs to find a good level of compromise between ease of pumping and blaster performance.

Triggers / Grip ::

There are two triggers on the Krypton: one controlls the nozzle valve while the other activates the electronic pressure gauge. The electronic pressure gauge is housed within the forward-top portion of the blaster, making it easy to see. Colours change from yellow to green as maximal pressure is achieved. In bright light, however, the different may be a little difficult to discern.

The placement of the electronic-pressure gauge trigger on the back-side of the grip feels somewhat uncomfortable, especially after prolonged use. This placement also means one tends to continually activate the pressure gauge when holding the blaster even when one is not pumping. This will undoubtedly use up the batteries more quickly, though approximate battery lifetime remained unknown.

The bottom of the grip is attached to a forward part of the underside of the blaster. While the area here should be large enough to accomodate most hand sizes, those with particularly large hands will find this area limiting.

The Reservoir ::

Similar to the Water Warriors Blazer, the Krypton's reservoir is large, top-mounted, and opaque. One nice feature is the tethered cap that reduces the chance of losing the reservoir's cap. However, the tether is made of a piece of external plastic akin to some sport-bottle caps and may get damaged if hit. The reservoir has a gerat capacity, but being top-mounted, makes the blaster feel top-heavy when filled.

Overall ::

As a whole, the Water Warriors Aqua Master Pre-Charge Krypton is a good, solid, but rather difficult to pump soaker. Performance-wise, the stream settings behave better than other air-pressure soakers and act closer to CPS-type power without being CPS-based. Were it not for the limited firing chamber and extremely resistant pumping, the Krypton would receive a much better overall rating. Recommended for most water fights, the Krypton should be able to hold its ground against most apart from the larger cannons, but that is, of course, assuming one can pump it.

Pros

Pre-charge system separates the pressurized air from water, reducing misting and improving general stream performance. Has strap and large reservoir. Three nozzles offer flexibility of soak versus conservation. Large pump volume.

Cons

Can be very difficult to pump when fully pre-charged. Slight lag when pumping quickly (assuming this is possible). Small overall firing chamber volume. Opaque reservoir makes judging fill level difficult. Pressure gauge requires batteries to function.

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:: Submitted Reviews

Review by Zealot | Posted: 20050522

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Name : Krypton
Manufacturer : Buzz Bee Toys Inc.
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The Krypton is the biggest blaster offered this year by Buzz Bee's new line. The line sports a new "pre-charge" system, which supposedly "allows the user to pump less". This is, in theory, a good idea. However, everyone knows that the more you pump, the more hard it gets to pump. This is very true with the Krypton. The main complaint about this gun is that the pump is really hard. I consider myself a boy with average strength, and I feel my muscles twitch everytime I pump this monster. It's kind of bad. When you're in a battle, I don't think you have the time to take your gun, place it in your weaker hand, then start pumping with your strong hand. Anyway, moving on.

There are three streams on the Krypton: one which I refer as "handgun", which squirts a puny little squirt; one I refer as "rifle", which blasts a little larger stream; and the larger one is the "napalm", which blasts huge amounts of water. The problem with all of them is that they don't last enough or don't soak enough. I mean, sure, the napalm nozzle blasts away, but how much time can it last? You can get three 0.2 seconds blasts with a fully charged chamber. That's not a lot. The little one doesn't soak enough, and the medium one is really only a slight improvement.

The Krypton is kind of comfortable to hold. You kind of hold it like a modern assault rifle, one hand on the trigger, and one hand on the black thing just near the pump. The result is an easy to aim and hold blaster. For added accuracy, you can use the yellow thing for the strap on top as an iron sight. One complaint is that it's longer than most other blasters on the market. Another is the yellow plastic bar under the handles; it feels limiting. The pump is long enough (maybe even too long :P).

Now let's talk about the major downfall: the leaks. I don't know about the others, but my Krypton loses water no matter how I hold it. When I hold it at a 45 degrees angle, it leaks from the cap. Tilt it to the right, from the cap again. To the left, from the "pressure remove" button. Tilt it foward, from the cannon. No kidding, my shirt was soaked and I didn't even get shot at. If the guns are all like that, then it's kind of sloppy from Buzz Bee Toys.

Overall, the Krypton is an average gun. It doesn't have the mix of power/time combo of blasters like the Flash Flood, which is a shame.

Review by sbell25 | Posted: 20050126

The Krypton is the largest of the new pre-charger line from Water Warriors; comparable in size to a CPS 1500/1700. While it is a good gun, there is definitely room for some improvement.

The pre-charge system employed by this blaster is quite interesting: before filling, push the pre-charge button in, pump 13 times, fill with water, and you only need to pump 3 times to achieve maximum pressure. It behaves similarly to pre-pumping air into an air-pressure soaker...however the pre-charged air stays inside until you release it via a small valve on the side of the blaster, meaning you only have to do it once.

The overall construction of this gun feels quite strong, and has been dropped onto concrete fully loaded (obviously not on purpose) and only suffered a few minor scratches. The 3.5l reservoir is a good size too, and the gun can be carried around easily even when fully loaded. This gun also has the electronic pressure gauge which is a feature on a lot of Water Warriors blasters, but thankfully has a second non-electronic gauge as well.

Now I have to say, pumping this thing is HARD. Despite needing only 3 pumps, it is quite difficult. I find an easy fix is to release a small amount of the pre-charged air; this does make the gun less powerful, but makes pumping that much easier.

The nozzle selection is pretty good. There are 3 different sizes ranging from ~1.5x to 8x, with shot times from 5 seconds on the smallest setting to a little less than a second on the largest nozzle. Streams produced from this gun are very powerful on all settings and behave similarly to CPS, except that there is virtually no drop-off at all.

Unfortunately, the main problem with this blaster lies in the size of its pressure chamber. At only 180ml, it's not really enough to give someone a thorough soaking (or multiple people for that matter) and the shot time on the largest nozzle is VERY short.

Overall, this would be an excellent gun but the small pressure chamber and rock-hard pumping make it less than perfect. On the other hand, the good power, wide range of nozzles and large reservoir capacity mean that it is still a very effective larger blaster if used correctly.

STATS

Reservoir Capacity: 3,500ml
Pressure Chamber Capacity: 180ml
Range: 11-12 meters
Max output:
Nozzle 1: 50ml/s
Nozzle 2: 80ml/s
Nozzle 3: ~250ml/s
(Please note that this is the output at the beginning of the shot, this lessens as the pressure chamber empties)
Shot time:
Nozzle 1: 5 seconds
Nozzle 2: 2.75 seconds
Nozzle 3.:75 seconds
Pumps to fill:
Pre-charge: 13
Pressure Chamber: 3
Pump Shaft Volume: 60ml
Shots per Tank: 19.5

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Related Content .:

 Product Listing Page | Water Warriors Product Evolution Tree 

Water Warriors Aqua-Master Pre-Charger Based System

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Water Blaster: Basics | Care, Cleaning, and Storage | Soaker Use: Basics|Repair Articles|Separate Firing Chamber Tech Troubleshooting|Separate Firing Chamber Blaster Usage

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