The Flood Force Power Core is a new, spring-based water blaster released by Swimways Corp. for 2016. More information on this water blaster model coming soon.

Packaging .:

As can be seen readily from the package, the Flood Force Power Core shows off its spring-based pressure chamber. The packaging, itself, looks cheap, having faded colors, already stressed plastic ties holding the two products loosely in place and decoration only on the front and back panels (side and bottom panels are bare). Like other Flood Force items, the rear panel is dominated by a cut-out target that, despite it laminated-like texture, is still made of cardboard and will end up readily damaged if used for water-stream target practice. The Power Core is visible in the packaging, though its lower-mounted reservoir is mostly obscured by the front panel.

Design .:

The Power Core's overall design is reminiscent of the Super Soaker Max-D Secret Strike and the Super Soaker Flash Flood with its bottom-positioned reservoir. In some aspects, the Power Core appears to be akin to the Super Soaker Flash Flood, except having a spring-based pressure chamber as opposed to a rubber elastic bladder; the Power Core, however, only has a single, small nozzle and lacks any sort of "flood" or "blast"-type setting. Styling is decent with a variety of textures on the Power Core's various surfaces.

Build and Ergonomics .:
While the design is decent aesthetically, quality control over the Power Core's build is well below average. To begin testing, this water blaster was filled and the first problem became all too apparent. As seen in the first image just above on the left, the reservoir leaked badly. The actual hole could not be seen; this Power Core appeared to be leaking from beneath the darker-blue region around the reservoir. Upon tilting the blaster forward, even before pumping, some water began dripping from the pump region, but again, the actual location of the leak could not be easily determined. Thankfully, with the reservoir cap in place, the rate of leaking did slow since eventually, allowing the rest of the water blaster's functions to be tested. Again, more design flaws became apparent:

• initially, the pump was jammed and had to be forced quite hard to get it to move;
• the short length of the pump stroke that results in many more full pumps needed to fill the pressure chamber; and
• when the pressure chamber was filled and the blaster was pumped a little more, instead of an over-pressure valve activating right away, some water ended up managing to squeeze around the piston and getting trapped on the back-side of the pressure chamber by the spring where there is no apparent outlet to drain from this side.

Beyond that, the trigger-grip region is functional, though those with larger hands may find it restrictive.

To top it off, when the pressure chamber is filled, the green piston guide within ends up extending out of the back of the Power Core. The spring is unable to return the piston back to its original position; one needs to manually push the green piston back into the water blaster's body to empty the pressure chamber fully after use.

Overall Performance .:

The Flood Force Power Core manages to push out nearly, but just under a 1x stream (roughly 1 oz./s or 30mL/s). Despite being spring-based, output is only on par with water blaster models like the Super Soaker XP 70 and Super Soaker 50: Classic Series. Though similar in size and design to the Super Soaker Flash Flood, the Power Core both lacks a "Flood" nozzle and its spring appears unable to provide the same amount of power. With performance on par with the lower end of air pressure-based water blasters, the Power Core's spring-based chamber does reduce the chance of mist shots, but the ease at which water can end up by the spring, yet cannot be easily drained, significantly increases the likelihood of rusting and/or unwanted mildew growth.

Able to potentially keep pace with light air-pressure water blasters, lack of build quality control (e.g. the leaky reservoir and pump) together with numerous design shortcomings (no clear drain for water that gets into the back-side of the pressure chamber) significantly reduce the value and practicality of the Flood Force Power Core. If the build quality issues were resolved (or repaired by the User), the Power Core would be suitable for light engagements; however, at present, this model cannot be recommended as is.

Pros

Uses elastic spring pressure; able to produce decent, continuous streams

Cons

Significant build quality issues; reservoir leaks; pump leaks; pressure chamber emptying and drainage problems; for a spring-based system, seems to have limited performance for its potential

Images

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