Water show, (was sprinkler system wiring)
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Actually that IS a great idea! Has anyone done this? Where would one find
cheap water shut-off solenoids?
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Ever since my wife saw the water show at the Bellagio she's wanted
one of those for the front yard. I'll post a question later about how
to program a stamp to do that!
cheap water shut-off solenoids?
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| | 09/03/2002 04:09|
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| Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: sprinkler system wiring
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Ever since my wife saw the water show at the Bellagio she's wanted
one of those for the front yard. I'll post a question later about how
to program a stamp to do that!
Comments
WWW.Graniger would carry some styles.
one could probably use sprinlkler valves, about 10 bux each, probably
less in any quantity.
for the scrounger, discarded washing machines typically have a good
one in them, 110 VAC. usually on a seperate panel so it would be
rather easy to remove at the curb.
One problem is that you need a large opening so it need to be about
the size of a garden hose.
Dave
--- In basicstamps@y..., daniel.d.dangremond@j... wrote:
> Actually that IS a great idea! Has anyone done this? Where would
one find
> cheap water shut-off solenoids?
>
>
> |
+
>
> | | dg@d...|
> | | om |
> | | |
> | | 09/03/2002 04:09|
> | | PM |
> | | Please respond |
> | | to basicstamps |
> | | |
> |
+
>
> >
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>
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> | To:
basicstamps@y...
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cc:
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> | Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: sprinkler system
wiring
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> >
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> Ever since my wife saw the water show at the Bellagio she's wanted
> one of those for the front yard. I'll post a question later about
how
> to program a stamp to do that!
price is $45-60 for 1/4 NPT Valves.
I suspect the big water shows use air assisted water supplies. The power
needed to shoot the large volume of water into the air most likely comes from
a large industrial type air compressor. That is the economical way to
overcome the problems of rapid firing 25 pound bursts of water (1 gallon = 8
pounds) into the air. Remember this is high pressure AND high volume. Lots of
mass to accelerate against gravity in an upward direction. Most commercial
pumps are high pressure or high volume.
The domestic water supply is usually fed into your house through a 1" or
smaller pipe. This limits the size of your show, but is a cheap way to start.
A larger show could be used with a pool of water and a pump. This is a larger
initial investment, but easier on the H2O Bill.
The solenoids will need to be as close to the nozzles as possible to get the
best turn on and off times. If the valves are far away then the pressure in
the hoses need time to built up and bleed off. This would most likely look
like a wimpy slow building jet and gradually bleed off. The elasticity of the
hose makes this problem worse. That is why the hose runs for a few seconds
after you turn off the faucet.
I am not an expert on this, but I saw the show at Epcot 5 years ago and
"wanted one for the front yard" also. The idea got shot down fast when the
power company refused to give me a 3 phase electric service for the
compressor. (PS the Boss shot down the idea sooner.) I have just diverted
lots of idle time 'Mental Energy' into this gadget.
The sequencer is the easy part. I use a Stamp2 in a 16 channel ILC
(Industrial Logic Controller) in my plasma cutting machines. The ILC uses all
16 I/O pins on the stamp and runs Opto 22 type Solid State I/O modules. You
can put 16 AC output modules and run 16 ac solenoids. The ILC costs $250 and
the I/O modules are about $12-15 each. Its expensive, but it works and the
I/O modules handle all the switching transients. I use these to run AC valves
with Oxygen, Air, Fuel Gas and Inert Gasses without a single failure in
almost 8 years. Cheapest isn't always cheapest. A shorted output means the
water runs all the time. This needs to be addressed as it could get
expensive. Especially if you flood the neighbors basement.
AC Solenoids are easier to use and do not require a separate power supply.
Proper grounding is necessary and use a ground fault type AC power source. A
DC Power supply would be safer to use, but the power supply adds cost and DC
Solenoid valves are a little more money then AC ones.
This should get you started with a small lawn sized project.
Alan Bradford
Plasma Technologies
little water flying, it's probably not practical. Air
is very expensive. I might think hydraulics . . .
i.e., pump water into an accumulator, use dump valves
to make the water fly. That's probably why they are
intermittent, i.e., you need time to fill the
accumulator (the pump is lower volume at high
pressure, the valves empty out the accumulator faster
than the pump can fill it).
great group, got my BS2 hooked up to my Tek922, go the
serial thing going with a DOS laptop, led's blinking,
etc. Thanks to all.
--- plasmastamp@a... wrote:
>
> To find cheap industrial quality solenoids try
> www.valvestore.com . Average
> price is $45-60 for 1/4 NPT Valves.
>
> I suspect the big water shows use air assisted water
> supplies. The power
> needed to shoot the large volume of water into the
> air most likely comes from
> a large industrial type air compressor. That is the
> economical way to
> overcome the problems of rapid firing 25 pound
> bursts of water (1 gallon = 8
> pounds) into the air. Remember this is high pressure
> AND high volume. Lots of
> mass to accelerate against gravity in an upward
> direction. Most commercial
> pumps are high pressure or high volume.
>
> The domestic water supply is usually fed into your
> house through a 1" or
> smaller pipe. This limits the size of your show, but
> is a cheap way to start.
> A larger show could be used with a pool of water and
> a pump. This is a larger
> initial investment, but easier on the H2O Bill.
>
> The solenoids will need to be as close to the
> nozzles as possible to get the
> best turn on and off times. If the valves are far
> away then the pressure in
> the hoses need time to built up and bleed off. This
> would most likely look
> like a wimpy slow building jet and gradually bleed
> off. The elasticity of the
> hose makes this problem worse. That is why the hose
> runs for a few seconds
> after you turn off the faucet.
>
> I am not an expert on this, but I saw the show at
> Epcot 5 years ago and
> "wanted one for the front yard" also. The idea got
> shot down fast when the
> power company refused to give me a 3 phase electric
> service for the
> compressor. (PS the Boss shot down the idea sooner.)
> I have just diverted
> lots of idle time 'Mental Energy' into this gadget.
>
> The sequencer is the easy part. I use a Stamp2 in a
> 16 channel ILC
> (Industrial Logic Controller) in my plasma cutting
> machines. The ILC uses all
> 16 I/O pins on the stamp and runs Opto 22 type Solid
> State I/O modules. You
> can put 16 AC output modules and run 16 ac
> solenoids. The ILC costs $250 and
> the I/O modules are about $12-15 each. Its
> expensive, but it works and the
> I/O modules handle all the switching transients. I
> use these to run AC valves
> with Oxygen, Air, Fuel Gas and Inert Gasses without
> a single failure in
> almost 8 years. Cheapest isn't always cheapest. A
> shorted output means the
> water runs all the time. This needs to be addressed
> as it could get
> expensive. Especially if you flood the neighbors
> basement.
> AC Solenoids are easier to use and do not require a
> separate power supply.
> Proper grounding is necessary and use a ground fault
> type AC power source. A
> DC Power supply would be safer to use, but the power
> supply adds cost and DC
> Solenoid valves are a little more money then AC
> ones.
> This should get you started with a small lawn sized
> project.
>
> Alan Bradford
> Plasma Technologies
>
>
>
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the floor, I guess I was looking for something to 'play' with. I saw a
table top model that had 20 or more 'squirts' of water that sequenced with
music at Walmart for about $100. I was just looking for the source of the
water valves. I saw something on Discovery that showed the $$$ and
componentry it takes just to create a solid stream of water. : o
involved in several large scale fire and water shows
where heavy duty ALLEN BRADLEY DC PLC motor
controllers and heavy duty (emphasis on heavy) DC
motors with impeller pumps attached are used to
acheive maximum velocity and distance in as little as
two seconds. With the delays factored into the program
and the correct nozzles one can easily make jets and
spouts of water as high as 20 or more feet appear
almost instantly.
Chuck
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holes in it. Very unlikely they had 20 valves in there.
I actually like the fountains near the Westward Ho myself. Little squirts of
water arc between fountains on the sidewalk. They maintain a fairly decent
cylinder shape and look neat going through the air.
Original Message
> As cool as it would be to have a solid pulse of 1" dia. water jump out of
> the floor, I guess I was looking for something to 'play' with. I saw a
> table top model that had 20 or more 'squirts' of water that sequenced with
> music at Walmart for about $100. I was just looking for the source of the
> water valves. I saw something on Discovery that showed the $$$ and
> componentry it takes just to create a solid stream of water. : o
daweasel@s... writes:
> I actually like the fountains near the Westward Ho myself. Little squirts of
> water arc between fountains on the sidewalk. They maintain a fairly decent
> cylinder shape and look neat going through the air.
>
The "shape" is caused by the use of stream straighteners in the nozzles.
I've heard of home-built fountains creators that have embedded a bunch of
common soda straws in their nozzles to get this effects. The idea is to
restore laminar flow to the water before it leaves the nozzle.
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