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Is there a Water pump that can pump one bead of water in the air one at a time?

Is there a Water pump that can pump one bead of water in the air one at a time?


  #1  
Old 08-12-18, 02:56 PM
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Is there a Water pump that can pump one bead of water in the air one at a time?

Hello:

I realize this is a very random question, but I am wanting to retro fit a water pump to shoot one bead of water in the air one at a time, instead of a steady stream of water.
This is for an indoor project and there will be no fish involved.
I just want to have the motorized pump in water and have the ability of the pump to shoot one bead of water in the air one at a time. Not that high as the height doesn't matter.
I can make the water stream from a pump thinner, but I can't get it to shoot one bead in the air at a time.

Any help is appreciated.

David
 
  #2  
Old 08-12-18, 04:59 PM
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The pump is the power and that's the easy part. What you need is control to make the one bead/shot of water. Just a part of it you will need a fast acting valve to create that nice, crisp beginning and end to the stream. If you want on long, smooth stream you'll need laminar flow as much as possible.
 
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Old 08-12-18, 05:10 PM
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Yeah, so I need some type of Solenoid value..... Ugh, nothing is easy, haha.....
 
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Old 08-12-18, 05:14 PM
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I remember the fountain displays in Las Vegas where they sequenced those short bursts of water into some very dramatic displays. As Pilot said, it is the fast on/off control that will give you your bead of water. The pump will simply provide a constant pressure.

Bud
 
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Old 08-12-18, 05:18 PM
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Thank you both. I appreciate it. Now where to find a fast on/off value control, hmmmm
 
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Old 08-12-18, 06:21 PM
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It's going to be somewhat experimental to find a solenoid that works as you need.
Just looking around I found this.... Solenoid-Normally-closed-Crack-resistant-U-S-Solid
 
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Old 08-12-18, 06:23 PM
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Cool, thank you Pete! I'll put it on my list.
 
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Old 08-12-18, 06:28 PM
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Another though I had is maybe a water pump for a fish tank.
 
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Old 08-12-18, 06:32 PM
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Pete, that's what I have, and I can make the stream a thin bead, but I can't make it into a single drop.
I need a spring plate to cut off the flow and then open it and close it fast to try to get a drop/small stream, but I can't figure that out either, haha.....
I can put my hand or a plate over the flow and move it into and out of place really quick, but that's all I got, haha,.....
 
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Old 08-12-18, 06:55 PM
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The closest I've seen is our local museum and a Kyoto-sister city park, which feature a single-drop into one focus of an eliptical pool, which generates waves that reflect back to create a standing wave-vertical water drop at the other focus.

So, it IS possible to use a vertical drop INTO an one focus of an elliptical pool to create another drop at the other focus. I wonder if the laws of hydraulics and momentum would mean that a MOVING drop into one focus would generate a drop with corresponding momentum at the other focus?

Other ides, create a single-drop drip at suficient height and use a hydrophbic channel to redirect the drop where you want it to go?

Only other time I've seen individual drops manipulated was by using sound waves to create-and-accelerate single water drops.
 
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Old 08-12-18, 07:46 PM
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Run this Google "solenoid to create pulse water" Seemed to find a lot of solenoid control valves.

Bud
 
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Old 08-12-18, 08:04 PM
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Great information. Interesting stuff. Get's the mind going.....
Thanks guys....
 
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Old 09-17-19, 05:18 PM
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I think you are looking for a laminar jet.

There are some great videos on how to make one on YouTube.

The basic idea is that you have to get all of the water molecules to move in one direction. Once this is working, you can "cut" the stream into smaller segments. A small enough segment of laminated water would look like a drop--the effect you are looking for.

Getting the water to laminate is fun and it lets you do all kinds of things. This is how the fountains in Vegas or Disneyland work. You can set several of them up to fire in sequence and it looks like that one segment or drop (or line) moves from one area by arcing in the air and landing in the next area. It's pretty spectacular.

When I was playing with the laminar jet idea, I added LEDs to the stream of water and it was amazing. The light bends with the water. Then I put a slow rotating motor in front of it with a disc that I cut holes radially in it. As one of the holes in the disc lined up with the water jet, it would shoot out water. Then when the hole was past the jet, the water would be blocked. It took a great deal of timing and tweaking to get it to work, but the end result was a series of dashes of light that looked like a dashed line from the fountain base into the pool.
 
 

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