A little project to get you thinking

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djgeorgef

New member
Hi all

We've been using co2 jets in our Halloween show for a few years now and are looking to automate this. We're using co2 gas canisters at around 2-3 bar to get a nice dramatic noisy jet. Any recommendations for solenoid valves that won't freeze up or crack? The installation is assembled by the correct competent people and safety is obviously paramount. Like most things now adays though, we have a budget which isn't large as we're a non profit organisation! Any recomendations, tips or suggestions will be much appreciated or even if someone has something for sale!?!!

Thanks in advance!
 
Sorry forgot to say that we're using manual triggers at the moment and looking to use Solenoids but unsure what Solenoids are recommended!
 
Not sure this will help, but a similar effect that is pretty affordable would be an inexpensive air compressor, a sprinkler solenoid (12v) home depot or lowes has them.
I used 2-4" pvc pipe, cap top and bottom. Drill for appropriate air line fittings, smaller hole on top. Adjust accordingly. You can experiment with pressures, hole sizes and such for different sounds/ psi. Also, same idea for water cannons. Just add water inlet line to PVC cylinder. In the long run, much cheap, many more options. You can add as many air effects as you want off one compressor. A home made manifold is pretty easy and cheap as well. Everything is pretty much home center parts. If I dig out some of the parts I'll share the pictures. Until this snow melts, I can't get near the shed. : )

Oh, and of course, not knowing what you are doing and having to much PSI in pvc can explode the pipe and turn this into a real horror show. Be mindful of safety concerns and PVC psi. I never had an issue, not even remotely. The pvc is never under any real pressure. Don't want anyone to get hurt over this concept.
 
Gotch ya. This year, I'm building the PVC with 6" pipe and fog machine to do some cool smoke effects. Low psi. Never thought of talking about all that stuff here : )
I'll look forward to hear what others have to say. BTW: What are you using to trigger the solenoid? PC controlled? Just a motion sensor ? Other?
 
Never thought of using a noz solenoid, good idea that! The idea is it'll be controlled using dmx in time to music using switching packs! Just need a decent reliable solenoid that won't freeze up!
 
Grumpkaxmas would you use the smoke machine to fill the pipe the blow it out with the compressor? I had a play with something similar a couple years back but the actual flow from the fog machine on its own was more impressive that using a compressor but I had a larger "reservoir" tho!
 
djgeorgef said:
Grumpkaxmas would you use the smoke machine to fill the pipe the blow it out with the compressor? I had a play with something similar a couple years back but the actual flow from the fog machine on its own was more impressive that using a compressor but I had a larger "reservoir" tho!
Click to expand...

I don't want to hi-jack this thread. Maybe, we should have a "fog" thread?

In short, the point of the pvc idea would be for short trigger "puff" of smoke and the noise to startle someone. (trigger a light in sync with the fog is key as well)>Point all being, you can mess around with pretty common DIY solenoids to accomplish some neat effects. I had 12 pvc "fountain" water jets on a sprinkler solenoid system. Worked for many years. More or less, same idea works for other applications. Just puffing air at lower psi (much lower), or pushing out fog from a 5 gallon bucket reservoir, all the same idea..

On the CO2 setup, this sounds pretty compact? Wondering what the cost is on a noz solenoid? Maybe, they are cheap... If that $100+ per solenoid from that link is the case, that's cool, but way out of anything I could justify for a puff of smoke :hmm:
 
GrumpkaXmas said:
Just puffing air at lower psi (much lower), or pushing out fog from a 5 gallon bucket reservoir, all the same idea..
Click to expand...

+1 on this

I was doing halloween for years before moving to our place now. You could modify an air cannon with a cheap fog machine reservoir (chilled even) and blow smoke rings with strobing effects. Depending what you have on hand now and how many you plan to make the end price for both setups could turn out to be the same though.
Somebody mentioned HDPE... Yes you do want HDPE piping if you are blowing out CO2 under pressure!
 
DMX doesn't have any error detection or checksum, so it is prone to false triggering. Not a major issue if driving lights, but if driving anything that can be dangerous if triggered at the wrong time, please use a deadman switch with an observer in addition to the DMX.
/mike
 
Thanks for the advice, the main question still is what type of solenoid valve to use first before we start to think about the automation phase if we can afford to get that far?
 
I must be sheltered… I did a Google search on “co2 solenoid valve freezing” and the majority of the links pertain to problems while growing Pot. I don’t want to know but I found it interesting.

This link explains the problem, what causes it and what to do about it.
 
Something like this could be put on the co2 tank controlling flow into a fat holding chamber (say 2-3 second burst) then a second regular pneumatic valve to release the charged holding tank. You could have your checks&balances in place by program control. If one is open the other can't open. Need to check the full specs on this valve though. We use a manual type of this valve to fill our co2 bottles for paintball.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/milwa...d-valve.html?gclid=COTF1p2I3LwCFacDOgod2XQALQ

Sent from my DROIDX
 
Not a specific product recommendation, more the type of place to look. A brewery and soda hardware suppliers are good places to look. Another place to look is hybrid amateur rocket motor suppliers. Those solenoids are made for controlling N2O and O2, but should deal with C02 pressures.
 
That is a CO2 valve. I used the dive store link cause that's where we got ours for our paintball tank refill station.

Sent from my DROIDX
 
Update!!

Found a pair of ex hire co2 jets on eBay (with hoses)! Had great fun testing them. All seems ok and pretty straight forward! Thanks all for your help
 
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