For My Birthday...

Bootking

I want someone to suggest an air supply I can use to automate a slide whistle. Fish tank air pumps do not produce enough air flow. I'm trying to stay away from anything that requires an air tank and anything that's louder than a slide whistle. I tried a 5v 120mm ducted blower fan with a 3d printed nozzle on it and I was suprised that didn't do it. Suggestions?

OriginalGriff

Happy birthday! I'd start by measuring the airflow and pressure you need - until you know that, you're just whistling in the dark... (But I'd probably use a tanked solution with a pressure sensitive top-up motor and a regulator. If noise is a problem, you can move the tank and pump well away from the whistle if you use big enough bore tubing.)

Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

Midi_Mick

They're not cheap, but I once used my CPAP machine to inflate a queen-sized air mattress in less than 2 minutes - and they are very quiet.

Cheers, Mick ------------------------------------------------ It doesn't matter how often or hard you fall on your arse, eventually you'll roll over and land on your feet.

Bootking

Thanks Griff. Best I can figure from my research, musical instruments with a fipple (mouthpiece with a block or channel in them) require 1 PSI or less. A trumpet operates at up to 3 PSI, and the most that a stupendous human being can produce is 5 or 6 PSI. The problem is mostly in volume.

Bootking

That's actually pretty funny. But wow, expensive.

DerekT P

Compressed air can? (Of the sort used for airbrush painting). It would probably need a restricting valve to reduce air flow, and of course when it's gone it's gone. But a simple press on the nozzle starts airflow and there's no mechanical noise.

Midi_Mick

I've just had to replace my old one - nothing wrong with the mechanism, just one of the silicone seals where the humidifier attaches split, and Fisher & Paykel no longer carry spare parts (model was discontinued about 5 years ago). If you were local, I could let you try it and/or have it cheap. Cost me over $1000 just for some split silicone, which was bloody annoying.

Cheers, Mick ------------------------------------------------ It doesn't matter how often or hard you fall on your arse, eventually you'll roll over and land on your feet.

Bootking

Interesting. I didn't even know these existed. I would still prefer something with limitless on-demand air supply but this could be worth trying if there's a reasonable way to switch the supply on and off with an Arduino.

OriginalGriff

How about mechanised bellows? A pair of small bellows arranged in an one-up-one-down, couple of return springs and a cammed motor should do it.

Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

Mark_Wallace

Just don't throw your birthday balloons away.

I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

Daniel Pfeffer

How about your local MP/Congresscritter? :) I see only three problems: 1. They tend to leak 2. Turning them off is a bit of a problem 3. You can't control them from an Arduino

If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

Bootking

Interesting concept. I'll have to see what I can do with a single manual bellow and see if this is feasible. Also I like that using a bellow gives me a way to put numbers on what sort of air flow I require. Thanks again.

Indivara

Back in my country, roadside cycle shops use old refrigerator compressors to inflate tires. They're fairly quiet but the flow rate may not be enough for your purpose

PIEBALDconsult

Buying a small child from a third-world country not an option? ;P

Bootking

I can't find anything about how to actuate a child with an Arduino.

W Balboos GHB

<Reply type="Obligatory" style="crude:medium;color:off;"> - just change your diet to one containing more beans and cabbage. - purchase a pet and affix it to it's distal vent, feed diet from previous suggestion </Reply>

Ravings en masse^

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kmoorevs

Limitless supply of hot air...hmm. Sounds like you just need a politician! :laugh: ..on a more serious note, how about steam?

"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse

PIEBALDconsult

LEDs probably.

Peter_in_2780

Mick's CPAP comment gave me an idea. Air bed inflater. I have a 12v one, but they do come in mains versions. Cheers, Peter

Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012

GenJerDan

Make it more visually fun. :) Small compressor motor that blows up a balloon. The balloon is attached to a tee with a check valve on the compressor side and an electrically activated valve on the whistle side. Compressor blows up the balloon when needed, and the balloon blows the slide whistle when you actuate the valve.

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