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 "FIRST is not about getting as little help as possible - In fact, it's the opposite- the goal is have to make you feel obligated to thank as many people as possible for helping you in ways that you didn't really think you needed or even considered that you could use help." - boomergeek [more] |
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Since winter is coming here in the Northeast, and the weather is getting colder and colder, I thought I would share one of my other cool toys - a homemade snow machine. It works just like the ones at ski resorts, and makes REAL snow, using only $24.93 worth of pipe fittings and valves from Home Depot. In comes compressed air and water, out comes snow. It's that simple. 
Last year, had the jaws of my neighbors could dropped any lower on Christmas morning, they would have required serious medical attention. I had made about seven inches of snow in my front yard late at night on Christmas eve, so our house was the only one on the street with snow on it on Christmas morning. Everytime someone drove by our house, we'd hear screeching brakes as they stopped their cars, backed up, and had to stare at the snow in disbelief.
As long as the weather is below 26° F, and the humidity is below 50%, I can make about an inch of snow per hour. If the temperature is below 20° F (regardless of humidity) I can make up to and over 2 inches of snow per hour. The colder it is, the less compressed air and more water I can allow through the gun, and still have it freeze in time to form snow. If the temperature is below 5° F, I don't even need compressed air, and I can make about three and a half inches of snow per hour.
Discussion
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29-11-2005 18:20
Billfred
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Internal thought #1: DUDE! AWESOME!
Internal thought #2: How do you build/run one?
Internal thought #3: Is it cold enough to run one in the back garden of Preston?
Internal thought #4: Say, let's check Dashboard...(lows after tonight: 34-33)
Internal thought #5: Blast.
29-11-2005 18:21
Elgin Clock
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
I want a copy of them plans.. like.. now!!! lol
Awesome thing to have.
But seriously? White paper.. CD.. upload..
You get what I'm sayin'! 
29-11-2005 18:22
Ian Curtis
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Ooh, now that is cool. I live in a coastal town that it rains often enough to melt the snow (which means we get out of school earlier than the rest of the state) but it's no fun sledding. I can just see the faces of people who drove by your lawn.
Five dollars says you get another Billfred Seal of Approval (tm).
29-11-2005 18:27
Adam Richards
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Hmm... how hard do you think it would be to install a cooler into one of these things?
Snow in 65 degree weather perhaps? 
29-11-2005 18:28
Jessica Boucher
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Geez, doesn't that area of CT get enough snow ALREADY? We don't need you encouraging Mother Nature 
But seriously, that is awesome, and I'd kill for Christmas Morning snow..I can't remember how long it's been since we had one. How much to do my lawn?
29-11-2005 18:33
Wayne C.
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
any chance of dropping by my school some late night and leaving a few feet? I could use a day off..... ; )
WC
29-11-2005 18:47
Wetzel
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
So, where are the plans for this thing, or at least a discussion of air/water ratios.
Wetzel
29-11-2005 18:59
KathieK
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Keep it away from West Hartford (CT) Art. I'm the one they wake up in the morning to put the closing announcements on the college website! 
Seriously, snow guns are cool. I like marshmallow guns, too. Had a blast ambushing my son a couple of weeks ago!
29-11-2005 19:37
Jay H 237
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Those are fun! We did one on a small scale at work with leftover/scrap parts. It was smaller than the one you have though.
You need a constant regulated compressed air supply, a constant regulated cold water supply with a misting nozzle, a venturi, and a section of pipe to act as a mixing chamber.
The venturi creates a cyclone of air in the pipe and as the cold water mist is added you create snow. You have to adjust the water and air supply to get it right otherwise it just makes a watery mess.
The one we had at work isn't around anymore so either someone tossed it thinking it was scrap (right back where it was born from 
) or someone took it home to play with.
29-11-2005 19:45
KarenH
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
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Originally Posted by Adam Richards
Hmm... how hard do you think it would be to install a cooler into one of these things?
Snow in 65 degree weather perhaps? |
Guess you'll have to settle for spreading white quilt batting on the front lawn.
29-11-2005 19:53
Jay H 237
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
I found a site with diagrams of how to make them.
Here's an internal and an external.
Please be aware that adding a snow machine onto your robot is not allowed by FIRST due to possible playing field damage and is also bad GP.
29-11-2005 20:02
sanddrag
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Well, it'll never be cold enough to do that here, but where do you get such a long lasting supply of compressed air? Surely this thing would empty a tank faster than a compressor could fill it, no?
29-11-2005 20:30
Jay H 237
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
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Originally Posted by sanddrag
Well, it'll never be cold enough to do that here, but where do you get such a long lasting supply of compressed air? Surely this thing would empty a tank faster than a compressor could fill it, no?
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You could do this on a smaller scale with a compressor that the average person has. Don't expect to cover the whole yard but you could do a small section. You most likely will have to cycle the snow gun since the compressor may have to play "catch up" at times. The climate also plays a large role. Here in Connecticut with our temps I'm sure I could do a section of my yard with my 26 gallon CH compressor (6 CFM) since it won't be melting fast. I would have no success in Florida though.
29-11-2005 20:39
Greg Marra
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
Holy sweet!
I could use one of those on this nice hill in town...
29-11-2005 22:54
artdutra04
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
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Originally Posted by sanddrag
Well, it'll never be cold enough to do that here, but where do you get such a long lasting supply of compressed air? Surely this thing would empty a tank faster than a compressor could fill it, no?
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If you were to make a snow gun, you have to make sure that your air and water pressure is about equal, give or take about 5 PSI. Otherwise, you may force the higher pressure fluid down the other hose. I originally tried to use the air at 90 PSI, but when you opened the faucet in the house and heard compressed air coming out, something's wrong!
Luckily, I have city water (not a well) and I live at the bottom of a hill with a large subdivision, so the water pressure at my house is very high. (It was about 110 PSI before it gets to a pressure reducer, which drops it down to 75 PSI.) If you have low water pressure, I have seen people on the Internet who have used pressure washers to get their water pressure up.Here is the basics of the design. When a compressed gas is allowed to expand very quickly, it drastically reduces the temperature of the air around it, as it tries to absorb energy from it to get to a higher state. So when the compressed air comes out of the snowgun at the same time as water, the expanding air takes lots of energy away from the water, so the water freezes into snow. Theoretically, if you were to have enough compressed air coming out of the snowgun, it would take so much energy away from the air, that you could make snow above the freezing point. I have seen some ski resorts be able to make snow at up to 38° F.
Everything in my snowgun is made of 3/8" NPT pipe, all available at Home Depot for exactly $24.93. At least it was a year ago when I bought all the parts. If you were to make one, be sure to use the Teflon Tape on all the joints, because any water leaking out will make giant icicles. Here is basically all that it took to make it.
The only thing is that you should buy a ton of end caps where the snow comes out. You may decide to make different sized holes for different weather and temperature. I decided that in order to try to get even more snow out of the snowgun, I would add the 90° tee and drill five holes into the side of the pipe. This would allow the snow to get more air contact when it came out, and would allow for even more water (and hence snow) to come out of the snowgun.
Last year on Christmas, I was only able to make about an inch and a half in about half of my front yard. The temperature had barely reached 27° F, so the snow was right on the edge of the slush/wet snow line. But I have been able to make seven inches once on about 150 square feet in two and a half hours, when the temperature was 7° F.
If you do build one, make sure you check it every hour or so. Otherwise, you may have tons of snow or ice build up on it, which may freeze the gun up. (Or burst your garden hose...which has happened to me three times. If you don't catch it, the garden hose will flood your front yard, and then freeze solid. This happened last year, and as a result I had eight inches of solid ice over a good part of the front yard.)
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Originally Posted by Jay H 237
Please be aware that adding a snow machine onto your robot is not allowed by FIRST due to possible playing field damage and is also bad GP.
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29-11-2005 23:29
Nitroxextreme
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
This is by far one of the best implementations of robotics knowledge for straight out fun
i was just wondering...what did you use for the nozzle end for the machine
30-11-2005 09:05
ahecht
Re: pic: Art's other cool toy - a SnowGun!
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Originally Posted by artdutra04
I originally tried to use the air at 90 PSI, but when you opened the faucet in the house and heard compressed air coming out, something's wrong!
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