Thread: Puff of Air

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I'm looking for a way to create a puff of air without the sound that a high pressure release from a valve would make. Years ago there was a Wham-O toy called a Air-Blaster. It made a kind of clunk sound and sent a pretty good blast of air across the room. I found lots of instructions for using boxes and coffee cans and such for doing it but I'd have to create something mechanical that I could spring load and trigger using VSA because it needs to be timed with another event in the haunt. We want to have people sense that perhaps a ghost has passed through them.

I don't know much about pneumatics but I have picked up a couple of solenoid valves that I can set up to control with VSA. Is there a way to silence the air and have it feel like a gentle puff as it passes through the audience?

I can help you out with the new toy version that does it...Airzooka, I have two we use our klown haunt and they really get great reactions...

And it comes in black : http://www.google.com/products?um=1&...ed=0CD8QrQQwAg

To work as you want without anything mechanical the actor would need good timing though.

I saw the airzooka and some home made versions on youtube. That would work if I could figure out how to make something that would pull the diaphragm back tight and then release it using a trigger that I can activate with an electronic solenoid or switch. I have a DMX setup with a dimmer switch that I can use to activate the device, I just can't picture how to have some motor or something that pulls back on the diaphragm and loads it onto a lever or something that is released via a DMX command.

Ah, I've got a thought for that. Create a rigging that would hold an air cylinder in the horizontal position. Screw on a clevis http://www.frightprops.com/pneumatic...od-clevis.html to the end of the cylinder and then you can attach the Airzooka pull to that.

Originally Posted by Terra

Ah, I've got a thought for that. Create a rigging that would hold an air cylinder in the horizontal position. Screw on a clevis http://www.frightprops.com/pneumatic...od-clevis.html to the end of the cylinder and then you can attach the Airzooka pull to that.

I was thinking about that too but I couldn't figure out how to suddenly release the airzooka so it sends the puff of air. Is there an air cylinder that would hold the airzooka diaphragm back and then suddenly release it via a valve of some sort?

This is where some testing to see which gives you the best puff of air would come in. A single acting if it's fast enough. There's also a reverse single-acting. Then you'll always have the double acting. I was looking at this neat explanation of the different cylinders out there: http://www.frightprops.com/support-pneumatics-cylinders

I have seen something that might work at Nuts And Volts web site . I'll check and post if I can find it.

I hope this works, here is the link that I was loking for. http://nutsvolts.texterity.com/nutsv...?folio=52#pg52

They do sell this in their store and the only change I saw was using an empty thread spool instead of a wire nut.Hope this helps

Try this

http://www.omarshauntedtrail.com/Pro...ga%20Zooka.pdf

MythBusters built a giant sub woofer that worked off a crankshaft, something like that could be used to push air and you could replace the crankshaft with a air cylinder if you wanted to. It's on their site....somewhere

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/mythbusters/