[Ghost Ninja]

I'm putting an air whip prop together and I was wondering what pipe diameter and psi you have had success with? And also what number of air whips seemed to work the best with the above combination. Thank in advance for any help you guys can provide.

 

[Terra]

Air whips are notorious air hogs so it's important to have just as many air whips in the unit that you need. How many or what use are you thinking for it?

Here's the one I bought from Fright Props years ago:

If it is going to hit the legs of the ToTs think of the little ballerinas that go through and use soft rubber whips instead of these plastic ones.

 

[Ghost Ninja]

Terra, thanks for the response. We intend on using them in a spooky hallway in haunt (the haunted Karate Dojo). The air whips will be down around ankle level with a ton of rubber rats, cockroaches and snakes on the floor. We will and sounds and a strobe light too. I was thinking about having 5 whips over an 8' run but that might be too much for my air tank. How long is the air whip that you have in the photo and what is the recommended psi? Fright Props doesn't have that information posted.

 

[Terra]

It's 4 feet long and the air pressure depends on how vigorous you want them to wiggle. I had mine dialed pretty low so they didn't beat you to death and didn't over-tax my air compressor because I had 4-6 other props running off my 20 gal compressor (poor thing). I can't exactly remember the psi but it was probably around 30-60. Looking at Fright Props looks like they may have gone to softer tubing but I'd even go further and try surgical rubber tubing perhaps: http://www.frightprops.com/air-whips-25403.html

 

[Ghost Ninja]

Thanks again. I will rethink my prop and build it with 1/2" pipe on a shorter run. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[captpete]

I am going to put one together this year as well. It looks like the FP one uses a PVC pipe with the air fittings attached to it for a manifold?
That would be hard to get sealed I would think.
I wonder if you need the pipe or if you can just use a series of Tee fittings and air tubing? I will be interested to see what you come up with.
As far as the whips themselves, 1/4" black air tubing would probably be most durable.
Pete

 

[Ghost Ninja]

Catpete, I actually do plan on using some 1/2" Tee fittings with slip ends and a threaded brass fitting to accommodate the black hose. I thought about using epoxy or something to glue in the fittings but the Tees are only about 50 cents each. I also looked around for a long time to find the right hose that was soft enough. And I found the perfect soft, black, 1/4" hose at Harbor Freight! It was about $6 for 100'! I'll post a vid when it's done ... and working.

 

[Terra]

The pipe that Fright Prop uses is actually a metal pipe like the kind you get at Home Depot.

 

[Gym Whourlfeld]

A cobalt drill bit will easily drill many holes in a steel pipe before it's "Done". Small fittings then may be threaded into certain sized holes to cut threads for smaller fittings to screw into that will be the barbs to pull the small hoses over , then a clamp or ties holds them on.
A chart will tell you what size drill bits go with what sized tap to make the threads. Remember to put some oil on the tap.

 

[jbaum]

Would the black plastic pipe used for drip systems work along with the drip tubing? It holds 60PSI of water and should be able to use air. It's easy to work with and fitting are cheap and available.

 

[scarybill]

Would the black plastic pipe used for drip systems work along with the drip tubing? It holds 60PSI of water and should be able to use air. It's easy to work with and fitting are cheap and available.

Would it work, yes. Is it really safe, no

Pretty much what you have is a piece of 1/2" sch 40 black pipe. The whips are most likely attached using a 1/16" npt hose barb. On the end of the pie is a cap. If you go to your local home center, or a hardware store like Ace they should have everything you need. The surgical tubing is a good idea, but I know ace has a good selection of tubing.

 

[Ghost Ninja]

Bonus Find! Today I came across some black surgical tubing! Who knew? I picked up 4' for about $4 at a local salvage yard. This should work out better than the other hose that was already pretty soft. I'll let you guys knows once I actually get my prop completed and working.

 

[captpete]

Would it work, yes. Is it really safe, no

Pretty much what you have is a piece of 1/2" sch 40 black pipe. The whips are most likely attached using a 1/16" npt hose barb. On the end of the pie is a cap. If you go to your local home center, or a hardware store like Ace they should have everything you need. The surgical tubing is a good idea, but I know ace has a good selection of tubing.

I would agree that its not the safest thing to use water tubing with air pressure, but in this application there is no pressure as it is free flowing after the solenoid.
As long as you use air pressure rated components for the solenoid and the supply side you should be fine.

Pete

 

[Ghost Ninja]

I just went to Ace today and they did have a selection of flexible tubing that would work. But when I saw the black surgical tubing I could not pass it up.

 

[captpete]

I did a trial run using 1/4" OD sprinkler hose. I can see right away that you need a very large volume of air for this prop!
I ran short blasts at 100 psi, and the little compressor I was using could not keep up. The hose I used was too stiff also.
The solenoid size was also too small which restricted flow rate.
Back yo the drawing board.

 

[Ghost Ninja]

I have actually gotten farther along on my air whip build than I thought that I would ... for once. But I was wondering what kind of power source have you guys found to work well with the solenoid (12v DC 6.5w)? I have read and seen what looks to be a wall wart and I have a couple of 12v DC on hand, but still had a question about the wattage or amperage?

Btw, the test firing of the air whip with the surgical tubing is really good. The difference between the surgical tubing and the softest drip line hose I could find is night and day!

 

[Terra]

Not the biggest expert in electronics but pretty sure you can use this watts to amps calculator to determine what kind of wall wart you need: http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/Watt_to_Amp_Calculator.htm I put in what you gave and it says that you need a 12v DC wall wart that provides at least .5 amps (500 mA) mA = milliamps.

It's important have the voltage correct (not higher or lower). But, as long as you have the minimum needed current (amps) you are good. You can always go higher with amps because the electronic will only take what it needs. But volts are a whole 'nother story.

 

[Ghost Ninja]

Thanks!!!!

 

[Terra]

By the way - how were you going to trigger this?

 

[captpete]

I found some surgical tubing at Big 5 sporting goods. Comes in different colors, Its used as exercise equipment.
Pete