Odds and ends

[Mark]

I elevated the rotating clothes rack to see how high it would go but it's kind of an awkward process pushing the release mechanism with one hand and raising the rack with the other because it's actually kind of heavy with the solid steel pole and all. But I was able to stand underneath it at 6 feet 2 inches so it's more than enough height I suppose. It's funny how little force it takes to make it move, sort of like sitting here in my computer chair, how odd to be able to spin round and round with the slightest push. It's going to make a small paintball snorkeler tank look like it's making way more thrust than it is. It may be just barely possible to spin the rack using an ordinary jam jar without a snorkel, how strange that would be.
One time I put one of those large plastic Rubbermaid storage containers that are maybe/roughly 2 feet high and 3 feet long with the lid on it in my kiddie pool and was amused how a feather's touch could cause it to glide effortlessly across the water like a leaf on a pond in a gentle breeze. If I had thought to attach a jam jar to it, the effect might have been similar to the supposed carousel illusion of a large object set in motion by a small force.
It's sad it's not the season for jam jarring, like having a new Christmas present but the weather not permitting the best conditions. To reiterate, I've some jam jars that won't even start in summer, it's that bad, the high heat and humidity just saps the vitality out of these things. Or if they do run it's lackluster and not nearly the best showing. Whatever the case, be aware of the illusion, the carousel is big but it's not going to take that much thrust to move it.
I look forward to hearing the funny sounds a snorkeler might make as the carousel spins. The paintball tanks eventually get too hot and flameout. To illustrate, I quickly relit the tip of the snorkel one time and set the too hot to hold paintball tank upright on a table. The candle flame of the near boiling alcohol was a good 2 feet tall. And then if you tilt the tank to flash the methanol in the very hot snorkel, you can make a 10 foot flame with a considerable amount of heat release all at once. Methanol boils at 64.7 C or 148.5 F. So to mitigate this problem, it seems plausible that a gallon of water could be drip fed to the outside of the tank as it spins, the tank of water resting on the 30 inch diameter tabletop in the center of the rail. That could buy a minute or two of extra spin time. Certainly a better fueling method could be invented to get around the overheating problem, perhaps have the rotational force feed fuel instead of water over to the tank. As it is now it will be interesting to see how the fuel behaves inside the tank once it starts spinning and moving to one side. And 40 million other things.
Remember those feelings when time stops and you are caught up in the moment, the uniqueness of your first jam jar seemingly a source of endless wonder. You want so much to find that state of mind again. Strangely, more and more the elements of this song are starting to mirror my experiments. ha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9VoLCO-d6U

[Mark]

Well the carousel was a bust today. From a dead start the paintball snorkelers flamed out after just 2 or 3 revolutions. I can't see what the fuel is doing inside the tanks when it starts spinning, but whatever the case it's no free lunch. Maybe more or less fuel, or a different angle would help. Another thing that was annoying is it's like a insecticide fogger, with every rotation you get blasted with formaldehyde and exhaust fumes, so I'm going to be standing back more after starting them. I tried the 20 ounce paintball tank and the 12 ounce tank, both with a 3/8 by 6 inch snorkel. The 12 ounce is louder and I put ear muffs on, even though the thrust is paltry the noise isn't. If you've ever jiggled a running jam jar you know they don't like to be jostled. But while the spinning isn't jostling them, there must be something going on where the forward movement makes them cut out. I think an ordinary quart jam jar without a snorkel would run the carousel, albeit very slowly. I was just able to start it spinning using a fat straw and just blowing on one of the spars using lung power. Maybe I could install several jam jars and as each passed by a torch, they would light and the carousel would go faster, an armada of jam jar power. ha

I was wondering what formula would fit the above scenario in order to find the best distance out from the center for maximum speed? I could extend the tanks on a pole but I don't have any grand hopes of it going too fast with such little thrust and wind resistance with the 4 flat support spars under the tabletop fanning away. The radius of the circular railing is 21 inches, the diameter 42 inches and linear feet of travel about 11 per orbit. Oddly a hula hoop made of metal which snaps together in segments happened to be the same diameter as the railing on the clothing rack. So I set the foam jacketed hula hoop on top of the railing in some of these pictures just to see if something useful/artistic comes to mind. Seeing the snorkelers go round and round was nice and all, but my "dreams have lost some grandeur coming true" as the story goes. But I guess I can work on some embellishments once, if, or when I get the snorkelers to behave. It was so hot today and then it rained. And assembling and disassembling the carousel was kind of a chore, believe it or not. It just barely fits through the doorway and the pieces are somewhat heavy and awkward. And I found with the simple hose clamp holding my paintball tanks to the railing, I couldn't funnel in fuel like before, I had to repurpose my airing out pump tubing and sleeve it over a funnel and then intubate the fuel into the tank in the somewhat sideways position that they like to run in. I need a more elegant mounting system but today's rigging was just to test out the system.

[Mark]

Here's the hula hoop embellishment. I wedged a paint can opener between the paintball tank, hose clamp, and rail to cock the snorkel up instead of the horizontal position shown here.

[Mark]

http://www.mariedoucet.com/projects/objects/pyrex/

[Mark]

I bought an old soda acid fire extinguisher for $6.00. It has a bottle with a fill line about half way up the glass vessel and a lead stopper that sealed in the sulfuric acid. I can't see what's under a sieve or perforated plate that's welded to the inside neck where the hose attaches via a galvanized elbow. The lid of the tank is a brass or bronze which I don't want to use so I'll have to come up with something to attach a snorkel to tank somehow. I don't think I'll come across some fitting with those threads.
The tank in the link below is very close to the one I have. Maybe on day my tank will go from a fire extinguisher to a fire maker.
http://www.poohbang.com/2010/12/vintage ... -fire.html

This was a "funny" caveat about mud dabbers at the bottom of the page. "hope this was helpful"' ha
http://my.firefighternation.com/forum/t ... inguishers
Mud dabbers have caused other troubles too.
Involvement in Florida Commuter Airlines accident
"On September 12, 1980, Florida Commuter Airlines flight 65 crashed en route to Freeport, Bahamas killing all 34 passengers and crew. The cause was determined to be due in part to a malfunctioning air speed indicator caused by mud dauber nests that were improperly cleared from the aircraft's pitot tubes."
Involvement in Birgenair Flight 301 accident
"On February 6, 1996, Birgenair Flight 301, a 757 jet flying from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All 13 crew members and 176 passengers were killed. A key part of the accident was a blocked pitot tube, a component which measures outside air pressure through small tubes on the outside of the aircraft and displays this as the plane's speed. Although the tubes were never recovered from the ocean floor, it was discovered that the plane had been sitting on the tarmac for almost 3 weeks with the pitot tubes not covered as they should have been. Investigators believe a colony of Black and yellow mud daubers got into the tube and built their cylindrical nests inside, causing faulty air speed readings which were a large part of the crash. This species also brought down another plane in Washington during 1982."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_dauber

I calculated these 7 inch diameter tanks with 300 psi in them would have a surface area force of 11,554 pounds/5240 kilograms on the bottom of the tank, but the tank bottom isn't flat of course. My tank says it was hydrostatically tested back in 1976 to a pressure of 300 pounds. Funny the inside of the tank is almost mirror-like with but a few specks of surface rust here and there. The seams all looked clean when I inspected it with a bright LED flashlight.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Yu7XRm ... er&f=false

[Mark]

Here's some common "jam jars" that might do OK. The one with the tiny hole would have to be enlarged of course to have a chance and the one with the snorkel has the tube extending to almost the bottom of the jar. The intubated jar has the potential to make a good fire ring thrower at night with a little boric acid added to color the flame. Of course the greater confinement might make it risky with a glass jar. I've blown the lid off of some large jars and it's not something you want to do often, even with safety glasses on. The fire ringer thrower is nice because it's so easy to make. I'd guesstimate as little as a half teaspoon of methanol would do for the jar pictured. The vortex ring doesn't become apparent until 3 feet or so after the mortar-like launch when the fuel/air ratio takes effect. With my pint-sized steel fire ring thrower I only used a teaspoon or so of fuel to operate it. I recall a tablespoon aspirates too much fuel and it dampens the effect greatly. The green torus would grow to at least 6 feet in diameter. It was very fast and very brief.

[Mark]

Here's some other junk shop finds. The half gallon, stainless steel, long narrow water bottle was $1.49 and after some cleaning with Barkeeper's Friend it doesn't look too bad.
My colorful plastic pinwheels suffered some melting when held in my snorkeler's exhaust so I bought this fan blade and put a little skateboard bearing on it and mounted it in a steel beer bottle. The slightest breeze is all it takes to make it spin. The large Klean Kanteen with a blue lid was only 99 cents. The smallest water bottle I bought the other day. It has a purple flower and yellow and black bee painted on it. Lastly, there is this glass lamp of sorts with a hole in the top and a side snorkel in which to fill it I suppose. Maybe it would run if I closed off the top hole or the oil lamp could be used for some other quirky unforeseen experiment that hasn't come to mind yet.

[Mark]

Maybe this glass vessel with a red heart molded inside will snorkel briefly with some methanol. I wouldn't want to let it run for long if it did for the chance of cracking. Probably the manufacturer didn't realize the potential functionality of this resonator. To me it says "I love snorkeling". ha
It's a good resonator if you blow into the opening with your mouth. With the right amount of water in it, the shape will produce a sound that is strongly picked up/received by a beer bottle held next to your ear. If you could quickly modulate the amount of water inside it, you could be the Zamfir of Helmholtz.

[metiz]

If you can get the carousel to work, that would make drying your cothes a lot more interesting

[Mark]

It did cross my mind to hang a shirt on the rack which would probably look sort of surreal spinning around. Another thing that came to mind was to mount a paintball tank snorkeler on a stout coat hanger in keeping with the theme. I want to do a bubble machine too. Lots and lots of possibilities.

[Mark]

Today I got the half gallon water bottle to cycle up for 5 seconds on this hot day. It was one of those nice bottles that didn't require any modification, no removing valves off the top of tanks, not having to drill it out to widen and then tap the hole, or other annoying work. It was just a matter of finding the right length of snorkel. The threads in the neck of the bottle match/work with a 3/4 inch plumbing pipe thread so I decided to go with that since the bottle was large enough in volume to have a chance of supporting a snorkel of that diameter. The first try with a shorter snorkel didn't make the sound I wanted so the next size I had was a 12 inch long by 3/4 inch diameter snorkel. On the second try it sprang to life. So the water bottle snorkeler was about 24 inches in total length. I'm hoping in the fall when it's cooler it will run with zest. The bottle is a little over 3.5 inches in diameter and around 13 inches tall. The snorkel bottoms out when threaded onto the tank, you don't have any leftover threads. It's inconvenient that the fit isn't watertight either. Teflon tape isn't really a good thing to use because of the hazardous fumes Teflon makes when heated. It decomposes and starts to smoke.
I was never able to get my long tall, largest paintball tank to run with a 3/4 inch diameter snorkel. But another thing I wanted to try was to attach a barrel from a used paintball gun to the top of a paintball tank. In that way both the tank and snorkel would be from the same theme. But the paintball gun barrel has finer and wider diameter threads. I guess if I could find that tap with the right threads I could pull it off, make it work. And that would be cute, converting a paintball tank and paintball gun into a paintball snorkeler. The barrel I have is nice looking with several tiny holes at the tip for a choke I suppose. Although the inside of the barrel is a non-deviating diameter around .680ths, at the choke the outside diameter widens with some flutes and tiny holes that might need to be covered if they were to inhibit the snorkeler effect. A 3/4 inch NPT plumbing pipe has an inside diameter of .824ths. Even though it's called a 3/4 inch or .750ths diameter, it isn't. So a paintball gun barrel should be narrow enough to have a good shot at working with a paintball tank in snorkel mode. I've run them on 1/2 diameter NPT pipe or .622ths if you're keeping up with the details.
http://www.procomps.com/images/styles/2 ... g_E-30.pdf

Lastly, it was a strange feeling to hold that 2 quart water bottle with gloved hand and have it start up with the ~3/4 inch diameter snorkel a foot long. I guess the reason was it was so light and sort of large at the same time. It brought my spirits up temporarily. I never thought I would find a stainless steel water bottle of that shape and size either.

[Mark]

Here's another short-lived possibility. It's the blender blade lid drilled out with a flared-at-the-base piece of copper tubing snorkel snuggly press fit into the lid. The "Atlas Jet" might run and last a few seconds before an anomaly occurs. Too bad I can find a stainless steel Mason Jar in lots of less than a hundred. Then I could use my lid with it and not worry about a glass shower. I don't recall if I mentioned it but there're these cocktail lids that might be something to play with in Jam Jar Land.
http://designyoutrust.com/2014/02/the-m ... -shaker-3/

And again, there's these I-CAN sippy cups I could use if the lid would match a standard jam jar thread. How funny to make them look exactly like an ordinary can. I was imagining a title for youtube, "Sippy Cup Jam Jar Jet" or "I Can Jam Jar Jet".
"A straw pokes through the lid of this cool stainless steel tumbler, which design makes it an eco-friendly choice to carry on the go in lieu of disposable cups. The stainless steel construction makes the Silver I Can Sipping Cup immune to dents, dings, and sonic boom-level slurping sounds, but if it should wear out, it can be dropped into the recycling bin. It has the look of a regular can but boasts a clear, splash-free lid to prevent spills."
http://www.classichostess.com/products- ... 7AodQ2YA-Q
http://www.allmodern.com/AdNArt-ICAN-Dr ... 7AodgygA2Q

This one is taunting me too. ha
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products ... rc=AutoRel

[Mark]

So I did a few tests with the large water bottle and small paintball tank. It's too hot to get the water bottle to sustain for long and the small one ran this propeller for a short bit. I found that Amazon sells the 30 ounce Mason jars/jam jars now in stainless steel so I ordered a couple for the heck of it. 30 ounces is kind of a large jam jar.

[tufty]

Mark, you crack me up. The paintball tank in the wine bottle holder is, as they would say around here, «fantastique»

[Mark]

The wine bottle holder was used to decant the leftover alcohol after this short run. I have another bottle holder that's a little more fancy I was thinking to put wheels on. Sometimes if I hold a bottle with a leather glove it gets too hot and putting legs on the bottle isn't perfect either, so a bottle holder is good for some things. I relit the tank after it stopped and the residual heat was enough to make a candle flame effect and then tilting the bottle the remaining fuel flashed into a ~2 meter flame thrower. In cooler weather with longer runs, you can make near instantaneous 10 foot flames or longer that really get your attention and then it's over so suddenly. The hot snorkel flashes the methanol in a wondrous way. You can feel the heat radiate in the air.
This video isn't all that great but since you commented, I'll post it. Fall is a better time for snorkeling. Sometimes after a long run the bottle is so hot that when you quickly relight it, the candle flame can briefly be 2 feet feet tall.
Methanol boils at 64.7 C.
Snorkel Jet and Fan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECH7-u5ASs0

I don't know what possessed me to buy the kitsch Mr. Bear and Barking Dog soap dispensers at a thrift store. Neither jam or flutter robustly. However I was thinking to start a series like the Blendtec Blenders and instead of "Will it Blend?" it would be called "Will it Jam?"- that is ordinary things that need no modification to become a jam jar or snorkel jet.
If you haven't seen a Blendtec video .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHFA6Z ... LnVzDLUtfw
I recall doing a side-by-side youtube doubler of a vuvuzela and Dynajet. The frequency is hauntingly familiar.