Aquaponics - Float Valve Mod

I installed a float valve on my aquaponics system because I grow a huge sphere of slime in there as free food for my Golden Comets.

I'm currently making a half hearted attempt at breeding them.

My Float valve looks exactly like this pictured to the left.



I bought it on eBay for two dollars I think.

It works pretty well but it doesn't put out a lot of water. I'm guessing it was designed to keep a dog bowl full or something, and for this it would be perfect. But I need a little extra flow.

Here it is in it's full "on" position.




And here in it's "off" position.

It does "off" pretty well, although I'm not overly fussed about it's "off" state. I dont really care if it leaks a little.

As you can see from the black pipe leading into it, there are some holes to make a spray to add a little aeration, but also to make sure there is never a situation where there is zero flow.



I only have a dozen or so adult goldfish in my system, and it is capable of holding a lot more.

 It could cope without any flow for a day or two, but the fish seem to enjoy their water moving around a bit.

The problem is that the slimeball I'm cultivating in the tank can sometimes find it's way into the outlet. The result is an overflow, and the sump tank running dry. The pump hates it when that happens, and I was lucky enough to catch it just before it ran dry a couple of days ago.

The point of the float valve was to slow the amount of water entering the fishtank if the water level gets too high. But because the flow through the device isn't very high, it isnt quite doing the task I assigned it.

I decided to make it flow a little faster.

To this end, I taped out the pin that holds it all together with a chopstick.

As expected, everything fell apart nicely, and I found that the thing worked by the float levering a small slide with a silicone stopper on the end. This blocked the water outlet when the float was
... floating

The bottom bit has the float on the end and fits into the box section on the next bit up. The lowest bit of green slimy plastic is the silicone stopper that presses against the next higher up bit of green slimy plastic.


I should write operating manuals.

The inlet hole did indeed turn out to be pretty small. Perhaps this is so the silicone stopper has a nice large surface area to stop leaks.

But I dont care about leaks because even when the slime blocks my system, it always lets some water through.

It never blocks it perfectly.

So I drilled it out to a size that should let more water through, but still allow the float to shut down the flow.

I had to do it by hand because the chuck on my drill has decided that it likes having the 13mm drill in it and refuses to surrender it no matter how I try to persuade the thing otherwise.

Thats what you get for running water all over the chuck when drilling stainless hinges and trying not to overheat the drill bit.

Somewhat surprisingly, the thing all fell back together as easily as it fell apart.

A few taps of the pin and it was all good.









So now the flow looks like this when it's in the "off" position.

Not a bad result.

Most of that flow is because I didnt bother to clean up the hole I drilled.

"Drilled" is probably a bit of a fantasy really.

Lets just say I made a hole with a drill bit.

In the "on" position I get a lot more flow now.

All in all I think this can be called a complete success.

And perhaps more importantly, it  shows that maybe I can still do stuff.

It's been a while.




If I care enough, I'll clean up the hole and make it so the flow actually stops when the float is floating.

Trying to drill by hand is fine until you actually make it through the thing your drilling. Then it becomes very difficult to make a clean hole because the drill bit just tries to screw itself into the item.

This is the "before" shot.






And this is the "after" shot.

The result is you get three quarters of a hole as you brake through the plastic.

I'll file it back to something like round if it turns out to matter.





So...

I did something.


120ThingsIn20Years Some of the photos were even in focus!

Epic adventurer - DIY paracord bungee that should outlast the polar caps

Making a home made paracord* bungee** to take my new and very small Gerber Dime® multi tool on any epic adventures I may set off on turned out to be pretty worth while. Claiming that it will outlast the polar caps probably isn't saying that much.

Oh well.

I wanted to make it so I could use my new little multi tool while it was still attached to my belt so I couldn't lose it overboard, but didn't want it dangling around my ankles when I let it go without re-clipping it. I figured if I wasn't actively using it, I'd clip it to my belt, but when I was using it, I could just it to still be attached. That would mean there was a loop of rope hanging down a foot or so from my belt, and I thought that might be annoying. I have a bungee cord with a hook at each end thats been sitting in water outside in the sun for 3 years and is still in perfect condition, but I have also bought a few dozen that didn't make it 3 months. I have no idea what brand the good one is, but even if I did, it's too think for my requirements.

The invention engine said I should make my own.

I started with some paracord and removed all the inner strands. If they are tight, just pull one out at a time until they come out with ease.

The mess should look something like this when complete.

The next step was to cut a length of inner tube into a strip thin enough to fit inside the hollowed out para cord.

I cut a length around 30cm long, and around 2mm wide

Try to avoid any nicks and rough edges as this is where it will break if stretched too far.

But we wont be stretching our too far so it wont matter.

I then threaded a thin wire through the hollow  length of paracord, bent a loop, and tied the strip of inner tube to it.

I attached to other end of the wire to my house because it was the only heavy thing I could find.

With the help of some pliers to grip the paracord, it was simple to pull the strip of inner tube back through the empty paracord.

I added a decent quality swivel from my fishing gear as an afterthought, but it would have been a lot neater to incorporate it into the knot so it might lie in a straight line to the DIY paracord bungee.

As it is in this pic, I can stretch it to around twice the relaxed length.

In later experiments, I discovered that if you scrunch the length of paracord bungee into a rough ball, then roll it around between your palms as if you were rolling a ball of dough, it gains extra creases and folds. This allows you to untie it, and shorten the length of inner tube inside, and as a result bunch up the paracord.

So now I can get a stretch of around 3 times the relaxed length.

To get maximum stretch, bunch up the paracord until it's still slack when you stretch it. This means the inner tube is the limiting factor. Then let a little paracord slip through your fingers until the inner tube is still fully stretched, but the paracord is also tight.

Tie it off, and you should be set. As long as you didn't stretch the inner tube too much before tying it off, the paracord should take any extreme force that's applied, and your rubber inner should stay intact for the next 25,000 years or so.

All in all this suggestion from the invention engine turned out well.

The short length of very thin and super strong DIY paracord bungee is ideal to suspend my new favorite tool.



120 Things in 20 years - Oh look, a post!



* strong, thin, light, multi strand rope you use to hang from parachutes
** rubbery rope you use to tie things to your roof rack, or tie your ankle to a bridge with when you are about to fling yourself off.

Fire - Home made ethanol stove

In a previous attempt to make a ethanol stove I ended up using a potato instead of the bottom the coke can I was working on, and you can see a lot of the build in the post called Fire - Ethanol potato cooker. Because I've already covered most of the build in that post I wont be repeating it here, so read that potato cooker post first.

Sorry for the terrible photo. it hurts my eyes as I try to force it into focus. Hopefully that's just something about me, and it wont actually hurt anyone else.

After some more research I thought I'd try making a proper drink can burner. This time I spent a lot more time on slowly scribing the line with a blade to get the cuts nice and clean. Rather than putting on a lot of pressure, I pressed gently, and rotated the can under the blade holding the blade in my right hand and the can in the other. Eventually a few small holes appear in the line, and at this time you can either cut it with a little more pressure, or just press it out (I used a pen because I wasn't sure how sharp it would be, but it wasn't all that sharp).

The end result was a very neat, clean cut that needed only a light sanding.

Actually it didn't really need a light sanding at all, but I did it anyway.

I also employed the method of putting a blade in a book. This time I clamped it down with a G-clamp, and pressed the top (really the bottom) of the can down with one finger while I rotated the can with my free hand.

I used the blade and book to mark a line for the base.

But the second cut of the can required scissors as there was no "top" of the can to press down with one finger.

But scissors cut it very cleanly.

So here are the three finished sections.

The one on the left is the top with all the holes punched through with a drawing pin

Centre is the inner sleeve cut out of the middle section of the can. (see previous post)

And the bottom is on the right.





The bottom bit was stretched* by pushing a full, un-opened can into it a wriggling it around for a bit.

It's difficult to describe the motion, but if you jam it in the move it around like a ball and socket joint (like your shoulder) the lip of the can is eventually stretched. It's very easy to get off the can as there is a perfect seal, and the air pressure inside pushes the small section off.

Put your base on something flat.

Press in a full can.

Wang it about a bit**.

Success!

Now, with the inner sleeve roughly in place, you can slide the top and bottom parts together. As long as you make them meet as close to evenly as you can (ie not one side first) it will fit.

I made my base section the outside, but I'm not sure if there is an advantage either way.

It looks like this when it's lit.

And this when it's not.
















120 Things in 20 years was  overheard to say "On the subject of fire and home made ethanol stoves,   I personally didn't have any blood fall out, but I would say that although this is a great project to do with kids,  if you like them I'd make sure there was an adult around to stitch them back up, and put the fires out".




* Thanks for the tip Jabro

** If only someone would come up with a way to rapidly display pictures one after the other to give the reader the illusion of a "moving picture".

Bread - "Lame" or bread slashing thing

A "lame" (pronounced in the first part of this), or "bread slashing thing" is a razor blade on a stick.

It's really important if you want to make those nice textured loaves that are slashed before baking, like baguettes.

I found a knife did a poor job, and I keep my knives sharp. The problem was their thickness rather than their sharpness. A scalpel worked a bit better, but was still too thick.

I thought I'd make one, and it worked really well. It's what I used on my last loaf, with the 5 overlapping cuts.

I started by wrecking a disposable razor. Safety glasses are important here, bits flew all over the place.

Really, really, really, sharp bits.

Wear glasses.

If you get a razor stuck in your eye, I bet it really stings every time you blink.

Wear glasses.

Next step was to trim it into a shape that I thought would work. My aim was to minimise friction as it cut into the loaf.

Scissors worked to shape the blade. The thin blades cut like thick paper.

The to make a handle, I cut the end off a chopstick...

And split it with a steak knife.

I made the split long enough to hold a decent amount of the blade.

And glued it in place with super glue.

It works really well.

I think the secret to the slashing bit is bold confident strokes.

Here's a picture of a totally unrelated ball of dough in a glass of water.
















120 Things in 20 years is all about boldness and confidence. And bread and a lame. And a glass of water with dough in it.

Home made preserves - Sun dried tomatoes

In spite of all my pruning and pinching off growing tips to keep my tomatoes from taking over, my two trimmed tomato plants in my little aquaponics garden have been producing tomatoes faster than we can eat them. I've started giving excess tomatoes away but now I've decided to horde them and try my hand at sun dried tomatoes.

If it works well, I'll make a solar drier based on the stuff I learnt from the solar hot water collector experiments I did, but for the time being, I'll knock up a temporary test drier.

I figure I'll need a screen to keep the flies off.

I have a kitchen sieve or two that have so far escaped being destroyed in aquaponics experiments, so I'll use one of those.

And I'll need a couple of tomatoes.

From what I've read, they should be the same size, but I didn't have two ripe ones of the same size so I photographed them to look the same. The closest one is about half the size of the other.

Nobody will know.

So I cut them into sections and thumbed out the seeds.

I pealed two sections as well to try them that way, although it is not normally done that way.

I then found a bowl and a cake cooling rack.

I put the cake cooling rack over the bowl, and spread the tomato sections out over the rack, and put the sieve over the top.

I moved the entire thing out into the sun near an ants nest, so figured I should stand the whole contraption in a big bowl of water to keep crawling things out.

Now we wait. I'm told for a few days.



120 things in 20 years, Home made preserves - Sun dried tomatoes, and waiting

Electronics - DIY waterproof switch build

It's a funny thing, but of all the wacky little inventions I've come up with since starting this blog, my DIY waterproof switch is the one I'm currently most proud of.

Here's how to build one.

I spent a long time trying to figure out a nice material to make a water proof, domed button out of.

I searched all over the place for ages until I decided to make myself a drink and found this inside my soft drink bottle.

I figured it would be perfect.

It already looks a little like a button.

I cut a 20mm hole in the end cap of the 90mm PVC tube that will house the electronics package for the demand fish feeder.

I needed to create a dome shape by pre-tensioning the gasket so I started by sticking the lid under the project temporarily with some tape.

This would allow me to press the button from the other side and hold it in place.

I added a large ball bearing to introduce a dome shape, and held it in place with vice grip pliers.

And the drink I'd made earlier.

And a box marked "Adjustable head magnifying glass".

Presumably, packaging for a device used to magnify heads.

I glued it in place and drank my drink through a straw until the glue set.












I figured with the ball bearing giving pre-tension, the glue should hold the gasket in it's new bubble shape to some degree,.

And it did.

This is the finished product from the inside.

Now when I mount a small tactile switch behind it, I should be able to press it from the outside so I can keep the electronics safe in a water proofed section of PVC.


It even works (if you can call that colour selection working (I was in a hurry))....





120 things in 20 years  Electronics - DIY waterproof switch build


All button pressing by Mrs 120ThingsIn20years. 
Mrs. 120ThingsIn20years is highly skilled at pushing buttons, and in the interests of domestic harmony, this should never be attempted at home.
Only one soft drink bottle was harmed in any way during this video production.
My drink was delicious 

Electronics - DIY water proof switch

Here's my home made water proof switch working, but I have to go out to dinner and don't have time to explain my switch.

And it isn't really a home made switch, just a DIY water proofer.

It looks like this, and I'm very proud of it...





120 things in 20 years - Not just an Electronics - DIY water proof switch that I'm very proud of