Help with manual pump! Please Help!

[turtleg]

Okay, I'm trying to make a manual air pump. Sort of like a bycicle pump, but preferrably smaller and out of PVC pipes and stuff like that. This isn't exactly electronics but it's related with an electronic project. I would like the place where the air comes out of the pump to be the same of a bike pump. Disassembling a bike pump to get that part is possible, but not preffered. If you need clarification on the design just ask. Hope you can help!

 

[Alex_rcpilot]

Parts of handcraft tolerance won't provide sufficient hermetization, while pre-manufactured parts that you gather from different resources won't fit well. I think tearing a bike pump apart might be the easiest and cheapest solution for your project.

I'm curious coz this pump in your electronic project is MANUAL, aren't you supposed to automate such things? Especially a pump that makes you labour.

 

[HiTech]

It better be thick-walled PVC pipe to start with. What is your piston? You could use a PVC pipe end cap with a groove or two routed around it's circumference. Then use an appropriate sized 0-ring as a piston ring. Lightly lube the rings and drill a small hole in the pipe's sidewall to act as an air inlet valve. As the piston bypasses the hole, it should compress the air. Upon the upstroke. the piston should travel past the hole just enough to allow new air to enter for the next cycle. Alot of work and effort to produce a few "inches" of air pressure.

 

[HarveyH42]

Sounds like the makings of some sort of projectile weapon... Always kinda want to make an AirSoft type gun that shoots golfballs...

 

[Alex_rcpilot]

At first I thought it might be some air driven muscle bag. You know, the kind of bag that stretches along the perimeter, not the axes. So when inflated it expands and pulls both ends together, acting as a muscle. Later I figured it was too complicated for a manual pump to drive.

 

[3v0]

Does it have to be a piston pump. A bellows style pump is much easier to make ?

 

[HiTech]

I guess that would depend upon how fast he needs the air supply to develop. Bellows pumps are on the slow side, compared to piston types.