scruffythefirst

I've been reading this particular forum for a while and the disscussion with aeroponics always seems to turn to sprayers.

I have been discussing the problem with a friend of mine who is doing a physics degree and she suggested mixing the water and nutes from a low volume and high pressure pump with a high pressure airline before it enters the manifold. This would give the required mist effect - the main problems with typical sprayers is the quantity of water pumped out - surface tension in the large mass of water causes it to stick together and therefore not form the tiny droplets required. With a low volume of water it is hard to get the required pressure with very fine nozzles. Has anyone come across very fine sprayers? (I'm sure I saw a link to metal nozzles with a 50 micron droplet but i can't find it again.)

However mixing high pressure air with high pressure liquid in the manifold is going to create some problems at the nozzles end - ie the water sits on the bottom of the pipe and the air on top. Perhaps bubbling the high pressure air through a manifold full of water just in front of the sprayers would work? Or what about sprayer nozzles which have two inputs - one air line and one water line which are mixed as they pass through the hole. (a bit like the carb on a car)

I know most people have got a droplet system they are happy with, but i'm looking for maximum performance and a truly atomized mist (IMHO) is the best way to do this (When lights and Co2 have been considered)

Anybody got any ideas how we can get this idea working?

Great site guys

cweed

ultrasonic-ponics or foggerponics. if you search for this, you will find only 5 or 6 threads on it. but they all say the same thing, and that is you can generate a fog or mist of tiny droplets using a ultrasonic peizo oscillator. if you would search ebay for ultrasonic mister you will find something you can use in a homemade setup.

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scruffythefirst

I saw a couple of those threads, and just read a few more. Sounds like an interesting idea but not really what i was going for.

It seems like it'd be hard to get the mist to the roots in sufficient quantities to give them enough water (were talking 9 7ft plants in big buckets) and those 5 head foggers are $90 each - 10 or 20 of them is going to be expensive and difficult to maintain. I believe there's an issue with salt buildup as well?

Does anyone know enough about maufacturing (given access to a university engineering dept) to make brass sprayer heads with 2 threaded lines in to a little chamber and a very small exit hole (20-30 microns ??) Is it possible? I guess I'm not after true foggerponics - more very fine areo. Is there anything available already?

Scruffy

Him--

You can buy aeroponic sprayers at some hydro stores. They require a specific pump that will atomize the water mist - according to my store it's about $100. We don't have one at the moment (although we have misting sprayers) b/c we had seeds waiting for us and would have had to order it, but it was an option.

GanjaGreenie

Just a thought, I dont know if it would even work. A company called Nitrous Oxide Systems makes a NOS nozzle much like you just described. Its purpose is to mix the fuel and NOS right before it comes out of the sprayer.

Here is a link to what I am talking about. http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/ProdLin...13700RNOS.html


It prolly wont work for what you need but maybe it will help with the design process.

NOS objective is the same as yours. To create the finest mist possible.

Hope this helps a little.

scruffythefirst

That looks spot on, can't seem to find any specs on pressures etc and i don't know enough about car injection systems to know if it's suitable for our applications. However, its just the idea that i was getting at, does anyone know how hard it would be to make something simmilar?

I found a little antique brass mist gun around the house which produces a really fine mist ( i think it was for ferns or orchids) - much finer than the nozzles you get on standard gardening misting bottles. It works by having two slots which twist in a spiral, cut out of the side of a cylinder. This then fits snugly into the cap with the fine hole, which in turn screws onto a male thread with a central bore that leads to the pump. (i haven't got a digicam so i cant post a pic and its victorian apparently -so i can't get any more )

If we (or i can con an engineer into it), and can combine the two ideas - have the victorian nozzle with a high pressure air feed to one slot and a high pressure neut feed to the other.

I'd draw it but i'm rubbish with paint!

I hope someone knows what i mean! (do i make any sense or am i too mashed) Is it possible?

Scruff (mad engineer required )

SmokeyMcSpliff

I think you people are spending way too much time and money on the nozzles. I have worked with several commercial aeroponic systems and they don't use any special nozzles or foggers at all. The point is to have a HIGH preassure pump and shoot a pin fine stream of water onto a half moon plastic reflector. The water hits the reflector and creates a perfect fogger effect. Just make sure you have a good filter on your pump or these fine stream jets will plug all too often.

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