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Micro Air Compressor wanted.

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MathGeek

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Hi,

I am looking for a micro air compressor (not exceeding 3 inches in any dimension). It is to power small air muscles for a small robot, but does not need to have high pressure or volume (and current/voltage should be as low as posslbie).

I know some robotist acomplished thisby building a LEGO compressor (lego cylinder pumps hooked up to a motor), but lego parts are hard to find and can be actually more than 50 dollars, not mentioning reliablity. I would like something better.

Any help on this one?

I saw that Hargraves makes a micro compressor at 48 dollars, but I would like to see something less "industrial"....all i need to do is power a small robot. If you know any other air compressor, let me know.

Thanks.
 
Oh, also,

do you know where I can get really cheap (CHEAP) solenoid valves (2 or 3 way)? I am looking for them in online stores/ local stores without success.
 
Look for diaphragm air pumps at a local pet store. You can get small ones for pretty cheap, and they can easily produce 20psi.
 
I apologize for going slightly off-topic, but where would I find a micro water pump? I've been needing one for years. I'm not picky about the pumping rate.
 
Plenty of pets, but no pumps. At least not for water. As if that's not enough trouble, one of my pumps needs to carry Ferric Chloride--so it can't contain one speck of metal. I managed to build a solenoid-driven diaphram pump long ago, but it was slow as all getout and ate power faster than my PC eats spyware.
 
How 'bout a DC driven diapraghm pump? I know some old Epson printers (The Stylus Color 660 for sure) actually has an all plastic diapraghm pump to remove excess ink from around the printheads...they can be picked up @ the local thrift store for less than $5(US) and also have a couple high power stepper motors and some other parts...

The only hard part would be removing all of the old ink.

(kinda off topic - back on now)

For a mini air compressor, why not use PVC and a geared motor? It could run off of two one-way valves (one intake, one output) and pump as much PSI as the motor (and PVC) can handle. I'm planning on making one for various applications myself.
 
DigiTan said:
Plenty of pets, but no pumps. At least not for water. As if that's not enough trouble, one of my pumps needs to carry Ferric Chloride--so it can't contain one speck of metal. I managed to build a solenoid-driven diaphram pump long ago, but it was slow as all getout and ate power faster than my PC eats spyware.

Eh Digitan,
What about using a water pump from a windsreen pump, I use few of them to pump coolant for my milling machine, lathe, drill etc and it works great. I get them from my local car wreckers for 50 cents each and I haven't blown one yet. The flow isn't huge and one thing I must do is check the current used but using a 12 volt 7amp/hour battery I only need to recharge them after 6 weeks and the voltage is usually still above 12 volts.

Cheers Bryan :D
 
theinfamousbob said:
How 'bout a DC driven diapraghm pump? I know some old Epson printers (The Stylus Color 660 for sure) actually has an all plastic diapraghm pump to remove excess ink from around the printheads...they can be picked up @ the local thrift store for less than $5(US) and also have a couple high power stepper motors and some other parts...

The only hard part would be removing all of the old ink.

(kinda off topic - back on now)

For a mini air compressor, why not use PVC and a geared motor? It could run off of two one-way valves (one intake, one output) and pump as much PSI as the motor (and PVC) can handle. I'm planning on making one for various applications myself.

Interesting......could you elaborate on the method of making a mini air compressor? (Well, I don't need it now since I bought at a surplus store, but i want it for future reference.)
 
I found this post via google, hence why I'm bumping such an old thread.

I am searching for some sort of very small air compressor. I would like something could supply 10-20 psi but it would also need to flow at least 7-8 CFM at that pressure. I would also prefer that it runs of 12V DC.

Does anything like that exist?

Size is not a huge concern, although I'd like it to fit roughly in a 4"x4"x4" space if possible. I also wouldn't mind extra CFM. If I could find something that flowed more around 20-30 CFM that would be even better.
 
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