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Ball Washer

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hailchristian

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What a great site!

Stoked i found it.

Alright, well a friend and my self are trying to develop a ball washer, specifically for ping pong balls but who knows where it will go. Any ways, the theory is that you drop a ball down a pipe, water sprays on it and a fan kicks on and shoots the ball back up the pipe and it hovers until it is grabbed.

We have npn/pnp fiber optic sensors at our expense through our work. I was thinking have one end at the top of the pipe and one at the bottom so when the ball is in the pipe the photo sensor clicks its relay and turns the motor on that controls the fan.

I was wondering if there was a simple way to put a 2 second delay on the fan motor. We plan on using AC motors since we get them for free through work so we will be working at 120 volts. I just have no idea on how to put a 2 second delay on the motor.


any ideas would be appreciated.
 
Not to do all the work for you, but to give you a nice place to start from, try using the NE555 timer IC.

Have a look at this link for many examples or simply enter "NE555" in google and "happy surfing"
 
A ping pong ball washer... Go figure. I don't know why, but that sounds funny to me.
 
:D:D

I initially wanted to reply with

" ... and when do you apply talcum powder?"
 
micrtexan, ever play beer pong? <smirk> It's an American (as far as I know) drinking game. After a few games those pingpongs are flying everywhere, a ball washer would be nice =)
 
micrtexan, ever play beer pong? <smirk> It's an American (as far as I know) drinking game. After a few games those pingpongs are flying everywhere, a ball washer would be nice =)

Yean, didn't think of Beer Pong. Would probably be a good idea there.:eek:
 
Yeah, how do they get dirty? And if they do, will simply spraying them with water get them clean? I would think some scrubbing would be needed.

The 555 timer IC is where I would start too. A micro controller would be ideal, but its not really needed for such a simple task, but if you went that route, it could control everything.

A 555 timer (and most all electronic parts for that matter) won't run off 120 v AC. You will need a good low voltage power supply to run the "brains" off of. A wall wart transformer may work well. You could also just use batterys.
 
Not to do all the work for you, but to give you a nice place to start from, try using the NE555 timer IC.

Have a look at this link for many examples or simply enter "NE555" in google and "happy surfing"

Another nice **broken link removed** site.
 
Another nice 555 site.

Are you sure? I thought it was another "how to put a microprocessor in a unessisary application" site! ;)

But batteries got mentioned some where too. Good thing that post didnt say rechargeable batteries! :D

Then this would have become a Super ultra multistage microprocessor monitored battery charger site! :eek:

With one or two references to a ping pong ball per page of posts. :rolleyes:

Are SPDCHK and I the only ones seeing a pattern of fall back devices on this site? :confused:


You could just use soapy water and a paper towl to clean them! How many ping pong balls could you just buy for the equivilant cost of your parts and time? say if you counted every hour you spent building and perfecting this toy Vs what you get paid an hour at your jobs?

Or how many could you wash by hand in that time?

If your hands are too crippled towash them how are you playing ping pong in the first place?
 
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yeah..definitely for beer pong.

but after talking with my friend last night i think we found an easier way to do it which would not need timers or anything.

But thanks for all the quick responses.

as for why this is necessary...it isn't..it is just to impress people. There are way more efficient ways to clean a ping pong ball..but this will be installed in our beer pong table and it will be neat.

Ill post up the drawings for it when i have them so everyone can see what im talking about


-chris.
 
Personally a cup of water to dunk the ball in is good enough for me, the germs you pick up are good for your immune system, and the alcohol kills most of them anyways.
 
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