Materials[edit | edit source]
- Large PVC tube with one clear plexiglass plate with O-ring, already fastened on
- 12V battery source (usually car battery)
- Clear plexiglass plate with a pressure gauge, clear tubing, and a valve connected
- Orange O-ring (find size)
- Water pump with a tube that also connects to the plate above and another tube with nothing connected to the end
- 10 amp fuse
- Tank of water
- Wrench
- Philip screw driver
- Six #10-24 3'' bolts
- Six #10-24 nuts
- 3D printed tubing holder
Procedure[edit | edit source]
- Fill the large PVC pipe with water and stand it up straight in the tank.
- Put the item you’re testing into the large PVC pipe.
- Take the O-ring (rubber ring) and put it into the groove located on the clear plexiglass plate.
- Line up plate with the top edge of the large PVC pipe.
- Line up the bolt holes on the plate to the bolt holes of the 3D printed part that’s attached near the top of the large PVC pipe.
- (Use the bolts and nuts in the plastic bag). Put a bolt through both the plate bolt hole and the 3D printed part bolt hole. Repeat with the other bolts and holes. (6 in total)
- Take the 6 nuts and screw them onto the end of the bolts. Tighten them with your hands to the best of your abilities.
- Use the correct wrench and screwdriver to tighten the nuts. Don’t over tighten. (stop tightening once you’ve felt some decent resistance)
- Use the correct wrench and screwdriver to give each nut an extra one or two turns to tighten. (make sure to tighten them evenly)
- Look at the water pump. There are two clear tubes coming out of each side. One tube is connected to the plate. The other tube isn’t connected to anything. Take the tube connected to nothing and put it through the tube holder holes on the edge of the tank.
- Submerge the tube not connected to anything under the water. Make sure the tube fills up with water and that the end of it stays underwater. You do not want the water pump to pump air (it will get damaged).
- There are two ball valves (valves with a blue handle): one on the tube connected to the plate and one directly on the plate. A ball valve is open when it’s blue handle is facing up or parallel to the valve itself. It’s closed when the blue handle is facing sideways or perpendicular to the valve itself. Make sure both ball valves are open (on tube and on plate).
- Plug the battery into the plug on the battery holder.
- Plug in the fuse to the correct spot. You should hear the water pump turn on and see water getting pumped into the large PVC pipe. There should be some water coming out of the valve pump on the plate.
- Move the top of the large PVC pipe side to side in order to get rid of the air bubbles in the large PVC pipe. The air bubbles should escape through the open ball valve on the plate.
- Once there are only a few tiny little air bubbles left in the large PVC tube, close the ball valve on the plate by turning the blue handle all the way to the side so it’s perpendicular to the valve itself.
- You’ll hear the water pump still working. Watch the psi gage (clock-looking thing located on the plate). The hand should indicate that the psi is going up. Make sure to do the following step IMMEDIATELY when the psi gauge indicates, that way the water pump won’t get damaged from water backtracking through it. This step varies depending on what psi you are testing for:
- If you are only testing for a specific psi under 100psi then close the ball valve located on the tube (by turning the blue handle all the way to the side so it’s perpendicular to the valve itself) once the psi gage hand indicates that you’re at your wanted psi.
- If you want to test up to the highest psi possible (for this tester that is about 95psi) then wait for the psi to peak. You’ll know that it has peaked when the water pump suddenly becomes quiet and the psi hand starts moving in the other direction (going down in psi). Then close the ball valve located on the tube (by turning the blue handle all the way to the side so it’s perpendicular to the valve itself).
- Unplug the fuse and the battery.
- Open the ball valve on the plate (by turning the blue handle all the way up so it’s parallel to the valve itself). Water is going to shoot out, so you will want to aim it somewhere so it doesn’t hit you in the face or get other things wet.
- Open the ball valve on the tube (by turning the blue handle all the way up so it’s parallel to the valve itself).
- Unscrew bolts and nuts using the same method you used for tightening them but in reverse. (Untighten them all 1 or 2 turns. Then untighten them almost all the way. Then use your hands to unscrew the rest). Remove the bolts and nuts (be careful not to drop them into the tank), dry them off, and put them back into the plastic bag.
- Dump the water out of the large PVC pipe and take out the item you were testing.
- Remove the tube connected to the motor pump from the water.
- Drain tubes to the best of your ability (try not to get electronics in the battery holder wet).
- Put everything back into the box.
