small hovercraft

a simple,free and safe hovercraft model!

Step 1 Things you need!

u need:
1 a big plastic or paper plate
2 a pc fan
3 some batteries (12 volts)
4 some tape

Comments

[ride on toy dude]

instead of using two double a's and a nine volt
you should use a tiny a23 size battery.

[spiderloco]

I thought of this idea also. After cutting the paper plate and attaching a 12 volt fan motor from an old computer to it I powered it up to 19 volts (the biggest pwr supply that I have laying around) and it just about will hover with the weight of the motor. The voltage will have to be increased well beyond the tolerance of the motor to get a good lift. We need a better motor/ fan combo

[ride on toy dude]

i was thinking of doing the same thing except with a small motor, propellar, a bowl, and a button cell battery.

[saransaleen]

Good idea !! but let me gie a another replacement for the batterys ..... the red and black wires of the PC fan to a USB cable..... just cut off the the end that u connect to the load (ex : mobile).. inside u see red & black wires just connect the red wire to the fan's red wire and the black wire to the fan's black wire.....

[ShemySheza]

is it safe to connect a 9v and AA together?wont the AA explode?

:P

[ShemySheza]

is it safe to connect a 9v and AA together?wont the AA explode?

:P

[benduy]

the reason the hovercraft spins is the grooves in the plate, how heavy is the fan.

[Raziel7]

maybe you could make an instructable in spanish?
There should be a Spanish section for instructables.

I speak fluent English and Spanish so if you ever need help translating hit me up.

[win1213]

there is one problem with all this hovercraft and that is when the fan spins...the whole thing spins as well...so if anyone have any idea to solve this problem please help me out =)

[vignesh1230]

I'm sorry but i do not think that this qualifies as an instructable. You instructable needs more detail. For step 4 just putting the batteries would not do. Tell them what sides to put together. And for step 5 you need to tell them where to put it and how to set the perfect center of gravity not just put it in place. So please try to make this instructable better.

[hgseawave]

Question from my 10 year old: it does not seem to work for me..! we bought a new fan and new battries. the combiantion of batteries the directions say to put together does not work. the hovercarft does not seem to suppor tthe batteries and it spins very slow. the directions don't explain where to attach the wires to the batteries.

[vignesh1230]

OK did you wire it it series or parallel? Series makes the voltage go up and parallel makes the amperage go up. for more info go to http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/battery5.htm. I might have gotten the series and parallel mixed up cuz i'm only 12

[mman1506]

did you use new batteries (thats what always happens to me)

[andresm]

im really sorry, try with a power source, and if it spins very slowly its the voltage, maybe its not strong enough

[zigzagchris]

is it bad to use 2 9v for a 12v fan. It runs like it but will it break it?

[DEMONSLAYER1]

A fast response would be appreciated cos its due next week and im away next weekend thanks bro

[DEMONSLAYER1]

was your fan very heavy or was it a light computer fan?

[DEMONSLAYER1]

I'm tryin it 4 a skool project. should be fun. I LIKE TOAST!

[thealeks]

dude! i made this and powered it with a 12v adapter and it rocks! thanks for posting this!

[win1213]

can some 1 help me cus my whole hovercraft will spin when the fan spin

[FRABBAfrabbaFRABBA]

i made it but mine doesnt work so i made one with four 50mm fans and rechargable batteries and it works very well

[sajada]

Just wondering... is there anything else to replace the pc fan? you know Im still 13 so i dont have acces to those kinds of things. would a couple of those disposoble fans work? ya' know placed strategically? with all do respect

[FXwhiz30]

all you have to do is get an old windows 98 or 95 and disect it to get the fan!

[Apemza]

Hey man, you can buy one in the computer stores - usually uinder 3$ !

[dean-101]

hey, i no a site you can get those fans cheap it is www.maplin.co.uk they sell them in all sizes and they even sell ffan kits for making the likes of helicopter(small) and hovercrafts and stuff.

[Notbob]

its not that hard to get comp fans when I was 12-13 i would go and cruise the local goodwills and pick up really cheap old comps and salvage them for parts, ive (still got fans lying around) you should try it its really easy.

[andresm]

hey im sorry im not sure, im 14, so i did it for fun an afternoon, i just messed around with the batteries and fans,.. things like that. it was just plain fun. and if anyone of u get angry at me of my way of doing this, plz feel free to just mess around urselfs. remember wat instructables is about... its just funa and it Do It Yourself (not shouting at a 14 year old for exact instructions)

[i are ben]

were can i buy napkins?

[ultrauber]

Grocery store.

[mysterious ninja of fire]

i made mine out of cardboard plate and bent the rim up so i could put like balls in the rim and the rim acts as a bumper lol

[win1213]

i tried this a lot of time but it wont float but jus vibrate i think its too heavy HELP ME

[mysterious ninja of fire]

try taking the fan out and flipping it around

[theosullis]

Would a vacume engine work?

[qwerty90210]

I made a "Hover car" model similar to this but I used cardboard for the bottom and a "skirt" with a grocery bag.

[andresm]

good idea, how did u power it ?

[qwerty90210]

9v it went out fast but it was enough 4 the science fair

[mondaymonkey]

I have been working on building a model hovercraft design for a couple weeks on and off. I have decided that in order to have a floating hovercraft. A) you must have some sort of skirt, cuz hovercrafts don't use air thrust, but air PRESSURE. But more importantnly( B) YOU MUST have a very high speed motor. A small prop, preferably a lot of blades. C) It needs to have a large surface area, because it is more efficient to load say 1SQF at 30PSI than 1/2SQF at 60PSI. The above model does have a relativly light, and large prop motor/fan setup. For it to hover better, i would put a larger plate, and attach a skirt by putting a garbage bag to the bottom, attach it somehow to the middle of the craft, and make small holes toward the center of the skirt..... ill make a instructable soon NOTE: It needs to be HELLA light

[andresm]

ur right about the cushion of air, thats why the plate is curved at the edges, hey but nice tips, ¡THANKS!

[rockman]

i rekon its a great idea but the batteries are to heavy for the fan so what i did instead was extend the wire then hook it up to a bigger battery and it works fine

[abbtech]

Looks great! Got a video?