Portable Mister

I love seeing all the designs created by others - Thank you !! This is my first so please bare with me and let me know what additional info should be added..

We had a trip planned to the coast and we do a lot of tail gating so I wanted to build an affordable mister that was portable.

Items needed :

2 - 5 gallon buckets. Firehouse sub sells their food grade pickle buckets for 2.00 and donates the money to local fire stations.

micro mister - I used MistyMate 15006 it has a 10' mist line. $15.00

12v micro diaphragm pump - i used Estone 12V DC 5L/min 60W Micro Car Diaphragm High Pressure Water Pump Automatic Switch. it has a operation range around 80 psi. The mister had a min. of 60 psi. $20.00

12v battery - I used a U1 tractor battery from Walmart 20.00 (choose it so i could use it as a spare for my mower)

2' 3/8 tubing 1-2.00

alligator clips 1.00

waffle ball - free

old sock - free

tie wraps - free

radiator clamp - 1.00

3/8 to GHT adapter - 3.00

Step 1: Mount Motor and Attach Lines

I drilled 4 holes in the lid to screw the motor onto, and 2 more holes to strap a tie wrap around the motor to secure it to the lid.

1 more hole to run the inlet tube thru.

I cut a hole in the top of the waffle ball and used an old sock as a filter.

To put the tube on the 3/8 barb I needed to heat it first. I first used a tie wrap but it didn't last long so ended up adding a radiator hose clamp to secure the outlet hose.

Step 2: Attach Clips to Battery

I had to finish while on the beach so took a short cut. I just added alligator clips. next improvement will be to add a switch. I only ran it about 15-20 min at a time and would manually unclip it. Will run it longer for tail gating.

Step 3: Fill With Water and Enjoy

I had 2 buckets with the intent to swap them out or use the 2nd to fetch water.

I ended up using the 2nd bucket to hold the battery so it was out of the sand.

Step 4: Final Thoughts & Future Considerations

The motor was a little loud but 5 feet away on the beach and we didn't notice it at all.

My expectation was that the motor would cycle on\off with the pressure switch but never did. The motor is probably overkill and could have used one with a lower PSI.

In my head i was going to cut a hole in the side of the 2nd bucket and add a bulkhead adapter so the 2nd bucket would keep it filled and allow for sediment to settle before going into primary bucket - but we ended up not running it long enough to go thru a bucket.

over all it worked awesome. The mister hose and battery would all fit in the bucket so it was self contained for storage\carrying. We were able to use it on the beach and in the area where we were boiling and frying shrimp :) where it made a huge difference.

Looking forward to running it longer during tailgate season to see how long the battery will last between re-charges and to go thru 5 gallons.

Comments

[amachinetech]

Since this is the first of your instructables here are some tips for your next one.

1) Give links to where you got stuff, store or website, model numbers, power required, sizes, quantitys, prices, shipping the more info the better. If those reading your instructable are not able to get exactly what you have they will have the specs to be able to substitute with other things

2) Share your failures and successes. If you tried something and it didn't work then share that and pictures of how it failed. Much more is learned from a valiant attempt and epic failure than a success on the first whack.

3) If it succeeded but still isn't quite what you were aiming for then feel free to come back later and update the instructable with version 2.0 or 3.0 if needed. Ask for feedback from the instructables community. Thousands of people will see your efforts and will freely give hints to help you improve your idea. Just ask.

4) pictures, pictures, pictures...and a few more. Some of the people that are reading your instructables have english as a second or third language. The more arrows, pointers, diagrams and drawings you can give us the reader the better. Somethings that are crystal clear in your head don't always make the translation to english, then to cyberspace then back to english then to someone else's head.

5) a short video of how it works when it is all done is very helpful for someone who is adapting your creation to their situation. If you have, for instance, a video of you in a beach chair under a popup, with the misters pumping out streams of cooling fog, then pan about some so we can see not only your imaginative invention but how you ended up using it this will give the reader a feel for how your invention made your world better. It is best if you post the video first before you get into the how to part of the instructable so we the readers have an idea as to what we will end up with after we're all done.

6) never stop inventing. The more you do it the easier it becomes. We are your tribe and we are here to cheer you on.

Good first effort on a worthwhile invention. I will make something like it myself. When I complete it Ill share the pictures with you.

amachinetech

[amberrayh]

This looks like a very handy thing to have on the beach. Thank you for sharing! I hope we see more from you in the future.