# PROJECT ADJUSTABLE MISTING NOZZLE - NEED YOUR HELP PPL !!!



## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

HEY, I've been spinning my wheels lately in hopes to design a better misting system and a way better misting nozzle keeping the price as low as possible. I'm building a new rack with 10 tanks so a good system will be a key for me. I'm done with regular nozzles that are not adjustable, although they somewhat work, I want full adjustability. I'm sure many can benefit from this post.

Here are the key features I want my new misting system to have:

* Maintenance Free, via connectivity to my RO filter reservoir tank
* Modular design, easy to remove/add tanks & nozzles
* Ease of assembly/disassembly taking only seconds due to the type of fittings
* Price

So far the best and most impressive design I've seen is a nozzle assembly at http://www.vivaria.nl. Their nozzle assemblies cost $16EUR each! That's about $20 per unit. I'd need 20 of them, so that's $400 just in nozzles. It's painful to bare and out of the question.

Here is what I came up with and if you guys can find a better price on these parts post right away. In my opinion my nozzle assembly is better, cheaper and also fully adjustable. Check it out. I put the quoted prices that I got from a local distributor.










The above is based on the John Guest fittings that are used in food industry (RO filters/potable liquids, etc). These are super easy to connect and disconnect without the need of clamps or other tedious unreliable junk. These withstand pressure and are 100% water tight. 

In the above picture I'm going to bypass the "double male stem connector" with a piece of tubing shaving off $2.43 from the price of the nozzle assembly.

So far from the local supplier I found this to cost $8.60 per nozzle assembly that will be fully adjustable and absolutely awesome. I know it's still pricy, but I brought the price from $400 to $172 on 20 units, which is not bad. I was hoping you guys could help me shave the price even more and at the same time together we could come up with a cheaper design that we all could use.

Get to work boys and girls! We got a mother of all misters to build !

...seriously though, your help will be much appreciated.

Marty

PS> I'm going to post this on kingsnake too.

PS2> You can find the fittings on http://www.legris.com by entering the part number. You can also have it priced out through the website via your local distributor. Do it and compare to the prices, if you get something better then I did please post your prices.

PS3> There are also other fittings but I did not find a female elbow for those. I have about 5 more of pictures like above with other connectors. This one is the least complex and most appealing to me.


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## edwardsatc (Feb 17, 2004)

This is a project that I've been thinking about myself. I've got some good leads on suppliers that may have cheaper parts.

Hopefully we can get several heads together and come up with a quality mist head at a reasonable cost.

I'll be sure to post if I find better or cheaper parts.


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## Guest (Apr 16, 2004)

Well Marty here is the set up I am using and making:









this is the vivaria nozzle









and this is the Cloud Top nozzle in the nozzle holder.
It is tight and the holder has a gasket inside so this does not leak.

I will post a few more ideas later.... I have found a one-way valve so you don't have to worry about you lines draining when you have it set up on a rack system too.

MORE TO COME....


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## Homer (Feb 15, 2004)

I'm just curious as to what you mean by "adjustable misting nozzle." It looks like you are talking about a misting nozzle on a somewhat articulating setup. I just want to be sure I understand the objective--a movable nozzle or a nozzle with adjustable mist settings?

Thanks!


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

*That's pretty funny... check out my "Plan B"*

As a plan B I have this design but I don't like it as much as the first one. It looks pretty much identical to yours except for the union in the other place.










I seem to lik the idea in my original post a bit better. The female elbow has the bottom of stainless steel, which will look cool and be more durable, plus the nozzle will be a bit shorter.

to answer the question in the other post, by adjustable we mean able to adjust the position not the spray pattern. Although that would be ultimate if you could control the cone.










Bgreen said:


> Well Marty here is the set up I am using and making:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## TonyT (Feb 16, 2004)

Homer,
It is for a moveable nozzel. The red mister would have to be replaced to get variable misting settings. I like your first one Marty. The less junctions or joints the less areas to have to worry about for leaks. 

TonyT


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

With these fittings leaks are really a no issue. These are really awesome fittings. You just push the hose in and that's the end of that, no leaks even under pressure. Not like the crappy hose clamps that everyone sells. To remove you press on the ring and pull out (that doesn't so too good, but anyhow). To me more parts = mo money. I have to put quite a few of them in so any saving per unit will help a great deal. I agree though, I like the 1st design. Less parts is better. The female elbow incorporates two parts in one.




TonyT said:


> Homer,
> It is for a moveable nozzel. The red mister would have to be replaced to get variable misting settings. I like your first one Marty. The less junctions or joints the less areas to have to worry about for leaks.
> 
> TonyT


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

Marty - you're not having any trouble with the Coupler (the piece to the nozzle)?

s


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2004)

Marty,

Have you ordered the parts yet?
I ran into trouble with the nozzles threading down tight. 
The old vivaria nozzles had threads 1/4" long and the cloud top nozzles are 3/8" long. I also like the first design you posted better, because the bulkhead take a 10mm hold compared to the second bulkhead which takes a 16.5mm hole. Does the nozzle holder in your first picture have an o-ring in the bottom, or is teflon tspe going to be needed. Going by the specs I don't see one, but do like how the holder has thread .37" deep, basicly the same length as the nozzle threads.
Maybe that nozzle holfer will fix the problems I ran into.
Thanks for the post.


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

I haven't ordered anything yet. I was hoping I could find a bit better price. That's why I posted first...to use the power of the ppl  ... plus I wanted to share with everyone...I know there are many looking for improvements in the hobby. 

It seems that the female elbow will take the nozzle perfectly. That's why I like the first design. They have the elbow that takes 1/4"MPT and 3/8"MPT. For the 2nd design, You could also trim down the red nipple a little if you had to and with some teflon tape could probably make it fit. Nothing will beat a well fitting Pipe Thread though. Most likely in the 1st design it will work perfectly without any teflon since the threads are tapered on the female elbow

I'm trying to save some coin, so a better price would be very welcomed on my end...but if I won't find one, it's still way better then 16Euros per assembly.

btw, how much were you able to get the parts for in your nozzles ? 





Bgreen said:


> Marty,
> 
> Have you ordered the parts yet?
> I ran into trouble with the nozzles threading down tight.
> ...


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2004)

Marty said:


> It seems that the female elbow will take the nozzle perfectly. That's why I like the first design. They have the elbow that takes 1/4"MPT and 3/8"MPT. For the 2nd design, You could also trim down the red nipple a little if you had to and with some teflon tape could probably make it fit. Nothing will beat a well fitting Pipe Thread though. Most likely in the 1st design it will work perfectly without any teflon since the threads are tapered on the female elbow
> btw, how much were you able to get the parts for in your nozzles ?


Hey Marty,
The nozzle tips I was talking about were both 1/8" NPT it was the total length of the threads that were 1/4" and 3/8". I thought about trimming the nozzle, but after cutting one down, I noticed how much dust was created and felt that was just asking for clogged nozzles. 
As far as pricing I have them down to around $10, with out a bulk price or a tax id #. I found a cheaper place for some parts right before IAD, and need to call them for a total price check.
The original nozzle tip was made by Lurmark and that company was sold to Hydro-Pro which was sold again Feb '04 to Pent-air. I am really close to ordering the parts for 500 nozzles, and I know I can get the price down to about $6 like that, but I don't want to front that money. Its all about total numbers


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## jhupp (Feb 27, 2004)

The problem with cutting them down is that there is a taper to pipe threads.


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

I think the first design with the stainless steel will take care of that problem. I'll check the specs to make sure.



jhupp said:


> The problem with cutting them down is that there is a taper to pipe threads.


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

Check out the specs of the female elbow which receives the nozzle itself. Cad drawing and SPECS are here. 0.37" deep, what is that roughly 3/8"?. I think we should be in good shape. I'll go next week and order a sample locally.



Marty said:


> I think the first design with the stainless steel will take care of that problem. I'll check the specs to make sure.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## TonyT (Feb 16, 2004)

Marty,
I am about to set up a 3rd rack with 8 vertical tanks and would love to place these misters in them. If you would let me know how to aquire the parts or if you are going to make them and sell them or whatever I would really appreciate it. 

Thanks
TonyT


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## Guest (Apr 18, 2004)

Hey Tony,

Here is a supplier I have been looking at, one of the cheaper places:

http://www.mscdirect.com/PDF/PDF04/4187.pdf


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## TonyT (Feb 16, 2004)

Thanks for the tip. maybe I can get these things up and running soon. Just ordered everything for the other 2 racks from Patrick on Saturday. They should be here by next Friday. I want these for the Verts though.

Thanks again Ben,


TonyT


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

Just curious if there has been any progress on this?

I hope so! Looking forward to using these some day.

s


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

Anyone know the max psi a John Guest fitting can withstand (as well as the standard tubing that fits it? I know I have an RO system that uses the Guest fittings and the pressure is around 40psi, but the pump I'm looking out maxes at 150psi.


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## HansV (Apr 15, 2004)

I am using also the John Guest fittings. The technical specs are for 5/32 - 5/16" fittngs (4 - 8 mm) 16 bar = 231.88 PSI. I use a pump off 15 bar = 217.39 PSI (Vivaria pump) and till now NO problems. It's in use for about 3.5 years now.


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## JWerner (Feb 17, 2004)

Marty - Ben,

What was the final decisions regarding the parts for the misters? If you did happen to purchase in bulk, I would like to get some mister heads etc. from you.

Jon Werner


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

Ben, check out this post for more details about the misters. I'll be putting together a website where you'll be able to buy some misting heads and tubing from me. 

http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0




JWerner said:


> Marty - Ben,
> 
> What was the final decisions regarding the parts for the misters? If you did happen to purchase in bulk, I would like to get some mister heads etc. from you.
> 
> Jon Werner


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## Guest (Nov 10, 2004)

Cool Marty,

I have bought all the pieces for testing, but have a different nozzle tip.
Another post is going on these http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3598, but I would like to see a hobbiest carry the parts.


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## Guest (Oct 19, 2005)

I wanted to bring this topic back up.
I have found another supplier for the nozzle parts.
Norgren

Does anyone know how a nickle or brass fitting would effect the water quality? If it isn't a problem then we can use a 90° nozzle holder and remove 2 parts from the pictures above.

Any thoughts?


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## HansV (Apr 15, 2004)

If you use nickel or brass materials with RO water, copper particles (from the nickel or brass) will dissolve in the RO water. Copper is a well known moss killer.


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2005)

*I know I am late to the party...*

It won't handle the 200+psi you guys are talking about, but here is what I did.

I have a surflo 45psi pump driving 6 nozzels. The hose is all 1/8 inch drip irrigation hose, and the nozzels are "people misters" that you can find and any drip irrigation store and sometimes at lowes and HD. All connectors are the black drip 1/8 inch stuff as well. Everything is just regular stretch connections. Slip the hose on and you are done.

I have a horizontal tube running into a "T" (or series of "T's") each T has about a half inch piece of tubing comming out. That goes into an 90 deg elbow. Out of the elbow goes another half inch tube and that goes into the mister.

If you rotate the "T" it allows the spray to aim higher or lower. then you can rotate the elbow to shoot left or right. I know it sounds simple, but I have had it running a couple years, and the fittings stay tight and point where you left them. Occasionally a nozzel will go bad, and I just cut off the last half inch tude with the nozzel throw it away and add another.

The pump is a 12V surflo $60
Running off an old computer power supply $0
each nozzel set up was no more then $3 each

Let me know if you have any questions.


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