Issues with foam generator
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Excited to get started on some projects and just trying to get the little dragon to work properly. Looks like it's setup exactly like the video however I'm having an issue when I plug the air compressor in. Seems to blow air back up the water pump tube down into the soap container cutting off the supply of soapy water to the wand. I tried adjusting the pressure but the more pressure I put in the more it cuts the soapy water off. Any ideas?
Thanks
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@bvad8486 Hi, I have intermittently had the same problem. It seems to be a problem with the uptake pipe with the filter losing its "prime" . I'm not sure why it does it but I expect there is a bit of a leak in one of the joints on the way to the pump. Sometimes solved by holding a container of water or soap mixture above the pump to help prime it. It can be a pain. Sorry I can't give you a definitive solution.
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Yeah it's frustrating. I'll give it a shot and see if it will prime or stay primed. Seems like it does fine turning the air off but once turning the air on it fails to work properly. I'll try what you said and if not then I might look on designing it a little differently. Wonder if I get rid of the Y connector and run one line to the wand and another line for the compressor. I give what you said a shot first. Thanks for the reply.
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Can you put a one way check valve on the water pump side where the y connector is? Here is what I was thinking of: ebay link
That should prevent air from blowing back thru the water pump
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Thanks I thought of that. But then was thinking if the air pressure was strong enough to force the water from flowing as is, will it force the ball shut in the one way valve and prevent the water to flow still? Thanks for the idea.
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I'm not sure either, but its cheap enough to try and let us all know if it works or not.
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I put the bucket of soap solution above the unit today to give it a quick try like @tanjenong mentioned and it started working right away. Not exactly the solution I was looking for long term but at least I can start making some batches until I get it fixed correctly. Thanks for the ideas and help!
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@bvad8486 The other problem that we might be having is that seal between your little dragon and the bucket isn't so good. I have seen low pressure pumps like this one before that needed the soap container attached air-tight so that the vacuum created by the passing air at the T-junction is able to create enough low pressure to dram the liquid up the pipe. I will check this myself on my unit to see if a proper seal fixes it.
Cheers
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@tanjenong that's right. Check for leaks. Also, the wand sometimes gets clogged and so the air pressure pushes itself into the water hose. Check the fittings on the pump. They need to be sealed completely otherwise the pump loses water pressure and the air over powers it.
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I found out after building my own foam generator, that the 1 way check valve works perfectly on my set up. link
They are cheap on eBay, only a couple bucks, and I believe it will work fine with the little dragon also. It will completely prevent pressurized air from flowing upstream into your little dragon pump, yet allows flow of soap water from pump.
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@bvad8486 that was a problem I first ran into when I was building my own foam generator, and running a separate air and foam solution line fixed the back feed problem for me.
