What about Butane for Pneumatic Engines?

[piterx]

i was playing with some pistons and i wondered...instead of using a pump, why not try a butane gas tank?

so i did, i took the butane recharger for the kitchen lighter and attached it to the tube connected to a piston

it was just awesome...

i actually don't know how would it perform on a complete engine but i think it worths trying...could someone of you that already has an air powered engine try it for me?

the only tihng i've noticed is that the liquid, changing its status to gas it becomes really cold...im not sure if this is gonna change someway the performances...

if everything works good we could have gas tanks in our vehicles XD

[Zerobricks]

I think gas is a bit expensive for that, not to mention dangereous and toxic... Use CO2 gas tanks or simillar.

[JGW3000]

Butane is a flammable fuel, I'd not recommend using it outside of its intended usage. Also, as butane is highly compressible, it will undergo adiabatic expansion, meaning that on expansion, as you noted, the gas will get very cold, perhaps cold enough to embrittle ABS plastic and cause it to crack.

Please don't use butane. I'd suggest getting some cans of compressed gas such as those sold for cleaning electronics. WIll still undergoing cooling (as all gases do) on expansion, but will not be an explosion hazard. Another option is dry ice or liquid nitrogen, but you will need the appropriate containers to handle the gas safely.

How about a cheap aquarium air pump?

[piterx]

well i think it would work with every kind of gas i just had that one...obviously it's toxic if you inhale it i tested it just for half a second lol...but my question is would it work :P?

Butane is a flammable fuel, I'd not recommend using it outside of its intended usage. Also, as butane is highly compressible, it will undergo adiabatic expansion, meaning that on expansion, as you noted, the gas will get very cold, perhaps cold enough to embrittle ABS plastic and cause it to crack.

Please don't use butane. I'd suggest getting some cans of compressed gas such as those sold for cleaning electronics. WIll still undergoing cooling (as all gases do) on expansion, but will not be an explosion hazard. Another option is dry ice or liquid nitrogen, but you will need the appropriate containers to handle the gas safely.

How about a cheap aquarium air pump?

ah that was the answer i was looking for lol...i thought about cracking as well but for me maths and physics are just strangers XD

we should try different gasses because it would be so cool having an RC car with a servo operating the throttle

[gti180]

this has fire and death written all over it!!!

[aol000xw]

There are smalls CO2 gas cylinders used in soldering. Those are 600gr (the CO2, not the cylinder) units. Cyclists carry around way smaller CO2 cylinders too. Fire extinguishers are sometimes CO2 cylinders, some aquarium stores have them too for plant growth, and beer pumps use small barrels. Some are refillable (think fire extinguisher size and up)

There are many ways to acquire "cheap" pressurized CO2, but you may need a pressure reducer valve and those aren't cheap. All in all It may be a bit complex and expensive in the long run.

[JM1971]

CO2 is what they used in Robot Wars because is was powerful,

could throw 100kg in air, butane not a good idea lol.

[piterx]

robot wars

is co2 cheap and storable in small can could someone try it? imagine how cool would it be having a car with an LPE and no compressors attached to it

[dr_spock]

I believe LEGO has flame retardants. It may not burn but the rest of your home may be another issue. Watch out for sources of ignition if you plan to use flammable gas.

[aol000xw]

I believe LEGO has flame retardants. It may not burn but the rest of your home may be another issue. Watch out for sources of ignition if you plan to use flammable gas.

Good advice, you never know when you can meet a Darwin Award Nominee

[JM1971]

robot wars

is co2 cheap and storable in small can could someone try it? imagine how cool would it be having a car with an LPE and no compressors attached to it

Blow though the pipe, its pressurised co2

Thats how I clean my pc, blowing though a straw is much cheaper than buying canisters.

[aol000xw]

Butane is way better at blowing the pipe

[Rockbrick]

we use these to clean inside of the PCs & Servers:

[Doc_Brown]

That is good thinking! Just as people said Butane isn't the best option.

"Hey Mum, Stop smoking that cig and check out my Butane powered MOC"................

[allanp]

What about the pressurised canisters used in pain ball guns?

[vliet]

Compressed air is a lot safer (and i think cheaper) to use than CO2. But my dad used cannisters like the ones Rockbrick mentioned to clean the inside of TV's and VCR's and the air is very cold and therefore moist and I think it is not going to work in Lego pneumatics.

[Phoxtane]

pain ball guns

I whole-heartedly agree with this statement.

[aol000xw]

The gas is cold due to the fast expansion when it gets out of the can. Cold =/= moist. At most it could cause some condensation of the moisture already present in the air, but I don't see it possible at Lego scale.

Also "Compressed air" if you are talking about those cans sold at hardware stores aren't "air" but other kinds of highly compressible gases and aren't safer than CO2.

[landoandrews]

Dry Ice works pretty good with LPEs, however it gets a little bit sketchy trying to regulate the pressure. I built Nico's 1 cylinder a while back and ran it off of dry ice. The only downside is that after running it for a couple of minutes condensation built up in the valve, and when I turned the valve, I could feel it was a little wet. This didn't seem to have any effect on the performance.

[Bison]

Butane+legos+torch=.....fire breathing lego killer robots on the loose.

sorry could not contain myself.

[JM1971]

Butane+legos+torch=.....fire breathing lego killer robots on the loose.

sorry could not contain myself.

That would be fun, has anything like lego robot wars been on this forum?

[kieran]

That would be fun, has anything like lego robot wars been on this forum?

Yes there was a while back, most did not like the idea of damaging lego

[piterx]

Dry Ice works pretty good with LPEs, however it gets a little bit sketchy trying to regulate the pressure. I built Nico's 1 cylinder a while back and ran it off of dry ice. The only downside is that after running it for a couple of minutes condensation built up in the valve, and when I turned the valve, I could feel it was a little wet. This didn't seem to have any effect on the performance.

that's great! how long did it last?

[landoandrews]

that's great! how long did it last?

Thanks, With the bottle filled about one third with dry ice it lasted a solid 20 minutes. If you add water with the dry ice it increases the sublimation process, which increases pressure, but that cuts the time about in half.

[piterx]

how and where do you get dry ice :P?

do you think it's possible having a small "fuel tank" on a vehicle filled with dry ice?