Stock waterer float

[Nesikep]

Well, I got really sick of having to leave a tap open to water my cows and them making big mudholes out of it, and I was only doing that because it seems that no one makes a decent stock waterer float that can handle from 20 to 150 PSI and some dirt in the water, so I took matters into my own hands and started drafting up some plans for a new one, then into the shop and I built it, seems like I've succeeded, the theory seems to be right anyhow, maybe a few tweaks to be done to it, but it flows enough water that it keeps the bathtub full when there are as many heads in it as can fit, it's made of stainless, aluminium and brass, so it should last well, and it operates as full on or full off, which seems to help it deal with dirty water. I was wondering how many people out there would be interested in such a float if I decided to get some of the parts CNC machined.

 

[Anonymous]

You're going to get corrosion with your dissimilar metals at an accelerated rate. Just fyi

 

[Nesikep]

yeah, but I had to go with the materials I had, and there's no plain iron in it... the only one I'd be concerned about it the aluminium, and most of it is anodized... I'll see how it works in the long run. if I had the possibility, I'd probably make a few of the parts out of plastic (there's a 2" piston made of aluminium that could perform better in plastic), the brass is mostly for the fasteners, and the rest is stainless... I'll try and get a pic of it for the next time I come in

 

[cross_7]

http://floatvalveusa.com/

 

[Nesikep]

interesting, though my design uses a pilot system, so that the valve that is controlled by the float only acts as a pilot to control the main flow, which means you can have a small float control a really large flow. It also means that a rise or drop in pressure has very little effect. I'd wager my design has better flow as well (it takes a 3/4" pipe and is basically open-ended)

hey, I maybe shouldn't be giving all my secrets away here

 

[SRBeef]

sounds good, Nesikep. I suggest the first thing to do is to come up with a cost of production for some reasonable quantity of units. Whether customers are interested or not depends on function AND price.

I have several waterers and they often have sand in the line from the well and varying pressures as a couple are quite a bit downhill of the well...

Most midwest waterer manufacturers have migrated toward a 3/4" plastic valve made by Franklin or Miraco or whoever owns them in Iowa. Used with a pancake shaped styrofoam this thing works very well - much better than the brass ones I've tried and is simple and fairly low cost. With the flat float it has a much better fill/time curve than with the ball float.

I don't mean to discourage you and your invention, I just hate to see people tie up a lot of money in something before they have really worked through the engineering AND the costing then do a market analysis (how many can I sell at what price) compared to what's on the market now.

Best of luck to you -

Jim

 

[Nesikep]

if I'm going to make it durable, it won't be cheap, and I hate seeing good ideas get futzed up by cutting too many corners in the manufacture... I have a friend who's going into CNC machining, and honestly, if it's going to get CNC machined, it could be done in china and not suffer from poor quality. As for the cost, I'd have to look it up and that will take some time. I found that the style of valve that is offered on floatvalveusa.com mentioned earlier tend to operate at 'part throttle', which give sand and pine needles, etc time to get lodged in the seat, causing them to not want to shut off correctly. the first time I put this float in the tub, the cows got scared of it when it turned on and off... after a couple times they got used to it though