3D Printable air tank for Pneumatics - free download

[Shorjok]

https://shorjok.gumroad.com/l/airtank

Hi everyone, I don't visit here often but I modeled a pneumatic air tank more suited to modern Technic dimensions and I'm releasing it to the wild here. I am aware there are a couple of other 3D printable Technic air tanks online but I wasn't satisfied with their design/dimensions personally.

Hopefully this is useful to someone. :) 

https://shorjok.gumroad.com/l/airtank

[SAM1626]

@Shorjok Thank you sooooo much, I have always wanted an air tank for Legos very similar to this one, but I have never been good at 3D modeling so could never quite make one good enough to work, this one though... it will work very well, and now I have to fix my 3D printer so that I can print one. I will post a pic when I make it.

PS. Can I try to remix this to add more pinholes on top?

[Toastie]

3 hours ago, Shorjok said:

I am aware there are a couple of other 3D printable Technic air tanks online but I wasn't satisfied with their design/dimensions personally.

Welcome to EB!

This is a very nice design!

Now, I am more into vacuum, research wise, which is just the other way around, isn't it? Low pressure on the inside, 1 atm on the outside. We noticed some varying leak rates, depending on material used for printing, the actual design, and of course the printer. 

Do you experience any enhanced or reduced leak rates (in your case high pressure inside, 1 atm outside) depending on printing approach or material used? 

Best wishes
Thorsten

[Shorjok]

19 hours ago, SAM1626 said:

@Shorjok Thank you sooooo much, I have always wanted an air tank for Legos very similar to this one, but I have never been good at 3D modeling so could never quite make one good enough to work, this one though... it will work very well, and now I have to fix my 3D printer so that I can print one. I will post a pic when I make it.

PS. Can I try to remix this to add more pinholes on top?

Glad to hear it! I look forward to seeing your print.

As for the alternate pinholes, do whatever you want. I did consider making variations and may still do so in future, but for a niche part I'm putting out for free it didn't feel worth it as it would've been a lot of work. So I just went with a set of pinholes I thought would be the most broadly useful and versatile for most scenarios.

16 hours ago, Toastie said:

Welcome to EB!

This is a very nice design!

Now, I am more into vacuum, research wise, which is just the other way around, isn't it? Low pressure on the inside, 1 atm on the outside. We noticed some varying leak rates, depending on material used for printing, the actual design, and of course the printer. 

Do you experience any enhanced or reduced leak rates (in your case high pressure inside, 1 atm outside) depending on printing approach or material used? 

Best wishes
Thorsten

Thank you kindly!

I have no idea about leakage to be honest. The test print wasn't mine as I don't yet own a printer of my own, the guy who did it doesn't own any pneumatic parts. I had 2 other friends with pneumatic parts who said they would test print it for me but still haven't... Regardless, the wall thickness is 2mm so I imagine it should be a good amount of plastic between the pressurised air and the atmosphere. Let me know if you end up testing it out yourself as I'd be interested to know the results.

[yqc]

I have both Pneumatic Parts (sadly no barometer) and a 3d printer (Bambulab A1 mini), so I can test it and we will see.

My idea was to just put in a few bars and close it off, then listen/feel for any leaks first and if I don't find any letting it sit for a few days and checking if there's still an overpressure inside. (Happy to get suggestions for improvement)

[Shorjok]

6 hours ago, yqc said:

I have both Pneumatic Parts (sadly no barometer) and a 3d printer (Bambulab A1 mini), so I can test it and we will see.

My idea was to just put in a few bars and close it off, then listen/feel for any leaks first and if I don't find any letting it sit for a few days and checking if there's still an overpressure inside. (Happy to get suggestions for improvement)

Funny you say that. I just today got my own A1 mini and have set it up. I'll be printing it myself too as soon as the filament arrives. Good luck!

[yqc]

1 hour ago, Shorjok said:

Funny you say that. I just today got my own A1 mini and have set it up. I'll be printing it myself too as soon as the filament arrives. Good luck!

Wow. Then let the race to results begin!

[yqc]

I got my results, but it's not good in my case. I just successfully printed the model and tried to remove the supports very carefully, but still on the bottom (when printing vertically, as you've suggested) a leak must've been created whilst breaking off the supports. It didn't hold any pressure inside, so I could just skip the second test. Sadly needed to go to Printer Waste.