Just Curious, Inlet size?

So for my nozzles, I have used a 1" inlet and was curious to see what everyone else is using. I'm planning on designing a new improved model soon, and am considering upgrading to a larger inlet. Thoughts?

Heres and interesting article. http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/civil/articles/73748.aspx
Different inlet pipe diameter has to have some sort of effect on turbulent flow and the Reynolds number. Which we want low.
This is deep stuff - well above my pay grade.

not so sure what size my inlet is..
It`s more like an standard one, so I did never ask ..
But it seems like 1,5" in diameter maybe.

Make sense that if the inlet is bigger, water will travel slower in.

But, my nozzle I did build last time (took me total of 1hour) is shooting a perfect water beam 2 meeter up in the sky, and almost 2 meters away.
So I don't think there is any need to improve that :-)

My nozzle is, inlet, filter, straws and an output hole... simple an easy!
There is no layer that holding stuff on place, only used some pressure when installing it.

What are your dimensions for each of your layers guys?

Yeah, I was thinking of increasing my tube size to 1.5" just for fun! (morbid sense of fun huh?)

Oh and what is your filter material. That is something that I never got exactly right. I have something and it works, but I would like to change it this time around.

I have a 3/4" Inlet hole but a 1" tube running between my pump and my nozzle. I'm not sure how much inlet size would really affect the reynolds number (how laminar/turbulent) of the stream because if you do the calculations for pipe and the amount of flow we are putting through it then even all the way up to a 2" or 3" pipe is still incredibly turbulent. I would think that the biggest effect it would have is to reduce pressure head on the pump to give you more flow out your nozzle.


As far as filter material, I bought some of that foam from the link I posted in the where to buy forum. It made a HUGE difference in my nozzle. Once I got a piece cut perfectly and put in the stream became really stable and clear. I would recommend trying out that as its specifically made for things like aquariums and fountain pumps.

Ike

What grade of foam did you use? It seems that the fine(blue) grade I have traps a lot of air.

David

I used the 30PPI (Black). I haven't had any problems with air trapping yet.

In theory, if you have even pressure distribution of your water through your nozzle then air shouldn't be able to get trapped and should be pushed through. Originally in my nozzle I a problem where I noticed air bubbles getting trapped in some of my center straws. This told me that I had more flow around the outside edges of the nozzle then in the center. What I discovered was that the original filter material I had used was bending around the outside edges due to the flow and creating a gap where water could come through and bypass the filter material. Hence the pressure differential. When I got the 30PPI foam I made sure it had a tight seal and it did wonders!