Pneumatic isolators

Prune · 16th February 2004, 06:12 AM

I've been thinking of making my own pneumatic isolators, since I don't have the money of a professional lab to buy some. I'm wondering what material is usually used for the rolling diaphragms. Polyurethane has low air permeability, but what would be better?

An interesting idea is the gimbal piston isolator, which converts horizontal motion by pivoting on a ball bearing:
http://www.spie.org/web/oer/october/oct98/opid.html

I'm also curious about low volume air pumps that would be good for this, instead of using compressed gas. An aquarium pump is too powerful and the airflow is so uneven that it would induce vibrations even with filtering.

djmiddelkoop · 18th February 2004, 08:12 PM

2 cheap pneumatic isolators for your equipment:

tennisball for heavy stuff
bicycle inner tire, can be in or de-flated depending on weight or isolation needed.

both work very well as isolator

Prune · 18th February 2004, 08:55 PM

The problem with one chamber systems is that they are like undampened springs. Pro isolators, when pressed, have the air/gas go through a secondary chamber, which has some resistance to the gas movement, thus dampening the motion very quickly. With tennis balls you have the rubber doing the dampening instead, so it's not fully pneumatic

16th February 2004, 06:12 AM	#1
Prune Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Vancouver	Pneumatic isolators I've been thinking of making my own pneumatic isolators, since I don't have the money of a professional lab to buy some. I'm wondering what material is usually used for the rolling diaphragms. Polyurethane has low air permeability, but what would be better? An interesting idea is the gimbal piston isolator, which converts horizontal motion by pivoting on a ball bearing: http://www.spie.org/web/oer/october/oct98/opid.html I'm also curious about low volume air pumps that would be good for this, instead of using compressed gas. An aquarium pump is too powerful and the airflow is so uneven that it would induce vibrations even with filtering.

18th February 2004, 08:12 PM	#2
djmiddelkoop diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Noord-Holland	2 cheap pneumatic isolators for your equipment: tennisball for heavy stuff bicycle inner tire, can be in or de-flated depending on weight or isolation needed. both work very well as isolator __________________ Music is the best F.Z.

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18th February 2004, 08:55 PM	#3
Prune Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Vancouver	The problem with one chamber systems is that they are like undampened springs. Pro isolators, when pressed, have the air/gas go through a secondary chamber, which has some resistance to the gas movement, thus dampening the motion very quickly. With tennis balls you have the rubber doing the dampening instead, so it's not fully pneumatic

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