An air pump is a handy tool to have. It can pump air into car tires, bicycle tires, and for sports lovers, balls. All types of balls, be it a basketball, rugby ball, even a volleyball. As long as it’s inflated. An air pump will do the work.
How does it work, you may ask? For handheld pumps such as bicycle pumps, the piston moves up, drawing in air through a very only opening or valve. When the piston moves down, it pushes the air into the bicycle tire. When the piston is pulled up again, the tire valve shuts immediately. Preventing the air from coming out. When the piston goes down again, the air is pushed into the tire as the tire valve opens. This process repeats itself while you pump until the tire is filled with air.
In this article, we learn how to make a mini air pump using simple tools, easily found at home . It would not be able to pump air into car tires, but it will be able to inflate balls and act as a mini bike pump.
To make a mini air pump, otherwise called a mini bike pump, You will need; a syringe, an airtight Pump head, Ball and bladder needles, a long hose, a marker pen, glue(preferably superglue as it bonds plastics) and most importantly a drill with spur point bits.
Below are the steps to follow to make your mini air pump:
- Take the syringe and test to see if it works by placing your figure at the open-end.Where the needle is kept, with your hand at the opening, push the syringe plunger. You should feel a resisting force while pushing it. This shows it is functioning well and that there are no openings on the syringe barrel.
- Pull the syringe plunger back to the bottom, mark the point at which it stops with the maker pen.
- Drill a hole at the marked point. As we had learned before, an air pump works by pulling in air throw a one-way opening into the diaphragm. The hole you drill at the marked point will be the opening that will let in the air into the barrel of the syringe. Note that it’s advisable to use spur point drill bits, as they are good at drilling plastic.
- Once you have drilled the hole, you now take the long hose and cut it into two. Then pick one of the two pieces
- Attach one open end of the hose to the syringe and attach the airtight pump head to the other end of it. This will be the air passage .
- Glue the points at which the hose is attached. At the syringe end and the airtight pump head. This will prevent air from leaking out during pumping.
Congratulations, you have finished making a mini air pump. You can try it out by inflating a ball or a bicycle tire.
