Can't find 18-year old tool

[PoolDoc]

Just FYI -- some pool pumps, and some installations have very poor self-priming capability. Typical methods of filling a vac hose can put enough air in these installations to be a real problem. (One of the benefits of the old-school Hayward Super Pump is that it has EXCELLENT self-priming capability.)

[TomC]

Hey Jim,

Did you receive the piece I mailed to you yet? I mailed it last Monday, it should be there by now.

[jcg31]

Hey Jim,

Did you receive the piece I mailed to you yet? I mailed it last Monday, it should be there by now.

Sorry Tom, I have been traveling. It actually arrived last Thursday in great shape. I will be back to the pool later this month but it looks like there won't be any issue with it working.

It was a bit alarming when I first opened the package, I have included a new drawing that demonstrates just how far off my recollection was from reality. Yikes!

The "device" is called a VacPrep and was manufactured by Plastiflex (plastiflex.com). I contacted them and was told that they stopped manufacturing the VacPrep many years ago. It does indeed have two seperate chambers as CarlD had suggested. The single shaft and opposing turbos drive water into the vacuum hose using the suction of the skimmer.

Tom, Once again many thanks for your generous assistance and passing this along.

This interweb thing sure is cool.

Jim

[PoolDoc]

How long did it take you to do those drawings?

What tool did you use?

(Uh, if you wanted to make drawings of how common pool parts and components work . . . I can put them where LOTS of people will see them!)

[TomC]

Sweet! Glad to help, keep cool.

Tom

[jcg31]

How long did it take you to do those drawings?

What tool did you use?

(Uh, if you wanted to make drawings of how common pool parts and components work . . . I can put them where LOTS of people will see them!)

I used 3d studio max (an autodesk product), this was a pretty simple drawing because there are very few irregular shapes and no modeling; just cylinders, rectangles and tubes, so not much time involved, the software does most of the work, including attaching the material properties (drag and drop plastic) and lighting. Also allows you to animate; probably would have taken 30 seconds to get the fan turning and maybe 15 minutes to get a convincing flow of water. The software is truly amazing in what it will do and how quickly it will do it. Downside, 3d max is fairly expensive.

For those that want a cheap entry into the world of 3d modeling go to www.Blender.org and download the latest version of Blender. It will do "everything" 3d max will do, is free, is open source and there are a ton of free tutorials and a huge user community that are constantly putting more free stuff up on the web. If you need a 3d model of a motorcycle, or fork, or birthday cake, or diving board . . . there is one out there that you will be able to bring up into Blender and either modify it or, use in a scene.

For the first timer, all this stuff will look scary at the start, but if you will dedicate an hour to reviewing the software and videos you will be surprised at how much you can do with very little experience. And I should add, no artistic talent is required, just the ability to recognize the various shapes that make up an object and scene, and a sense for proportion (although there are tools included that can assist with that as well).


Jim

[PoolDoc]

And I should add, no artistic talent is required, just the ability to recognize the various shapes that make up an object and scene, and a sense for proportion

uh, that sounds like artistic skill, if not talent.

Does Blender run better under Win7 or Linux?

[jcg31]

uh, that sounds like artistic skill, if not talent.

Does Blender run better under Win7 or Linux?

I use it with Windows because most of my other apps that I use to manipulate the final image (add arrows and type) are part of a windows version of Adobe's master collection, but Blender also comes in Linux and Mac versions. Performance is more dependent upon the hardware than the platform, the more ram and the faster the CPU the faster the render times.

Keeping with the Free theme, Linux (as you are probably aware) has some wonderful free applications for photo manipulation/enchancement and video editing (if you wanted to animate your models in Blender), but seriously check out some of the starter videos and you will discover how little talent one needs, artistic or otherwise, to create some impressive results.

Jim