Ultrasonic Puncture Finder
Approx construction cost US$32
Punctures come in all shapes and sizes, from irreparable blowouts to slow punctures where the deflation can take weeks. But the most common type of puncture is from a thorn or a small nail. Such punctures can be quite difficult to find and a basin of water is often used to find the hole (air-bubbles rising to the surface) and to make certain that it is the only one.
The Ultrasonic Puncture Finder fits in here as a much less messy way of finding normal punctures. It will replace the water bowl and, with a little skill, may even help to locate some slower punctures. In a "find-the-leak speed test", the ultrasonic finder took only a few seconds whereas the water bowl took several minutes including the time to set it up and clean up.
Apart from finding punctures, this low cost device will also be of interest to those investigating the properties of ultrasound.
More details on this construction project can be found in the August 1999 issue of EPE Online the worlds first web delivered electronics and computing hobbyist magazine.
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