12. Now for a real test.  Put the impeller onto the tip of the motor shaft. Just enough so that it stays in place.  Now try to apply power to the motor and see if the impeller spins freely.  A couple things can go wrong here.  The motor shaft may not spin freely due to lack of lubrication on the balloon end or the rubber coil end.  Also, the impeller may be touching the metal lid or balloon and wont spin freely.  Find where your sticking point is and try to remedy it.  I have found that adding extra voltage to my motor will sometimes  “free” it up enough to spin from lubrication problems.  And bending the impeller away from the lid can help also.

13. Once the test above is complete we can try the next test.  Remove the impeller from the motor shaft. Fill the jar ½ way with water and put the cap back on.  The cap should have the rubber coil and balloon installed and also keep the motor in place as well.  Once the cap is on tightly, flip the jar over slowly and look for leaks.  When I attempted this test, mine leaked a little so I had to redo my rubber coil, so hopefully that doesn't happen to you.  My second rubber coil was perfect, not a drop of water escaped during this, or any other, test.  Hold the jar upside down for at least a minute before you progress to the next step, we don't want to get anything wet if we can help it. 
If you like you can try this test again with the impeller on and then add power to the motor to see it working as a “tornado machine” See pictures.   When the tornado starts to spin it pulls air into its vortex, this can create negative pressure inside the jar.  The negative pressure inside the jar makes it unlikely that it will leak during the tornado but after the tornado stops it could leak if a pressure differential was created inside the jar.  Our waterproofing measures hopefully stop this from happening.


Check out the write up on HACKADAY.COM <br>http://hackaday.com/2012/12/22/building-a-tornado-in-a-bottle/#comments
<p>Can I make a Tornado machine with a little shaft like one of these small motors?</p>
<p>I am currentely in 9 standard and this seems some thing tough for me</p>
I have a idea for one that I may make with a fish tank and I could put the motor on the top so it will create a updraft not a downdraft like yours and this is my inspiration keep up the good work :)
awesome idea though I built it a little bit diferent by using a pop bottle instead but still works great<br>
<p>I'm glad you liked it enough to build one of your own. Some of my earliest versions were made with 2-liter bottles and they worked great. Nice job!</p>
beautiful, should bother no one my friend, my sons are about to have a blast with it!! I have made a whirpool machine with a tesla turbine made with cds and magnets, but it is complicated, a child could make this one on his own and have lots of fun , and learning with your led power calculation without forggeting myself as well!!, thank you for sharing,
I love the dollar store fan idea.
Thanks. It makes it a simple and more accessible project for anyone.
There is nothing &quot;technical&quot; about calling it a whirlpool. There is no such thing as a tornado in water. By calling it that you're misleading people and teaching them the wrong thing. When someone is taught the wrong thing someone else later on has to &quot;un-teach&quot; them the false information you're feeding people. So please, call it what it is. I have a motorbike at home, but if you want to be technical then you can call it a car.
Quite obviously this is not a pool and 95% of all whirlpools don't whirl but bubble. <br>Hope you never end up in a plasma lamp store... <br>
For years they sold an adapter to connect two soda bottles together and create a [water] tornado in a bottle. Also, they sell novelty [water] tornadoes that has an image of a farm and cows on the outside of the cylindrical &quot;globe&quot;. Yes, it's actually a whirlpool, but the effect looks like a tornado, and is the easiest way to show a child what a tornado looks like, hence, has been called a tornado for years [for demonstration purposes].
When I was a kid my dad and I used to make these, he always called it a tornado machine. He passed away when I was younger and I have called them by this name ever since. Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way.
Good work, but it would be safer to use a magnetic stirrer system. It would present its own challenges but water and electricity shouldn't be one of them.
Hi hi :) <br>Numerous questions :) - Is it possible to find or source an underwater motor as opposed to potentially sustaining leaks in the near future? <br>What additive could be added to the water to prevent the water growing algae? <br> <br>I'm thinking longetivity :)
If you set it up like this instructable shows it should be fairly waterproof. But I suppose for extra protection you could tape the holes in the electric motor and dip it in wax to give it a waterproof coating. This will cover the vents of the motor that are normally used to cool the motor, so it may not be the best solution but I couldn't find any cheap, small, waterproof motors online. <br>Most of these small cheap motors will take a fair amount of abuse though. I am using a 3 volt DC brush motor and have run it at up to 15 volts for a few minutes with no problem. Also purified/distilled water by itself isn't terribly conductive, so if the motor gets a little wet at some point it likely wont hurt it. As far as keeping the water from growing algae, maybe a drop or 2 of bleach or vinegar added to the water will help. I haven't tried additives in the water because it is somewhat trivial to unscrew the top and just replace the water, but you are welcome to try. Remember only a drop or 2 as bleach tends to cause havoc with certain metals.
I think this would look cool if you used UV leds and a UV liquid that is easily made by following this instructable: <br> <br>http://www.instructables.com/id/Create-Homemade-Fluorescent-Black-LightUV-Display/ <br> <br>What could be more fun than a glowing tornado?
All I can think of is dropping Monopoly houses into the mix....:-)
.. And some lego men! <br>
agis68, it's true I could use the RGB leds that cycle the colors. I like that Idea, I just might try that.
you can build it with RGB leds without the m/c to save some space. Of course you will have a periodic cycle of colours
It's a twister! It's a twister!
nice <br> <br>a project for the kids during the coming holidays ! <br> <br>thank you !&hellip;
Thanks WriterChick. <br>Mad_b, I have seen those before too but I have never made one.
There is an option that (I've made a prototype once) works well too, like professional stirrers do; in a few words, you can attach a strong magnet on the motor shaft. Then you position this on the bottom of the jar (normal position, glass in the bottom). Take a cylindrical magnet and put inside a plastic tube. Drop this tube inside the jar; when you turn the motor on the magnet in the shaft will make the magnet cylinder inside the jar to turn, creating the tornado as well. :-)
This is lovely, complex and well-detailed 'ible. Thanks for sharing, and congratulations on breaking the &quot;no documentation&quot; jinx!

About This Instructable




Bio: I like to make all type of gadgets and weird scientific creations. I majored in EE in college so I understand something about electronics. I ... More »
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