1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: tech are you. So it's a holiday here over at iHeart. 5 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: It's Juneteenth, so we have the day off, but I 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: wanted to bring you an episode, and this is an 7 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 1: episode that originally published back on August tenth, twenty twenty two. 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: It is an episode about a really remarkable engineer and inventor, 9 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: and I think it's one of those things that I 10 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: really enjoyed learning about, and I certainly have enjoyed one 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,959 Speaker 1: of the inventions, that being the super soaker, something that 12 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: has brought me great joy, especially in the very very 13 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: hot summers of Georgia and the United States. Much of 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: it has experienced some pretty record breaking heat waves recently. 15 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: So you know, the idea of an episode about a 16 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: nice way to cool down that's fun and competitive, I 17 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: thought would be a welcome change. So please enjoy this 18 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: episode from August tenth, twenty twenty two, called super Soakers 19 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: and Rocket Science. Since it's summertime when the weather is 20 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: high and you can retright up and touch the sky. 21 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: I figure I can talk about a fun story about 22 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: invention and innovation, something that's near and dear to my heart, 23 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: because these things came out right when I was in 24 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: high school and I thought they were amazing. I want 25 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: to talk about the super Soaker line of water guns, 26 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: and not just because that's a toy that has a 27 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: special place in my mind heart, because I loved these 28 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: things when I was a kid, but also because it 29 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: comes from one heck of a pedigree, because that technology 30 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: was the brainchild of a rocket scientist, a NASA engineer. 31 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: That engineer would be Lonnie Johnson, a man who is 32 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: countless incredible achievements to his name. He's got more than 33 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: one hundred patents to his name. Admittedly, the super Soaker 34 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: bit frequently grabs attention first, although when you look at 35 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: his resume, you think, how did this? How was this 36 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: the lead? How was that the headline? Lonnie Johnson was 37 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: born in Mobile, Alabama in nineteen forty nine, and I 38 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 1: want to mention this right off the bat, Lennie Johnson's black. 39 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: And I say that because we have to take into 40 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: account that along the way he was facing massive challenges 41 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: in the form of systemic racism. So his achievements are incredible, 42 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,679 Speaker 1: and you on top of that, you have to put 43 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: into a take into account rather this issue of racism. 44 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: You know, he was really facing some enormous obstacles. Well. 45 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: Lonnie's father was a veteran of World War Two and 46 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: worked as a civilian driver at an Air Force base 47 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: in Mobile, Alabama, and his mother worked in a laundry 48 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: and as a nurse's aide. So when he was a kid, 49 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: Lonnie became interested in learning how stuff works. I can 50 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: identify with that. His father, on top of being a driver, 51 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: was also kind of a DIY kind of fella. It 52 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: was mostly out of necessity, learning how to fix things 53 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: and occasionally you know, doing odd jobs and stuff. And 54 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: he passed down this DIY you know, philosophy to his children, 55 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: and Lonnie really took that to heart, and sometimes his 56 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: heart would overrule his head, like the time he was 57 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: thirteen and decided to take an engine out of a 58 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: lawnmower and connect it to a go kart he had 59 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: made out of scraps and then went joy riding down 60 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: the highway. Police had to ask him to pull over. 61 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: Probably not the safest activity for a thirteen year old 62 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:17,799 Speaker 1: to pursue, but it was a demonstration of his love 63 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: of engineering, and his family told lots of stories of 64 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: Lonnie taking stuff apart to learn how it worked, and 65 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: of course, you know, it was the classic story that 66 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: he wasn't always able to put it back together again. 67 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: So sometimes when Lonnie got his hands on something, that 68 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: was the last time that something was gonna work, but 69 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: he would learn in the process. They also told stories 70 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: about the time he tried to make homemade rocket fuel 71 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: and nearly set his family's house on fire. He would 72 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: go to Williamson High School and that was an all 73 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: black high school because this was still in the days 74 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: of segregation here in the South. You know, you had 75 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: schools that were whites only, in schools that were blacks only, 76 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: and so he went to an all black high school. 77 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty eight, he in his school entered a 78 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: science fair competition that was held at the University of 79 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: Alabama at Tuscaloosa, and his school was the only black 80 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: school that was in attendance at the fair. And he 81 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: Johnson had created a kind of robot. He called it 82 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,559 Speaker 1: the Linux, and it was an air powered device, again 83 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: made out of scrap materials like he had rated junkyards 84 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 1: and stuff and grabbed things that would be helpful and 85 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: made this robot and it took home first prize. Now, reportedly, 86 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: many at the university were not thrilled that the top 87 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: prize was going to a black student. Johnson earned a 88 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: scholarship to attend the Tuskegee University and there he earned 89 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He got that degree 90 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy three. Then he pursued postgraduate studies at 91 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 1: Tuskegee and he earned a master's degree in nuclear engineering 92 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy five. So the guy who created the 93 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: super soaker has a master's in nuclear engineering. That's a 94 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: big old whiles up for you, right, Like you wouldn't 95 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: expect that when you pick up a toy that this 96 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: was created by a nuclear engineer. Now, for a short 97 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: while after he graduated from his master's degree, Lonnie Johnson 98 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: worked as a research engineer at Oakridge National Laboratory. That 99 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: was one of the facilities that was involved during the 100 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,679 Speaker 1: Manhattan Project. It was established as part of the Manhattan Project. 101 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: In fact, this was when the United States was first 102 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: developing the atomic bomb. During World War two. Of course, 103 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: that would be ancient history by the time Lonnie Johnson 104 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: had joined the team, but Oakridge continues to pioneer research 105 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: in things like nuclear physics, including nuclear fusion and an 106 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: attempt to build a working nuclear fusion reactor, which if 107 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: we do, you ever managed to do one that actually 108 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: creates a sustainable fusion reaction that would be transformative for 109 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: our energy needs, but you know, we have to get 110 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: there first. Well. Johnson would then join the Air Force 111 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: after that, and he was assigned to head the Space 112 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: Nuclear Power Safety Section at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory. 113 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: He stayed there until nineteen seventy nine, and at that 114 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: point he joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and served as 115 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: a senior system's engineer. He began work on the Galileo project, 116 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: so he was part of the Galileo Project team. Galileo 117 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: was a probe that we sent to study Jupiter and 118 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: its moons. That project would ultimately be monumentally successful from 119 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: a scientific perspective. Now, Johnson worked on this early on 120 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: in the program. He would not be part of that 121 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: team when the probe would ultimately launch later in the 122 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties, but he did work on it early on 123 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two, Lonney Johnson would actually leave NASA 124 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: and return to the Air Force and he was now 125 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: an Advanced Space Systems Requirements Officer at the Strategic Air 126 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: Command Headquarters. He would also serve as the chief of 127 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: the Data Management Branch of Strategic Air Command Test and 128 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: Evaluation Squadron at Edward's Air Force Base. He was one 129 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: of the engineers who would also work on the development 130 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: of the Stealth Bomber, which was a super secret project 131 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,319 Speaker 1: at the time. Johnson actually talked about how he wouldn't 132 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: even be able to tell his wife what he was 133 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: working on at the time because it was classified as 134 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: top secret. He would pop back over to NASA's Jet 135 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: Propulsion Laboratory in nineteen eighty seven to work on the 136 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: Cassini project. Cassini was a probe that we sent to 137 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: study Saturn, and he was also at work on a 138 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: project that would unexpectedly evolve in to the super Soaker. Now, 139 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 1: that was something that he had been kind of working 140 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: on on and off for several years. You see, Lonnie 141 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: Johnson did not set out to make a new kind 142 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: of water gun, you know, a water gun that would 143 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: leave those little old squirt guns far behind. He wasn't 144 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: trying to create a weapon of mass saturation. It was 145 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 1: not his dream to grant battlefield superiority to the kid 146 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: who could go out and buy a water gun capable 147 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: of shooting streams of water further than any other on 148 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: the market. Lannie Johnson was trying to do something else entirely. 149 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: He was trying to solve a very tricky problem. He 150 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: wanted to create a heat pump that used water instead 151 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: of free on as a refrigerant, and he started on 152 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: this work way back in the early nineteen eighties. So 153 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: he did this while he was at the Air Force 154 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: working on the Stealth Bomber. So he couldn't talk about 155 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: the stealth bomber work, but he could talk about his 156 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: sort of personal project, which was trying to suss out 157 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: if there would be a way to make a working 158 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: heat pump, an effective heat pump using water. So we're 159 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 1: going to talk about heat pumps and how they work 160 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: and why it was important to try and find an 161 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: alternative to free on, so that we can have an 162 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,839 Speaker 1: understanding of what it was that was fueling his innovation 163 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: and ultimately would spawn the super soaker. But Before we 164 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: get to all of that, let's take a quick break. Okay, 165 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: let's talk about heat pumps. Now. The heat pumps I'm 166 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: talking about here, they work in a way that's similar 167 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: to an air conditioner. In fact, there are several elements 168 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: in heat pumps that are identical to things you would 169 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 1: find in an air conditioner, except a heat pump can 170 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: potentially transfer heat inside a building or outside a building. 171 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: Thus it can either heat or cool a building using 172 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:15,959 Speaker 1: one system. Air Conditioners are not like that. They are 173 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: a one way thing, right. They pull heat out of 174 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: a building and they bring cool air in. But that's it. 175 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: You can't heat a building with an air conditioner. You 176 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: need a separate system. You need a furnace. So a 177 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: heat bump can do both. And technically a heat pump 178 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: can also be a one way type of deal. It 179 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: could also be like an air conditioner, or it could 180 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,839 Speaker 1: be like a furnace. If you wanted where it could 181 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: not reverse. The reverse is only made possible by using 182 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: a reversing valve. But that's the thing is that a 183 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: heat pump can do that. You can have a reversing 184 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: valve installed within the system and you change where the 185 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: heat is being pumped. Really, that's all it is. It's 186 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: all a heat transfer system. It transfers heat from one 187 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: location to another. When you're heating a building, it means 188 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: you're taking heat from outside and bringing it inside. And 189 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: when you're cooling a building, you're taking the heat from 190 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 1: inside and you're putting it outside. That's really all there 191 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,319 Speaker 1: is to it. But how does it do that well? 192 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: I could technically do a full episode about this, but 193 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: I'll try and keep it short. It's also a little 194 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: tricky to talk about when you don't have visual aids, 195 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: but we're gonna do our best. So your typical air 196 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,959 Speaker 1: to air heat pump solution, there are a lot of 197 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: different types of heat pumps. We'll talk about air to 198 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: air because one they're the most common and two they're 199 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: really simple. But your basic air to air heat bump 200 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: solution consists of a pair of heat exchangers. You have 201 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: one heat exchanger that's outdoors and you have one heat 202 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: exchanger that's indoors. These are connected via pipes and a 203 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: reversing valve that allows the flow to reverse directions, and 204 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: there's a compressor and there's also some other valves, expansion valves, 205 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: that control the flow of refrigerant in the system and 206 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: bypasses for those expansion valves. That's also important. So I'll 207 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: talk about expansion valve one and two for the sake 208 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: of this description so that you can understand why they exist. 209 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: And really you only need two if you do have 210 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: a reversing heat pump system. If it's just going in 211 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: one direction, you just need one expansion pump and that's it. 212 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: You don't even have to have a bypass. It's only 213 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,319 Speaker 1: if you want to both heat and cool a building 214 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: with a heat pump that you would need two of them. 215 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: So let's start with the compressor, because really that's where 216 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: the journey begins. And the compressor's job is to compress 217 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: the refrigerant that's flowing through this system. Now, compressing a 218 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: fluid in this case, it's essentially a vapor, it causes 219 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: not just the pressure to increase, but it also causes 220 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: the temperature of that fluid to increase. So what you 221 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: end up with is a super heated vapor under very 222 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: high pressure, and you allow that to travel through the 223 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 1: lines out from the compressor. And let's say in this case, 224 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: it's the winter and we want to heat the inside 225 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: of our house. So we would have a system set 226 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: so that the hot, high pressure vapor travels to the 227 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: indoor heat exchanger. Now, this is essentially coils of tubeing 228 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: made out of a material that conducts heat efficiently, like copper. Right, 229 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: So this super high pressure, very hot vapor goes through 230 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: these coils of tubing. Behind the coil of tubing, you 231 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: have a fan. The fan blows cooler air across these 232 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: hot coils, and that carries some of that thermal energy, 233 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: some of that heat away from the coils. That's what's 234 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: providing heat to the house. That's where the warm air 235 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: is coming out of the vents. It's because that air 236 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: was blown across these very hot coils and some of 237 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: that heat transferred to the air and thus is warming 238 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: your house. So the cool air starts to pull away 239 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: some of that thermal energy. Well. As the thermal energy 240 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: goes down inside this fluid, then the fluid itself begins 241 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: to condense, it begins to convert from gas to liquid. 242 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: And it's still hot, it's still had a high pressure, 243 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: it's just not quite as high pressure as it was 244 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: when it entered into the heat exchanger, and it's not 245 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: quite as hot as it was. But this heated liquid 246 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: will bypass expansion valve number one, So it goes around 247 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: this valve, it doesn't go through it. The expansion valve. 248 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: If you can think of it as pointing in a direction, 249 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: it's pointing back the way this liquid has come. So 250 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: it bypasses this valve. Then it goes through expansion valve 251 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: number two. That's point in the opposite way. Now, an 252 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: expansion valve allows this pressurized liquid to expand, for its 253 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: volume to expand. Well, that means that the pressure of 254 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 1: the liquid drops suddenly, as does its temperature. That's the 255 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: relationship here. When you've got high pressure, you've got high temperature. 256 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: When you've got low pressure, you've got low temperature. So 257 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: this expansion valve allows for the rapid expansion of this 258 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: liquid into a kind of a mixture of liquid and 259 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: vapor that is much cooler in temperature. This mixture then 260 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: passes through the coils in the outdoor heat exchanger. That's 261 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: just blowing ambient air across the coils. Well, the temperature 262 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: of the refrigerant has now dropped so low that even 263 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 1: in the winter time, the air outside is typically warmer 264 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: than the refrigerant is so it can be very cold 265 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: outside and still be warm enough to warm up the 266 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: refriger quite a bit, and so a little bit of 267 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: thermal energy gets transferred into this fluid. The refrigerant then 268 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:11,640 Speaker 1: brings along some of that thermal energy, and it gets 269 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: pumped back through the reversing valve to go back into 270 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: the compressor, and then the whole thing starts up again. Right, 271 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: the compressor compresses this mixture of vapor and liquid that's 272 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: cooler into a high pressure vapor that is very high 273 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:31,679 Speaker 1: temperature and puts it back through the system again. Now, 274 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:35,719 Speaker 1: if you wanted to cool your house, this whole system 275 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 1: moves in reverse. So the compressor still compresses the refrigerant, 276 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,639 Speaker 1: still makes it very hot, but now it goes to 277 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: the outdoor heat exchanger, which takes away some of that 278 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:49,439 Speaker 1: thermal energy and allows the superheated high pressure vapor to 279 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: condense into hot, slightly less hot, and slightly less pressurized 280 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: liquid that then bypasses expansion valve too. It goes to 281 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,360 Speaker 1: expansion valve of one, expands into the very low pressure, 282 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 1: low temperature mixture of vapor and liquid, moves through the 283 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: indoor heat exchanger, which is blowing warm air across these coils. 284 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 1: The coils are very very cold, so then you get 285 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: cool air blowing into your house, and then the fluid 286 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 1: continues on back to the compressor. Now, the reason I 287 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: give all that is because you know you have to 288 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: understand those basic pieces. But why was Johnson working on 289 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: an improvement or attempting to create an improved heat bump. Well, 290 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: it's because the typical heat bump was using free on 291 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: as the refrigerant. Now freeon is technically called dichlora diflora methane, 292 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: and this stuff has the useful trait of having a 293 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: boiling point that's all the way down to minus twenty 294 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: nine point eight celsius or minus twenty one point six 295 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: for fahrenheit. Now, remember, like water's got a boiling point 296 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: of one hundred degrees celsius or two hundred and twelve fahrenheit. 297 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: That's pretty hot, But free on it'll boil off into 298 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: a gas at negative twenty nine point eight celsius. So 299 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: you see that even in cold winters, there's still enough 300 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: heat in the ambient air to boil off the refrigerant 301 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:24,959 Speaker 1: in the heat exchanger, unless you're in like a super 302 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: duper cold environment where you would be kind of stuck. 303 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: The heat pump would not be a big help. However, 304 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: freeon has some drawbacks. Now, a big drawback is that 305 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: it contributes to environmental damage. It can it is a 306 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: chemical that, when released into the atmosphere, can do massive 307 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: damage to the ozone layer. Now, this was such a 308 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,880 Speaker 1: concern in the nineteen nineties that countries agreed to ban 309 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 1: the manufacture of free on. First developed nations all agreed 310 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: to stop manufacturing free on in the mid nineties, but 311 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: for developing countries it was considered to be kind of 312 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 1: I mean, it's looked on as a complicated situation. Right. 313 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: You have a country that's on its way toward development 314 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: telling it, hey, you can't benefit from the same stuff 315 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: that we benefited from because it turns out that's harmful. 316 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: That's a complicated thing. So those countries actually had until 317 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: twenty ten to stop making free on. These days, we 318 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,640 Speaker 1: still use free on, but only in very specific use cases, 319 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 1: like as a fire retardant in like submarines or aircraft. 320 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,880 Speaker 1: So Lonnie Johnson wanted to create a new kind of 321 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: heat pump that would just use plain old water as 322 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: a refrigerant instead of free on. So there was this 323 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:48,360 Speaker 1: growing concern about free on and similar chemicals and their 324 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: environmental impact. But this was before countries had decided to 325 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,640 Speaker 1: ban the stuff, and so really Johnson was just trying 326 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:02,919 Speaker 1: to think of an alternative that would be and you know, 327 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: have less of an environmental impact, and water would definitely 328 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 1: fit the bill if you could make it work. So 329 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: he's kind of thinking this through and creating a system, 330 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:18,359 Speaker 1: and part of that meant that he machined his own nozzles. 331 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 1: So he used machining equipment to make nozzles for his 332 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: heat pump design, and one day, while testing out his 333 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,919 Speaker 1: nozzles in his bathroom, he shot a tight stream of 334 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 1: water clear across the bathroom in a very focused stream, 335 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: and then got in to thinking about water guns. Okay, 336 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: I'm going to talk more about water guns and their design, 337 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: but first let's take another quick break. Okay, we're back. 338 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: Let's talk about your classic water gun. So this is 339 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: pre super soaker, the little squirt toy version of water guns, 340 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: the kinds of that you might find in like a 341 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: dollar store or something. Now, your typical water gun has 342 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 1: a spring loaded trigger, and that trigger activates a lever. 343 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: That lever in turn activates a very small pump inside 344 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: the water gun, and the pump's job is to pump 345 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,199 Speaker 1: water from a reservoir and the gun. Often with these 346 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: squirt guns, the entire interior of the gun acts as 347 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: a reservoir and it pumps the water through a plastic 348 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: tube and out a narrow path at the end of 349 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: the gun's barrel, where a nozzle focuses the escaping water 350 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: into a stream. So let's take that step by step 351 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: to understand exactly what's working from a mechanical perspective. So 352 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: you've got your plastic tube that extends into the water reservoir. 353 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: If you follow that plastic tube from the reservoir up, 354 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:48,919 Speaker 1: you'll see that it leads to a pump. And the 355 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: pump is a very simple thing. It's a cylinder and 356 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: it's a piston. And the piston, when you pull the trigger, 357 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: will move into the cylinder. Now, when the piston moves 358 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: into the cylinder, it forces water or air or whatever 359 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: out of the cylinder. Right, it can't be in the 360 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,920 Speaker 1: cylinder the piston's there. Also, inside the cylinder is a spring, 361 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: So when the piston enters the cylinder, it compresses the spring, 362 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: and when you release the trigger, it allows the spring 363 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: to expand to full size. That forces the piston back 364 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: out of the cylinder again, and when that happens, there's 365 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,959 Speaker 1: a vacuum, and nature abhors a vacuum, so water and 366 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: or air flows back into the cylinder because it's been 367 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: left empty by the piston's movement. Right. So when you 368 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: pair this with a couple of one way valves in 369 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 1: those tubes, you have yourself an effective pump. So one 370 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 1: of those valves will allow water to move from the 371 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: reservoir into the cylinder. So when you let go of 372 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: the trigger and the piston is moving out of the cylinder, 373 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: the pump sucks water up from the tube, but the 374 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: water cannot flow back in the opposite direction. This is 375 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: also why you sometimes have to prime the old water pistols. 376 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: You have to pull the trigger a few times because 377 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: you actually have to use that piston to suction water 378 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,159 Speaker 1: up from the reservoir to go into the pump in 379 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,640 Speaker 1: order to have it ready to push the water out 380 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: of the gun. Now, the other one way valve leads 381 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 1: from the pump to the nozzle in the gun's barrel. 382 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: So when you pull the trigger. It pushes the piston 383 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: through the cylinder, forces water out of the pump, and 384 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,119 Speaker 1: the only place the water can go is through this tube, 385 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 1: through that one way valve, and out through the nozzle 386 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: because the other one way valve blocks the water from 387 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 1: going back into the reservoir. Now, because there is a 388 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: one way valve right there heading to the barrel of 389 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: the gun, that means when you let go of the 390 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: trigger and you have the suctioning action happening again, when 391 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 1: the piston is moving out of the cylinder, that one 392 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: way valve seals shut, so air cannot come back in 393 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: through the gun barrel. The only place where the suction 394 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: can pull anything through is through the reservoir because that 395 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: one way valve allows water to go from the reservoir 396 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: back into the pump. You have to have those one 397 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,119 Speaker 1: way valves or else if you were to lego of 398 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: the trigger and it could just pull air from the barrel, 399 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,399 Speaker 1: then you wouldn't suction air up out of the reservoir anymore. 400 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: You could have a full water gun and keep pulling 401 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: that trigger and nothing happens, because all it's doing is 402 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: pushing air in and out through the barrel of the gun. 403 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,240 Speaker 1: You have to have that valve there to help seal 404 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: the system properly. Now that's your basic squirt gun. Johnson 405 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: figured he could do a bit better now. His homemade 406 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 1: nozzle was just one part of his new invention, of course, 407 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: and Johnson wouldn't work on this all on his own. 408 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: He would kind of work with another inventor named Bruce 409 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: Dendrade to kind of get a better squirt gun design. 410 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: And a big part of it was something that heat 411 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,880 Speaker 1: pumps deal with all the time, which is pressurizing a fluid. Now, 412 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: obviously a toy water gun is not going to create 413 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 1: the same levels of pressurization as an industrial compressor in 414 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:17,639 Speaker 1: a heat exchange system. That would be bonkers. But a 415 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,840 Speaker 1: pressurization chamber would provide the oomph to force water out 416 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: at a high velocity through the nozzle, which means you 417 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: could shoot streams of water much further than your standard 418 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: little squirt gun. So the idea was you'd use a 419 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 1: hand pump on the gun to pump air into this 420 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: pressurization chamber, at least originally. Later models of super soakers 421 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: would actually use water and air rather than just air 422 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: to build up pressure. Valves would prevent the air from 423 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: escaping back out, so you would pump air in, but 424 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 1: the air could not escape out, and you just keep 425 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: pumping and pumping until you had essentially reach capacity of 426 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 1: the canister. You could not physically move the pumpump any further. 427 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,439 Speaker 1: Later on, you would even have failsafe so that it 428 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't allow you to pump any more once it reached 429 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: a certain amount of pressure, and that way you would 430 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 1: be less likely to break your new toy. When you 431 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 1: pulled the trigger, you would essentially open up an escape 432 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: valve for all that pressurized air that was inside this canister, 433 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: and the air having a path of release, would immediately 434 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: follow it. And there's only one path available because of 435 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 1: those valves. It would only be able to go in 436 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 1: one direction, and this escaping air would end up pushing 437 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,119 Speaker 1: water out of a secondary reservoir in the gun through 438 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: the nozzle at the end, shooting a stream at an 439 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,440 Speaker 1: impressive distance. Now that's a little more complicated than I 440 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 1: just described. So, like I said, there are two water reservoirs. 441 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: The first reservoir, the primary one, is the one you 442 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 1: would actually fill up when you would get ready to 443 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: do battle. You would open up a little tab in 444 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: the gun, you would fill it up with water, close 445 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 1: the tab in there. That was the primary water reservoir. 446 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: The second water reservoir would fill up as you were 447 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:12,680 Speaker 1: pumping pressurized air into the compression chamber. And it was 448 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: the water in this secondary reservoir that would actually shoot 449 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 1: out the nozzle when you pulled the trigger. So when 450 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: the pressurized air was released, it was pushing water out 451 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 1: through this secondary reservoir, not the primary one. And again 452 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: you would use one way valves to control fluid flow. 453 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: That guaranteed that fluids would only be able to go 454 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,159 Speaker 1: in one direction throughout this system. Because if you don't 455 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,640 Speaker 1: have that, then you just really have a water gun 456 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: where water is sloshing through tubes but not really going anywhere. Now, 457 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: Johnson initially looked to self fund production of his invention, 458 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: and he gave his daughter a prototype of this kind 459 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 1: of using like a two liter empty soda bottle to 460 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,600 Speaker 1: act as the compression chamber. And then he watched as 461 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 1: his seven year old daughter was absolute slutely wrecking shot 462 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: on that Air Force base. She was just dominant in 463 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: any water gun fights. However, he discovered that manufacturing is 464 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 1: a complicated and expensive process. I mean, it costs a 465 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: lot of money to first establish a production sequence, right 466 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: if you're building something new, then you have to go 467 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: through and tool that sequence precisely to whatever it is 468 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: you're building, and that's very expensive. So Johnson didn't have 469 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: like two hundred thousand bucks just lying around to fund 470 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: an initial batch of one thousand super soakers. So instead 471 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: he started to look around to see if he could 472 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: find a toy company that he could partner with. But 473 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:39,720 Speaker 1: that took a long time. And you have to keep 474 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: in mind that while he's doing this, he's also kind 475 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: of working on stuff like stealth bombers, and so it's 476 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: not like he had copious amounts of free time on 477 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,479 Speaker 1: his hands to pursue his dream of making a really 478 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: cool squirt gun. So his search took seven years. He 479 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: happened to encounter a toy company while he was at 480 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: the American International Toy Fair in New York. He was 481 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: there with his pitch and he got some interest from 482 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: a Philadelphia based company called Laramie. Now that company didn't 483 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 1: exactly have the best image in the toy world. It 484 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: was mostly known for making knockoffs of popular toy brands. 485 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: But Laramie was showing an interest, and that was enough 486 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: for Johnson because he was not really finding any bites 487 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: at this point. So he was invited to travel to 488 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: Philadelphia and to give a demonstration of his prototype, which 489 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,239 Speaker 1: again used like an empty two liter soda bottle as 490 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: the compression chamber. So you know, it was this janky 491 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: collection of plastic and tubes and this soda bottle. It 492 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: didn't necessarily look really polished itself, and the Laramie folks 493 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,880 Speaker 1: were saying, well, does it work? And then he shot 494 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: water clear across the conference room and he immediately won 495 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: the admiration of the Laramie executives and they struck a 496 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: deal with Johnson. They licensed the design of his invention, 497 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: and so that was that. That was where Johnson ended 498 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: up getting this lucrative licensing deal for his invention, which 499 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: by the way, he had already patented. Hilaramie would produce 500 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 1: the first model of this which it wasn't called the 501 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: super Soaker when it first came out. This was around 502 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, so this model was called the Power Drencher, 503 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: and I think that's just as awesome a name as 504 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: super Soaker. It's not alliterative, so that's an issue, but 505 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: Power Drencher does sound like it's like it's a force 506 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: to be reckoned with. But the next year was when 507 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 1: the company would rebrand the toy as the super Soaker, 508 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: and that name stuck, and it also became insanely popular. 509 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: Like you occasionally see these trends and toys where a 510 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: toy will just be like the must have toy of 511 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,920 Speaker 1: the season. That was what the super Soaker was when 512 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: it really debuted under that name, was they were flying 513 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: off store shelves. People were crazy about them, including me, 514 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: and I did have an original super Soaker, not the 515 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 1: Power Drencher, but when it was rebranded, I did have 516 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: one of those when I was a kid, and I 517 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 1: loved that thing. Now. In an interview with the Henry 518 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: Ford Innovation Nation, Johnson said that it took some engineering 519 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: to bring all the elements together to make this work, 520 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,680 Speaker 1: but when you compare it to rocket science, it's relatively simple, which, 521 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: you know, I gotta say, I love that perspective. Hasbro 522 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: would subsequently acquire Laramie, so the super Soaker brand would 523 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: move over to Hasbro. Johnson would head on back to NASA. 524 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: He you know, I'd worked at the Air Force he 525 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: had made a killing by licensing this invention to Laramie 526 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 1: and then wanted to continue his his engineering work with NASA. 527 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: And then after that he worked a little bit with 528 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 1: Hasbro to bring new innovations and improvements to its line 529 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: of NERF guns. In fact, Hasbro would group super Soaker 530 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: under the NERF brand, so you find Nerf super Soakers 531 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:10,680 Speaker 1: these days. And that's kind of funny too, because actually, 532 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: when Johnson was a kid, I didn't mention this earlier, 533 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 1: but he created a kind of proto NERF gun back 534 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 1: in his childhood, used some bamboo to act as kind 535 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 1: of like a barrel of a gun, and he used 536 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: China berries as ammunition, these little softberry things that grow 537 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: all over the place here in the Southeast and use 538 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: pressurized air to shoot them. So it was kind of 539 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: like a NERF gun, just it was shooting China berries 540 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,400 Speaker 1: instill a little foam darts. And Johnson created his own 541 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: design laboratory right here in Atlanta, Georgia called Johnson R 542 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: and D. And there at the lab, Johnson and his 543 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 1: team are researching all sorts of fields, including environmental technology 544 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,440 Speaker 1: for alternative power generation solutions, which is pretty darn awesome 545 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,400 Speaker 1: as well as for the super soaker. It would continue 546 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 1: to evolve under Hasbro Dondrade would incorporate a type of 547 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: bladder in future super soaker water guns, and the bladder 548 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,759 Speaker 1: would serve both as kind of a pressure chamber and 549 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,280 Speaker 1: a water reservoir. When you would pump the super soaker 550 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,160 Speaker 1: that had these bladders in them, it would force water 551 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 1: and air into this bladder, thus expanding the bladder. But 552 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,359 Speaker 1: the bladder was made a very stiff material and it 553 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:28,560 Speaker 1: resisted having this stuff pumped into it. So you would 554 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:32,800 Speaker 1: get this compression, this pressurization, that interior pressure would grow 555 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: and when you pulled the trigger, it would allow the 556 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 1: pressure to escape and you could, you know, have longer 557 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: pressure with these types of super soakers, so you could 558 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 1: fire it a few more times than having to like, 559 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: you know, pump for five seconds and then fire, then 560 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,360 Speaker 1: pump for five seconds again. These days, there are actually 561 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: a several different supersoaker models, I mean tons have come 562 00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:59,719 Speaker 1: out since it debuted in nineteen ninety. A lot of 563 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:03,040 Speaker 1: the the current super soaker models actually use a simpler 564 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 1: pump mechanism. Some of them are just essentially sucking up 565 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,040 Speaker 1: water into a pump and then pushing it out in 566 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,759 Speaker 1: high volumes. So in other words, it's working on a 567 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: very similar principle as those older squirt guns. It's just larger. 568 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: Your pump is bigger inside these types of guns instead 569 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 1: of being a little bitty thing that's a spring activated 570 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: trigger mechanism. It's typically like a pump handle mechanism. But 571 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,000 Speaker 1: it's still when you break down a simple pump and 572 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: not using a pressurized container like the original Super Soaker did. 573 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,720 Speaker 1: Others use motorized pumps, so you have like a battery 574 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:45,319 Speaker 1: operated pump that fires the water in the reservoir. But 575 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:47,840 Speaker 1: all of these gut their start thanks to a rocket 576 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: scientist who just wanted to make a better heat pump. 577 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: And that's it. For this episode, I wanted to give 578 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:59,359 Speaker 1: Lonnie Johnson a shout out. The guy is incredibly inspiring you. 579 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: If you are not familiar with his work, you'd need 580 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:05,120 Speaker 1: to look him up. Not just the Super Soaker stuff. 581 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,719 Speaker 1: He also just comes across incredibly personable in interviews. He 582 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:16,840 Speaker 1: is humble and inquisitive and curious and very very fun 583 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:19,640 Speaker 1: to listen to, So I highly recommend you check him 584 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:23,360 Speaker 1: out if you have not before, and if you would 585 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:25,799 Speaker 1: like to suggest a topic for me to cover in 586 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:27,440 Speaker 1: future episodes of tech Stuff. There are a couple of 587 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 1: different ways you can do that. One is to download 588 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:35,040 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app scree to download, navigate over to the 589 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:38,520 Speaker 1: tech Stuff portion of that, and there's a little microphone 590 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 1: icon there where you can leave a thirty second voice 591 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:43,800 Speaker 1: message up to thirty seconds anyway, doesn't have to be 592 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:45,840 Speaker 1: a full thirty seconds, and let me know what you 593 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 1: would like me to cover in the future, or you 594 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,239 Speaker 1: can drop me a line on Twitter. The handle for 595 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 1: the show is tech Stuff HSW and I'll talk to 596 00:36:54,239 --> 00:37:04,560 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. 597 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:09,879 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 598 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,000 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.