1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio. And 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: how the tech are you? And since it's summertime, when 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: the weather is high and you can reach right up 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: and touch the sky, I figure I could talk about 7 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: a fun story about invention and innovation. Uh, something that's 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: near and dear to my heart because these things came 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: out right when I was in high school and I 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: thought they were amazing. I want to talk about the 11 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: super Soaker line of water guns, and not just because 12 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: that's a toy that has a special place in my 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: heart because I loved these things when I was a kid, 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: but also because it comes from one heck of a pedigree, 15 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: because that technology was the brain child of a rocket scientist, 16 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: a NASA engineer. That engineer would be Lonnie Johnson, a 17 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 1: man who is countless incredible achievements to his name. He's 18 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: got more than a hundred patents to his name. Admittedly, 19 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: the super soccer bit frequently grabs attention first, although when 20 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: you look at his resume, you think, how did this? 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: How was this the lead? How was that the headline 22 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: Lonnie Johnson was born in Mobile, Alabama in ninety nine. 23 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: And I want to mention this right off the bat, 24 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: Nie Johnson's black. And I say that because we have 25 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: to take into account that along the way he was 26 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: facing massive challenges in the form of systemic racism. So 27 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: his achievements are incredible, and you on top of that, 28 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: you have to put into uh take into account rather 29 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: this issue of racism. Uh, you know, he he was 30 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: really facing some enormous obs nicles. Well, Lonnie's father was 31 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: a veteran of World War Two and worked as a 32 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,519 Speaker 1: civilian driver at an Air Force base in Mobile, Alabama, 33 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: and his mother worked in a laundry and as a 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 1: nurse's aid. So when he was a kid, Lonnie became 35 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: interested in learning how stuff works. I can identify with that. 36 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: His father, on top of being a driver, was also 37 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: kind of a d I Y kind of fella. It 38 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: was mostly out of necessity, learning how to fix things 39 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: and occasionally you know, doing odd jobs and stuff. And 40 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: he passed down this d I Y you know, philosophy 41 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: to his children, and Lonnie really took that to heart, 42 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: and sometimes his heart would overrule his head, Like the 43 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: time he was thirteen and decided to take an engine 44 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: out of a lawnmower and connected to a go kart 45 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: he had made out of scraps and then went joy 46 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: riding down the highway. Police had to ask him to 47 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: pull over. Probably not the safest activity for a thirteen 48 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: year old to pursue, but it was a demonstration of 49 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: his his love of engineering, and his family told lots 50 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: of stories of Lonnie taking stuff apart to learn how 51 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: it worked, and of course, you know, it was the 52 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: classic story that he wasn't always able to put it 53 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: back together again. So sometimes when Lonnie got his hands 54 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: on something, that was the last time that something was 55 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: gonna work, but he would learn in the process. They 56 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,119 Speaker 1: also told stories about the time he tried to make 57 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: homemade rocket fuel and nearly set his family's house on fire. 58 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: He would go to Williamson High School, and that was 59 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: an all black high school because this was still in 60 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: the days of segregation here in the South. You know, 61 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: you you had class schools that were whites only, in 62 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: schools that were black so only. And so he went 63 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: to an all black high school. In nineteen sixty eight, 64 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: he in his school entered a science fair competition that 65 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: was held at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, and 66 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: his school was the only black school that was in 67 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: attendance at the fair. And he Johnson had created a 68 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: kind of robot. He called it the Lennox, and it 69 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: was an air powered device. Again made out of scrap materials, 70 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: like he had rated junkyards and stuff and grabbed things 71 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: that would be helpful and made this robot and it 72 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: took home first prize. Now, reportedly, many at the university 73 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: were not thrilled that the top prize was going to 74 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: a black student. Johnson earned a scholarship to attend the 75 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: Tuskegee University and there he earned a bachelor's degree in 76 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: mechanical engineering. He got that degree in nineteen seventy three. 77 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: Then he pursued post graduate studies at Tuskegee and he 78 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: earned a master's degree in nuclear engineering in nineteen seventy five. 79 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: So the guy who who created the super soccer has 80 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: a master's in nuclear your engineering. That's a big old 81 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: while Zephoria right, like, you wouldn't expect that when you 82 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: pick up a toy that this was created by a 83 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: nuclear engineer. Now, for a short while after he graduated 84 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: from his master's degree. Lonnie Johnson worked as a research 85 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: engineer at oak Ridge National Laboratory. That was one of 86 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: the facilities that was involved during the Manhattan Project. It 87 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: was established as part of the Manhattan Project. In fact, 88 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: this was when the United States was first developing the 89 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: atomic bomb during World War Two. Of course, that would 90 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: be ancient history by the time Lonnie Johnson had joined 91 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: the team, but oak Ridge continues to pioneer research in 92 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: things like nuclear physics, including nuclear fusion and an attempt 93 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: to build a working nuclear fusion reactor, which if we 94 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: ever managed to do one that actually creates a sustainable 95 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: fusion reaction, uh, that would be transformative for our energy needs, 96 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: but you know, we have to get there first. Well. 97 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 1: Johnson would then join the Air Force after that and 98 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: he was assigned to head the Space Nuclear Power Safety 99 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: Section at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory. He stayed there 100 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: until nineteen seventy nine, and at that point he joined 101 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and served as a senior systems engineer. 102 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: He began work on the Galileo project, so he was 103 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: he was part of the Galileo project team. Galileo was 104 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: a probe that we sent to study Jupiter and its moons. 105 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: That project would ultimately be monumentally successful from a scientific perspective. Now, 106 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: Johnson worked on this early on in the program. He 107 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,720 Speaker 1: would not be part of that team when the probe 108 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: would ultimately launched later in the nineteen eighties, but he 109 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: did work on it early on. In Night two, Lonnie 110 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: Johnson would actually leave NASA and returned to the Air 111 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: Force and he was now an Advanced Space Systems Requirements 112 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: Officer at the Strategic Air Command Headquarters. He would also 113 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: serve as the chief of the Data Management branch of 114 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 1: Strategic Air Command Test and Evaluation Squadron at Edwards Air 115 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: Force Base. He was one of the engineers who would 116 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: also work on the development of the Stealth bomber, which 117 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,239 Speaker 1: was a super secret project at the time. Johnson actually 118 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: talked about how he wouldn't even be able to tell 119 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: his wife what he was working on at the time 120 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: because it was classified as top secret. He would pop 121 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: back over to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in nineteen seven 122 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: to work on the Cassini project. Cassini was a probe 123 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: that we sent to study Saturn, and he was also 124 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: at work on a project that would unexpectedly evolve into 125 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: the super Soaker. Now, that was something that he had 126 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: been kind of working on on and off for several years. 127 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: You see, Lonnie Johnson did not set out to make 128 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: a new kind of water gun, you know, a water 129 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: gun that would leave those little old squirt guns far behind. 130 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: He wasn't trying to create a weapon of mass saturation. 131 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: It was not his dream to grant battlefield superiority to 132 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: the kid who could go out and buy a water 133 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: gun capable of shooting streams of water further than any 134 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: other on the market. Hy Johnson was trying to do 135 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: something else entirely. He was trying to solve a very 136 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: tricky problem. He wanted to create a heat pump that 137 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: used water instead of free on as a refrigerant. And 138 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:41,440 Speaker 1: he started on this work way back in the early 139 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties. So he he did this while he was 140 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: at the Air Force working on the Stealth bomber. So 141 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: he couldn't talk about the stealth bomber work, but he 142 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: could talk about his sort of personal project, which was 143 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:54,839 Speaker 1: trying to suss out if there would be a way 144 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,839 Speaker 1: to make a working heat pump and effective heat pump 145 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: using water. So we're going to talk about heat pumps 146 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: and how they work and why it was important to 147 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: try and find an alternative to free on so that 148 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,559 Speaker 1: we can have an understanding of what it was that 149 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: was fueling his innovation and ultimately would spawn the super soaker. 150 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: But before we get to all of that, let's take 151 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:36,439 Speaker 1: a quick break. Okay, let's talk about heat pumps. Uh. Now, 152 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: the heat pumps I'm talking about here, they work in 153 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,079 Speaker 1: a way that's similar to an air conditioner. In fact, 154 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: there are several elements in heat pumps that are identical 155 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,079 Speaker 1: to things you would find in an air conditioner, except 156 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,959 Speaker 1: a heat pump can potentially transfer heat inside a building 157 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: or outside of building. Thus it can either heat or 158 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: cool a building use in one system. Air conditioners are 159 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: not like that. They are a one way thing, right. 160 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: They pull heat out of a building and they bring 161 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: cool air in. But that's it. You can't you can't 162 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: heat a building with an air conditioner. You need a 163 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: separate system. You need a furnace. So a heat bump 164 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: can do both and uh, technically, a heat pump can 165 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: also be a one way type of deal. It could 166 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: also be like an air conditioner if or it could 167 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:31,319 Speaker 1: be like a furnace if you wanted where it could 168 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: not reverse. The reverse is only made possible by using 169 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: a reversing valve um. But that's the thing is that 170 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: a heat pump can do that. You can have a 171 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: reversing valve installed within the system and you change where 172 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: the heat is being pumped. Really, that's all it is. 173 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,079 Speaker 1: It's it's all a heat transfer system. It transfers heat 174 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: from one location to another. When you're heating a building, 175 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: it means you're taking heat from outside and bringing it inside. 176 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: Then when you're cooling a building, you're taking the heat 177 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: from inside and you're putting it outside. That's really all 178 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: there is to it. But how does it do that well? 179 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: I could technically do a full episode about this, but 180 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: I'll try and keep it short. It's also a little 181 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: tricky to talk about when you don't have visual aids, 182 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: but we're gonna do our best. So your typical air 183 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: to air heat pump solution, there are a lot of 184 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,599 Speaker 1: different types of heat pumps. Will talk about air to 185 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: air because one they're the most common, and too they're 186 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: really simple. But your your basic air to air heat 187 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: pump solution consists of a pair of heat exchangers. You 188 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 1: have one heat exchanger that's outdoors and you have one 189 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,839 Speaker 1: heat exchanger that's indoors. These are connected via pipes and 190 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: a reversing valve that allows the flow to reverse directions, 191 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: and there's a compressor, and there's also some other valves, 192 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: expansion valves that control the flow of refrigerant in the system, 193 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: and bypasses for those expansion valves. That's also important. So 194 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: I'll talk about expansion valve one and two for the 195 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: sake of this description so that you can understand why 196 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: they exist. And really you only need to if you 197 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: do have a reversing heat pump system. If it's just 198 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 1: going in one direction, you just need an one expansion 199 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: pump and that's it. You don't even have to have 200 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,440 Speaker 1: a bypass. It's only if you want to both heat 201 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: and cool a building with a heat pump that you 202 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: would need two of them. So let's start with the compressor, 203 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: because really that's where the journey begins, and the compressor's 204 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 1: job is to compress the refrigerant that's flowing through this system. 205 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: Now compressing a fluid in this case, it's it's essentially 206 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: a vapor. It causes not just the pressure to increase, 207 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: but it also causes the temperature of that fluid to increase. 208 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: So what you end up with is a superheated vapor 209 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: under very high pressure, and you allow that to travel 210 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: through the lines from the compressor. And let's say in 211 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: this case, it's the winter and we want to heat 212 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: the inside of our house, so we would have a 213 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: system set so that the hot, high pressure vapor travels 214 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: to the indoor heat exchanger. Now, this is essentially coils 215 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: of tube being made out of a material that conducts 216 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: heat efficiently, like copper, right. So this super high pressure, 217 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:33,720 Speaker 1: very hot vapor goes through these coils of tubing. Behind 218 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: the coil of tubing, you have a fan. The fan 219 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: blows cooler air across these hot coils, and that carries 220 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: some of that thermal energy, some of that heat away 221 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: from the coils. That's what's providing the heat to the house. 222 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: That's where the warm air is coming out of the vents. 223 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: It's because that air was blown across these very hot coils, 224 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,600 Speaker 1: and some of that heat transferred to the air and 225 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: thus is warming your house. So the cool air starts 226 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: to pull away some of that thermal energy. Well, as 227 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: the thermal energy goes down inside this this fluid, then 228 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: the fluid itself begins to condense. It begins to convert 229 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 1: from gas to liquid. And it's still hot, it's still 230 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: had a high pressure. It's just not quite as high 231 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: a pressure as it was when it entered into the 232 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: heat exchanger, and it's not quite as hot as it was. 233 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: But this heated liquid will bypass expansion valve number one, 234 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: So it goes around this valve, it doesn't go through it. 235 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: The expansion valve. If you can think of it as 236 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: as pointing in the direction, it's pointing back the way 237 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: this liquid has come. So it bypasses this valve. Then 238 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: it goes through expansion valve number two that's pointed in 239 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: the opposite way. Now, an expansion valve allows this pressurized 240 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: liquid to expand, for its volume to expand. Well, that 241 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: means is that the pressure of the liquid drops suddenly, 242 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: as does its temperature. That that's the relationship here. When 243 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: you've got high pressure, you've got high temperature. When you've 244 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: got low pressure, you've got low temperature. So this expansion 245 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: valve allows for the rapid expansion of this liquid into 246 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: a kind of a mixture of liquid and vapor that 247 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: is much cooler in temperature. This mixture then passes through 248 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: the coils in the outdoor heat exchanger that's just blowing 249 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: ambient air across the coils. Well, the temperature of the 250 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: refrigerant has now dropped so low that even in the wintertime, 251 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: the air outside is typically warmer than the refrigerant is, 252 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: so it can be very cold outside and still be 253 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: warm enough to warm up the refrigerant quite a bit. 254 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: And so a little bit of thermal energy gets transferred 255 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: into this fluid. The refrigerant then brings along some of 256 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: that the more energy, and it gets pumped back through 257 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: the reversing valve to go back into the compressor, and 258 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: then the whole thing starts up again. Right, the compressor 259 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: compresses this mixture of of vapor and liquid that's cooler 260 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: into a high pressure vapor that is very high temperature 261 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: and puts it back through the system again. Now, if 262 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: you wanted to cool your house this this this whole 263 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: system moves in reverse. So the compressor still compresses the refrigerants, 264 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: still makes it very hot, but now it goes to 265 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: the outdoor heat exchanger, which takes away some of that 266 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: thermal energy and allows the superheated high pressure vapor to 267 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: condense into hot, slightly less hot, and slightly less pressurized 268 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: liquid that then bypasses expansion valve two. It goes to 269 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: expansion valve one, expands into the very low pressure, low 270 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: temperature mixture of vapor and liquid, moves through the indoor 271 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: heat exchanger, which is blowing warm air across these coils. 272 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 1: The coils are very very cold, so then you get 273 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: cool air blowing into your house, and then the fluid 274 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 1: continues on back to the compressor. Now, the reason I 275 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: give all that is because you know, you have to 276 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:23,360 Speaker 1: understand those basic pieces. But why was Johnson working on 277 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: an improvement or attempting to create an improved heat bump. Well, 278 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: it's because the typical heat bump was using free on 279 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:36,880 Speaker 1: as the refrigerant. Now free on is technically called die 280 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: chlora die flora methane, and this stuff has the useful 281 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: trait of having a boiling point that's all the way 282 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: down to minus twenty nine point eight celsius or minus 283 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: twenty one point six four fahrenheit. Now, remember, like water 284 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: has got a boiling point of a hundred degrees celsius 285 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: or two D twelve fahrenheit. That's pretty hot, but free 286 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: on it'll boil off into a gas at negative twenty 287 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: nine point eight celsius. So you see that even in 288 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: cold winters, there's still enough heat in the ambient air 289 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,359 Speaker 1: to boil off the refrigerant in the heat exchanger. Unless 290 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: you're in like a super duper cold environment where you 291 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: would be kind of stuck, the heat pump would not 292 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 1: be a big help. However, free on has some drawbacks. Now. 293 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: A big drawback is that it contributes to environmental damage. 294 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: It can it is a chemical that, when released into 295 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: the atmosphere, can do massive damage to the ozone layer. Now, 296 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: this was such a concern in the nine nineties that 297 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: countries agreed to ban the manufacturer of free on. First 298 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: developed nations all agreed to stop manufacturing free on in 299 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:53,640 Speaker 1: the mid nineties, but for developing countries it was considered 300 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: to be kind of I mean, it's it's looked on 301 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: as a complicated situation. Right. You you have a country 302 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 1: that's on its way toward development telling it, hey, you 303 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: can't benefit from the same stuff that we benefited from 304 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: because it turns out that's harmful. That's a complicated thing. 305 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: So those countries actually had until to stop making free on. 306 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: These days, we still use free on, but only in 307 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,679 Speaker 1: very specific use cases, like as a fire retardant in 308 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: like submarines or aircraft. So Lonnie Johnson wanted to create 309 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,440 Speaker 1: a new kind of heat pump that would just use 310 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: lane old water as a refrigerant instead of free on. 311 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 1: So there was this growing concern about free on and 312 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: similar chemicals and their environmental impact, but this was before 313 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: countries had decided to ban the stuff, and so really 314 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: Johnson was just trying to think of an alternative that 315 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:52,959 Speaker 1: would be you know, practical and uh, you know, have 316 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 1: less of an environmental impact, and water would definitely fit 317 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: the bill if you could make it work. So he's 318 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: kind of thinking this through and creating a system, and 319 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: part of that meant that he machined his own nozzles. 320 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,439 Speaker 1: So he used machining equipment to make nozzles for his 321 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:16,359 Speaker 1: heat pump design, and one day, while testing out his 322 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,399 Speaker 1: nozzles in his bathroom, he shot a tight stream of 323 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: water clear across the bathroom in a very focused stream, 324 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:28,400 Speaker 1: and then got into thinking about water guns. Okay, I'm 325 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: gonna talk more about water guns and their design, but 326 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: first let's take another quick break. Okay, we're back. Let's 327 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: talk about your classic water gun. So this is pretty 328 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: super soaker, the little squirt toy versions of water guns, 329 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: the kinds of that you might find in like a 330 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: dollar store or something. Now, your typical water gun has 331 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: a spring loaded trigger, and that trigger activates a lever. 332 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: That lever in turn activates a very small pump inside 333 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: the water gun, and the pumps job is to pump 334 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: water from a reservoir and the gun. Often with the 335 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: squirt guns, the entire interior of the gun acts as 336 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: a reservoir and it pumps the water through a plastic 337 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: tube and out a narrow path at the end of 338 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: the gun's barrel, where a nozzle focuses the escaping water 339 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: into a stream. So let's take that step by step 340 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: to understand exactly what's working from a mechanical perspective. So, 341 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: you've got your plastic tube that extends into the water reservoir. 342 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: If you follow that plastic tube from the reservoir up, 343 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: you'll see that leads to a pump. And the pump 344 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: is a very simple thing it's a cylinder and it's 345 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: a piston, and the piston, when you pull the trigger, 346 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: will move into the cylinder. Now, when the piston moves 347 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: into the cylinder, it forces water or air or whatever 348 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: out of the cylinder, right, It can't be in the 349 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: cylinder of the pistons. There. Also, inside the cylinder is 350 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: a spring, So the piston enters the cylinder, it compresses 351 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: the spring, and when you release the trigger, it allows 352 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: the spring to expand to full size. That forces the 353 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: piston back out of the cylinder again. And when that happens, 354 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 1: there's a vacuum, and nature abhors a vacuum. So water 355 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 1: and or air flows back into the cylinder because it's 356 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: been left empty by the pistons movement. Right. So when 357 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: you pair this with a couple of one way valves 358 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: in those tubes, you have yourself an effective pump. So 359 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: one of those valves will allow water to move from 360 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: the reservoir into the cylinder. So when you let go 361 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: of the trigger and the piston is moving out of 362 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: the cylinder, the pump sucks water up from the tube, 363 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: but the water cannot flow back in the opposite direction. 364 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,159 Speaker 1: This is also why you sometimes have to prime the 365 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 1: old water pistols, you have to pull the trigger a 366 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: few times because you actually have to use that that 367 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: piston to suction water up from a reservoir to go 368 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: into the pump uh in order to have it ready 369 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: to push the water out of the gun. Now, the 370 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: other one way valve leads from the pump to the 371 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 1: nozzle in the guns barrel. So when you pull the trigger, 372 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: it pushes the piston through the cylinder, forces water out 373 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: of the pump, and the only place the water can 374 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 1: go is through this tube, through that one way valve 375 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: and out through the nozzle because the other one way 376 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: valve blocks the water from going back into the reservoir. Now, 377 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 1: because there is a one way valve right there heading 378 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: to the barrel of the gun, that means when you 379 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: let go of the trigger and you have the suction 380 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 1: ng action happening again, when the piston is moving out 381 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,479 Speaker 1: of the cylinder, that one way valve seals shut, so 382 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,159 Speaker 1: air cannot come back in through the gun barrel. The 383 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: only place where the section can pull anything through is 384 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,400 Speaker 1: through the reservoir. Because that one way valve allows water 385 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 1: to go from the reservoir back into the pump. You 386 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: have to have those one way valves or else if 387 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: you were to lego of the trigger and it could 388 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: just pull air from the barrel, then you wouldn't suction 389 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 1: air up how the reservoir anymore. You can have a 390 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: full water gun and keep pulling that trigger and nothing 391 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: happens because all it's doing is pushing air in and 392 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: out through the barrel of the gun. You have to 393 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:25,920 Speaker 1: have that valve there to help seal the system properly. 394 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:32,160 Speaker 1: Now that's your basic squirt gun. Johnson figured he could 395 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: do a bit better now. His help made nozzle was 396 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: just one part of his new invention, of course, and 397 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,919 Speaker 1: Johnson wouldn't work on this all on his own. He 398 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 1: would kind of work with another inventor named Bruce Dandrade 399 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: to kind of get a better squirt gun design. And 400 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 1: a big part of it was something that heat pumps 401 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,400 Speaker 1: deal with all the time, which is pressurizing a fluid. Now, 402 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: obviously a toy water gun is not going to create 403 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,639 Speaker 1: the same levels of pressurization as an industrial compressor in 404 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: a heat exchange system. That would be bonkers. But a 405 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: pressurization chamber would provide the oomph to force water out 406 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: at a high velocity through the nozzle, which means you 407 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: could shoot streams of water much further than your standard 408 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: little squirt gun. So the idea was you'd use a 409 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: hand pump on the gun to pump air into this 410 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: pressurization chamber, at least originally. Later models of supersoakers would 411 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: actually use water and air rather than just air to 412 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: build up pressure. Valves would prevent the air from escaping 413 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: back out, so you would pump air in, but the 414 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 1: air could not escape out, and you just keep pumping 415 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,360 Speaker 1: and pumping until you had essentially reached capacity of the canistry. 416 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: You you could not physically move the pump any further. 417 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,640 Speaker 1: Later on, you would even have fail safe so that 418 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,520 Speaker 1: it wouldn't allow you to pump anymore once it reached 419 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: a certain amount of pressure, and that way would be 420 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 1: less likely to break your new toy. When you pulled 421 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: the trigger, you would essentially open up an escape valve 422 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: for all that pressurized air that was inside this canister, 423 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 1: and the air having a path of release, would immediately 424 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: follow it, and there's only one path available because of 425 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,359 Speaker 1: those valves. It would only be able to go in 426 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: one direction, and this escaping air would end up pushing 427 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,639 Speaker 1: water out of a secondary reservoir in the gun through 428 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,400 Speaker 1: the nozzle at the end, shooting a stream at an 429 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: impressive distance. Now, it's a little more complicated than I 430 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 1: just described. So, like I said, there are two water reservoirs. 431 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 1: The first reservoir, the primary one, is the one you 432 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 1: would actually fill up when you would get ready to 433 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,959 Speaker 1: do battle. You would open up a little uh tab 434 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: in the gun. You would fill it up with water 435 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: and you close the tab in there. That was the 436 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: primary water reservoir. The second water reservoir would fill up 437 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,720 Speaker 1: as you were pumping pressurized air into the compression and chamber, 438 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: and it was the water in this secondary reservoir that 439 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,919 Speaker 1: would actually shoot out the nozzle when you pulled the trigger. 440 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: So when the pressurized air was released, it was pushing 441 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 1: water out through this secondary reservoir, not the primary one. 442 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 1: And again you would use one way valves to control 443 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 1: fluid flow. That guaranteed that fluids would only be able 444 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: to go in one direction throughout this system. Because if 445 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: you don't have that, then you just really have a 446 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:30,120 Speaker 1: water gun where water is slashing through tubes but not 447 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:35,639 Speaker 1: really going anywhere. Now, Johnson initially looked to self fund 448 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: production of his invention, and he gave his daughter a 449 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: prototype of this kind of using like a two leader 450 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: empty soda bottle to act as the compression chamber. And 451 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: then he watched as his seven year old daughter was 452 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,280 Speaker 1: absolutely wrecking shot on that Air Force base. She was 453 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:58,240 Speaker 1: just dominant in any water gun fights. However, he discovered 454 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: that manufacturing is a complicated and expensive process. I mean, 455 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,919 Speaker 1: it costs a lot of money to first establish a 456 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: production sequence, right if you're building something new, then you 457 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: have to go through and tool that sequence precisely to 458 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: whatever it is you're building, and that's very expensive. So 459 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: Johnson didn't have like two thousand bucks just lying around 460 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,160 Speaker 1: to fund an initial batch of a thousand super soakers. 461 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,119 Speaker 1: So instead he started to look around to see if 462 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: he could find a toy company that he could partner with. 463 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: But that took a long time. And you have to 464 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 1: keep in mind that while he's doing this, he's also 465 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: kind of working on stuff like stealth bombers, and so 466 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: it's not like he had copious amounts of free time 467 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: on his hands to pursue his dream of making a 468 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: really cool squirt gun. So his search took seven years. 469 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: He happened to encounter a toy company while he was 470 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: at the American International Toy Fair in New York. He 471 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:57,160 Speaker 1: was there with you know, his his pitch, and he 472 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: got some interest from a Philadelphia based company called Laramie. 473 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: Now that company didn't exactly have the best image in 474 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 1: the toy world. It was mostly known for making knockoffs 475 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: of popular toy brands. But Laramie was showing an interest 476 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: and that was enough for Johnson because he was not 477 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 1: really finding any bites at this point. So he was 478 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: invited to travel to Philadelphia and to give a demonstration 479 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 1: of his prototype, which again used like an empty two 480 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: leader soda bottle as the compression chamber. So you know, 481 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: it was this Jankee collection of plastic and tubes and 482 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: this soda bottle. It didn't necessarily look really polished itself, 483 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: and the Laramie folks were saying, well, does it work? 484 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: And then he shot water clear across the conference room 485 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: and he immediately won the admiration of the Laramie executives 486 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,920 Speaker 1: and they struck a deal with Johnson. They licensed the 487 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:57,239 Speaker 1: design of his invention, and so that was that. That 488 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,680 Speaker 1: was where Johnson ended up getting the this lucrative licensing 489 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 1: deal for his his invention, which by the way, he 490 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: had already patented. Laramie would produce the first model of 491 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,960 Speaker 1: this which it wasn't called the super Soaker when it 492 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:16,800 Speaker 1: first came out. This was around so this model was 493 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: called Deep Power Drencher, and I think that's just as 494 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: awesome a name is super Soaker. It's not alliterative. So 495 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 1: that's an issue that Power Drencher does sound like, it's 496 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: like it's a force to be reckoned with. But the 497 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: next year was when the company would rebrand the toy 498 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: as the super Soaker, and that name stuck, and it 499 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: also became insanely popular. Like you occasionally see these trends 500 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: and toys where a toy will just be like the 501 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,160 Speaker 1: must have toy of the season. That was what the 502 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 1: super Soaker was. When it really debuted under that name, 503 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: it was they were flying off store shelves. People were 504 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: crazy about them, including me, and I did have an 505 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: original super Soaker, uh, not the Power Drencher, but when 506 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: it was rebranded. I did have one of those when 507 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,120 Speaker 1: I was a kid, and I love that thing now. 508 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 1: In an interview with the Henry Ford Innovation Nation, Johnson 509 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: said that it took some engineering to bring all the 510 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: elements together to make this work. Uh. But when you 511 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: compare it to rocket science, it's relatively simple, which you know, 512 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: I gotta say, I love that perspective. Hasbro would subsequently 513 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 1: acquire Laramie, so the super Soaker brand would move over 514 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 1: to Hasbro. Johnson would head on back to NASA. Uh. 515 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: He you know, I'd worked at the Air Force. He 516 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 1: had made a killing by licensing this invention to Laramie, 517 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: and then wanted to continue his his engineering work with NASA. 518 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: And then after that he worked a little bit with 519 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,080 Speaker 1: Hasbro to bring new innovations and improvements to its line 520 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: of NERF guns. In fact, Hasbro would group super Soaker 521 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: under the NERF brand, so you find Nerve Supersoakers these days. Uh. 522 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: And and it's that's kind of funny too, because actually, 523 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: when Johnson was a kid, I didn't mention this earlier. 524 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: That he created a kind of proto NERF gun back 525 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,920 Speaker 1: in his childhood. Used uh, some bamboo to act as 526 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: kind of like a barrel of a gun, and he 527 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 1: used China berries as ammunition, these little soft berry things 528 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: that grow all over the place here in the Southeast 529 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: and use pressurized air to shoot them, so it was 530 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 1: kind of like kind of like a NERF gun, just 531 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: it was shooting china berries instead a little foam darts. 532 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: And Johnson created his own design laboratory right here in Atlanta, 533 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: Georgia called Johnson R and D. And they're at the lab. 534 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: Johnson and his team are researching all sorts of fields, 535 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 1: including environmental technology for alternative power generation solutions, which is 536 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,959 Speaker 1: pretty darn awesome, as well as for the super socer. 537 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: It would continue to evolve under hasbro uh Dandrade would 538 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: incorporate a type of bladder in future supersocer water guns, 539 00:32:57,400 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: and the bladder would serve both as kind of a 540 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: pressure chamber and a water reservoir. When you would pump 541 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,720 Speaker 1: the supersocer that had these bladders in them, it would 542 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: force water and air into this bladder, thus expanding the bladder. 543 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,719 Speaker 1: But the bladder was made of very stiff material and 544 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: it resisted having this stuff pumped into it, So you 545 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: would get this compression, this pressurization, that interior pressure would 546 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: grow and when you pull the trigger, it would allow 547 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 1: the pressure to escape and you could, you know, have 548 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 1: longer pressure with these types of supersocer so you could 549 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: fire it a few more times than having to, like, 550 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: you know, pump for five seconds and then fire and 551 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:41,480 Speaker 1: then pump for five seconds again. These days, they are 552 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: actually a several different Supersocer models, I mean, tons have 553 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:49,560 Speaker 1: come out since it debuted. In a lot of the 554 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: current Supersoaker models actually use a a simpler pump mechanism. 555 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: Some of them are are just essentially sucking up water 556 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: into a pump and then pushing it out in high volumes. 557 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: So in other words, it's working on a very similar 558 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: principle as those older squirt guns. It's just larger. Your 559 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: pump is bigger inside these types of guns instead of 560 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: being a little bitty thing that's a spring activated trigger mechanism. 561 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:18,320 Speaker 1: It's typically like a pump handlem mechanism. But it's still 562 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: when you break it down, a simple pump and not 563 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:27,360 Speaker 1: using a pressurized container like the original Supersocer did. Others 564 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,759 Speaker 1: use motorized pumps, so you have like a battery operated 565 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:35,120 Speaker 1: pump that fires the water in the reservoir. But all 566 00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:37,920 Speaker 1: of these gut their start thanks to a rocket scientist 567 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,839 Speaker 1: who just want to make a better heat pump. And 568 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,480 Speaker 1: that's it for this episode. I wanted to give Lonnie 569 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:48,839 Speaker 1: Johnson a shout out. The guy is incredibly inspiring you. 570 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: If you are not familiar with his work, you'd need 571 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,560 Speaker 1: to look him up. Um not just the supersoker stuff. 572 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,200 Speaker 1: He also just comes across incredibly personable in interviews. He 573 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:06,320 Speaker 1: is humble and inquisitive and curious and very very fun 574 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 1: to listen to. So I highly recommend you check them 575 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,799 Speaker 1: out if you have not before, and if you would 576 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,279 Speaker 1: like to suggest a topic for me to cover in 577 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:16,960 Speaker 1: future episodes of tech Stuff, there are a couple of 578 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 1: different ways you can do that. One is to download 579 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,279 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app. It's free to download. Navigate over 580 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,200 Speaker 1: to the tech Stuff portion of that, and there's a 581 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,360 Speaker 1: little microphone icon there where you can leave a thirty 582 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: second voice message up to thirty seconds anyway, doesn't have 583 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: to be a full thirty seconds, and let me know 584 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:36,680 Speaker 1: what you would like me to cover in the future, 585 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:39,279 Speaker 1: or you can drop me a line on Twitter. The 586 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,279 Speaker 1: handle for the show is tech Stuff h s W 587 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:52,320 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff 588 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 589 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,680 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple 590 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:01,480 Speaker 1: Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,