I just built a grassinator.

Gang, I don't know if it works yet, but I built the grassinator today. The powersupply is in the mail. I used the directions on the Ztrains website and trust me if I can do this you all can too. Total cost about $40. The real Noch item costs around $185 now. So this is a good deal for applying static grass. Cheers, Jim CCRRB)

You don't know if it will work? Man, that's just hurtful... LOL!

Looks like a nice build job of it Jim. And believe me, as the owner of both units... this one applies the grass in a much more satisfactory manner.

Did you go with that new power supply link I provided in the article update, the Panasonic wall wart?

www.ztrains.com/pages/tech/grassinator/grassinator.html

Please post images when you start laying down the grass.

Again, nice job!

John
www.ztrains.com

John, Yes, I did use the Supply Shed link. Also I could not find any Rubbermaid round 4 oz. containers. They make squarish ones now. Would using a square make any difference? Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

No, it shouldn't make any difference at all Jim.

John
www.ztrains.com

Jim, If you want to make me one, I will pay you. Let me know.

Terry, I'll let you know later. Heck, I don't even know if the one I made works. Check out the picture again. Do you think this would make it into Canada from the US? Looks like a bomb to me. We both may have some explaining to do. Cheers, Jim CCRR

Could be part of the Ztrack revolt. Shhhhhh!

Bachman Arnold

Jim,

I'm kind of curious... did you change any part of the wiring from the directions when assembling it? You've mentioned this a couple of times and you sound like you're not sure about the unit working.

John
www.ztrains.com

Jim, the Newfoundland and Labrador Government may subsidize the venture, if it puts grass of the ROCK!

Hi John, No, I'm sorry about that allusion. Most of the regulars here realize I'm not the electrical genius I wish I was. I get so confused! All those switched and wires and stuff. Self-deprecation on this. I did it exactly like the diagrams--I hope. We'll see for sure when the walwort appears. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Jim, I just watched the video. So that is how they make crop circles in England.

Exactly. Probably the landing strips in Peru as well. Cheers, Jim CCRR:cheer:

HE HE HE looks like an electric bong..Grassinator...even the name.. No wonder you guys are building hippie vans.. What era do you railroad?/..uhh 1968 hehehe.
OH ! There is a ready made crop circle grass mat ..might even be from Noch.. it will go well with my Busch UFO:P

Bummer, Your local electrical genious is correct. My Grassinator doesn't seem to work. I tried all different on/off settings as well as no power, just shaken, and all three places look the same. I'm using Woodland Scenic Static Grass. Could that be a problem? Who knows how I would put my voltmeter on this think to see if current is passing through? Cheers, Jim CCRR:(

Sorry to hear its not working.. Local store has one to rent but don't know what they charge. Thing has got to be grounded to what you are planting doesn't it?

Socalz44 wrote:

Bummer, Your local electrical genious is correct. My Grassinator doesn't seem to work. I tried all different on/off settings as well as no power, just shaken, and all three places look the same. I'm using Woodland Scenic Static Grass. Could that be a problem? Who knows how I would put my voltmeter on this think to see if current is passing through? Cheers, Jim CCRR:(

Jim, Whats wrong???? I built my grassinator over a year ago, and mine works great. Let me ask a few questions and see if i can help.

1; When its plugged in and on, touch the grounding wire with the aligator clamp on it to the screen of the grass basket....... It should crackle, buzz or hum.... it may do all three or just one. (This is the sound it should make when its working, and ionizing)

2; When you hold the ground wire a 1/4" or less from the sreen on the grass basket, you should be able to see little archs of power... it will look like mini lightning bolts. (This is what you see if its working right)

3; When you do the grass, put down the Matte-medium and insert a pin or small nail. Clamp the aligator clip to the nail. If the nail is not making good contact with the liquid glue, then you won't get a proper ground..... try wiggiling the pin up and down in the glue to be sure it makes contact.

4; Woodland Scenics static grass fibers are not as good as the Scenic Express and Silflor brands. The material is a little clumpy, and needs to be broken up with your fingers when putting it in the grass basket to be sure its loose. Also try mixing your different lenths and colors of fibers in the basket, this will help when they fall out to be more random, and not look mono-chromatic.

5; When buying static grass material, look at the fibers.... The Silflor and Scenic Express fibers are very straight and have minimal kinking (bent fibers). This is very important in having the grass fall straight and standup correctly. I usualy mix the Woodland Scenics grass with the Silflor and Scenic Express material to limit the amount of "kinked" fibers.

I hope some of this helps out.... i'll chack back in on this post in a few hours and see if you need more..

Tony B...
Wasatch Z ClubB)

Note: The only problem i had with my unit when first building and testing it was; I used to tight/small of a screen on my grass basket, and the fibers would not freely fall out of it.... i literally had to smack the unit over and over to get the fibers to fall out... After i changed the screen to a wider opening, my unit has been working great ever since.

Hi Tony, Thanks for the reply. Well, I get NO arching or buzzing. I'm sure I wired it correctly. However, possibly when getting it into the tube maybe a solder broke I don't know. So basically your #'s 1 & 2 are not working for me. The only thing I did different than Ztrains instructions is that I had to glue the screen to the plastic. Would this make any difference? Thanks, Jim CCRR:(

Jim,

Okay.... coming off the ion generator you have three leads. A pair of posative and negative power inputs, and the one large red posative ion out put. Your ground wire with the aligator clip should be tied together with the negative input to the generator (black) and the negative side of the power supply. The heavy red output wire goes to the grass basket screen. And the posative input from your transformer connects to the posative input of the generator (this can be via a on/off switch if desired).

Thats it... If you've got the power hooked up to it, and on, you should be able to bring the heavy red output wire that goes to the screen close to the aligator clip and get the buzzing or humming sound, and see the lightning bolt arc's.

If it still doesn't work, try reversing the power leads from the transformer.

I'll keep an eye out for your next posting...

Tony B....

Tony, I just rechecked the wiring. It looks correct to me. I have enclosed a photo show the wiring to the plug. There are 3 terminals did I get it right? Also I'm not sure which is the positive metal on the walwart plug that goes into the plug in the photo. Is the outside of the plug positive and the inside of the plug negative? Thanks, Jim CCRR:(

Jim, looks right, but did you test it with your multi-meter first??? you should be able to touch the outside of the plug and one termnal for continuity, and the inside and one of the other terminals should be the posative side.

Tony B..