Better Bubbles
Bubbles are fun. Bubble machines on the other hand can be cantankerous. Even with the “perfect” bubble mixture recipe that you found online, the results can be underwhelming. I discovered that having a variable speed on the blowing fan is the perfect adjustment to optimize your bubbly fun.
I have one of those DJ style bubble machines that I rescued from the trash and re soldered a wire to make it work again. But I was underwhelmed by the number of bubbles that this “professional” machine produced. By experimenting, I found that obstructing the air input (thus lowering the airflow) produced superior results.
Bubble machines have two motors. One for rotating the bubble wands , and the other that runs a fan to “blow” the bubbles. You simply need to find the voltage feed for the fan and add an adjustable voltage regulator in line so the current to the fan can be altered.
The adjustment means you need a variable resistor connected to the regulator to make the adjustments. I used one with a knob and made a hole out the rear side of the enclosure.
The last thing to keep in mind is that a voltage regulator generates heat (that’s where the unused voltage goes). I used a TO-220 heat sync and suspended the regulator in free space (instead of attaching it to the enclosure) since there’s plenty of airflow happening.
We now have more bubbles at our yard sales, birthdays, and block parties…all thanks to a little hack that you can do too! Enjoy.
