DIY Laminar water jets

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D

duanebe

0
Jun 26, 2014
155
Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada
I just put in my 18x42 IG Vinyl pool this year and before I pour the concrete deck in the spring (it's all covered in snow now), I am planning to build 6 laminar water jets with computer controlled RGB lights, water cutters and bumpers to make some neat water/light shows. I'm also planning to hook this up to the music being played at the pool so the water can dance and light according to the music. Should be a fun project... we'll see how far I can get before spring.

I got a few packages full of electronic parts yesterday to start playing with... raspberry pi, some mini arduinos, 3W LEDs and drivers and some acrylic rod to carry the light from the led's into the water jet. Here is a pic of a couple LED's shining into the acrylic rod... pretty cool little lights!

 
I've been planning a couple of propane firepits too.... it just occurred to me that I could control these with the same software that runs the light/water show to music... big bursts of fire timed to the music and synced to the light/water jets would be uber-cool! This project will never end, but this is the fun part so it's ok :)
 

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Here's some progress pics... but, don't follow along in building one just yet... I'm only experimenting here at this point... I'll summarize the working build when it's finished...

I'm using 6" DWV (Drain, Waste, Vent) PVC... This is not pressure rated pipe, but my design is completely within two layers of pipe and coupler so it might be ok. It is much cheaper than schedule 40 6" PVC. Now that I've warned you that this is completely unsafe, feel free to follow along for amusement purposes only :)

Starting with a 6" coupling...



Used a mini-grinder to remove the stop inside...



Cut out a piece of stainless perforated sheet steel to fit the inside diameter of the pipe...





Cut a 1" wide "slice" off the end of a piece of 6" DWV pipe...



Cut the sliced piece and ground the end so it provides a snug fit inside the coupler... I will use several of these to hold layers in place within the body of the jet...



Cut up some sponges as the first barrier to slow the water down...





Glued a cap on the end of the coupling... these were not the size I expected, it should have fit on the pipe, but it fit very tightly on the outside of the coupling instead... I'll need to look into other ways for the production units (this one will be a prototype)... I also added the water inlet at an angle, the angle helps the water swirl and slow down before heading opward through the sponge...





That's it for today... might have some more over the holidays if I can escape to the garage to play...
 
I'm following along and have played with these a little. I would think that the cellulose sponge might not flow quite enough but I don't know far and wide you plan to throw a laminate stream of water. Most people are using Scotchbrite pads (synthetic steel wool) for that. It will be easy for you change later I suppose. I am experimenting with some open-cell foam we use at work because I can get lots of it for free in the dumpster.
 
I've got a carton of scotch-brite pads here as well... I've seen others use both... I'll be experimenting with a few combinations.

Most people are using drinking straws as the final step, but the commercial units don't do this... I'm going to try a series of the stainless screens and scotch-brite pads... if I can avoid drinking straws I will.

I don't have definite goals for height and distance, but ideally I would like to see them reach the middle of the pool which will be 10-11 feet horizontally... would be really cool to see them go 6-8 feet vertically at the same time.
 
So.. first test firing today :)

Doubled the length by joining two pipe couplings, then built up layers of perforated stainless steel sheet with a single layer of cellulose sponge at the inlet. Jet is a 5/8" hole in a stainless steel pan.

Tested with the house water supply... not enough pressure and/or flow to go very far... cellulose sponges are likely restricting pressure a lot... I'll remove them and try again.









 
For sure, it's a successful first step... next step is to set up a reservoir and bigger pump inside the garage so I don't have to go out in the cold to test.

Most people pack the pipe full of drinking straws to straighten the water flow before it exits through the nozzle, I'm very happy that I could achieve the same result with a series of stainless steel screens... much more reliable in the long run, and so far it seems to work great. My nozzle needs some work, it's not a perfectly round circle... I'll have to play with making that a bit better.
 
OMG.. I am soaked! LOL! I moved it all into the garage with a 45 gal drum as a reservoir with a 3/4hp sump pump on a bypass valve.... I had to use fittings on hand which meant I could only put the valves at the water barrel, which, of course, is also the target for the water jet... well... let's just say there is water everywhere :)

Needs a bit of tuning... and some re-plumbed pipes so I can adjust the flow from a drier spot! :)

My stream is nowhere near smooth... I'll focus next on making my exit nozzle smoother and round.

I don't think the cellulose sponges are restricting much flow.... I had to keep it throttled down so the garage ceiling wasn't getting blasted... it's about 11 feet high.

 

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