On Fri, 7 Apr 2006 11:01:06 -0400, "Gareee©"
wrote:

wrote in message
...
after just draping them in the pond I decided I didnt like looking right
at them. I
like the illusion of the light sorta coming from everywhere. Ingrid

If the water is crystal clear, they you can actually see the ropelights, but
once it clouds a little, from either algae, or just sediment kicked up, you
do get that cool glow effect.

For a REALLY cool mini pond effect, get a large (like galvanized tub or
larger) clear or opaque plastic storage bin. use 1-2 strings of ropelight,
and wrap it around the outside of the container. Duct tape that in place.

Dig a hole, lower that into the hole, and the add edging, or plants inside
the pondlet.

At night, because of the clear frosted plastic, the whole mini pond will
just glow, and if you choose green or blue ropelight, it looks just awesome!

It's a night cheap "accent" type of thing.

I tried it with a kiddie pool, but the lights aren't bright enough to be
seen through.


BTW, what ever happened to that guy who was going to have a small gas driven
fire pit in the center of his pond?

I'm still here, just never post because of the flood of BS from the
retarded obnoxious children that seem to infest this group.

Some experimenting revealed some issues I haven't bothered to work out
fully:

Burning propane at the water surface leaves a fine, oily, sooty
residue on the water. I could probably live with that and just
overflow the pond a little at trhe end of the evening.

Water heats fairly quickly in a #10 wash tub, don't know how that
would work out in my 1300 gallon pond.

The odor agent in propane (ethyl mercaptan) originally concerned me,
as it is toxic in "large" doses. However, it is not very
water-soluble, it is only used in 5-13 ppm in commercial propane, and
it burns, so it's probably not a factor.

I had to bubble a pretty large volume of gas through the water in
order for the flame to be self-sustaining, though I think if I used a
smaller orifice than was used in my firsdt experiment to release the
gas it would make a smaller but more consistent stream and allow a
better flame. This is really what'as holding me up, I haven't taken
the time to make a new test jig.

Thought about using a small floating platform to hold the end of a
flexible line and releasing the gas at or above the water's surface.
Designed it, haven't tested it yet.

Another thing I want to try is running a gas feed from the house line
instead of using a propane tank.

Just been too busy, new job, family, blah blah blah...

If/when I do more experiments or get a full installation I'll post
info here.

Mike
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin