First attempt needs improvement

U can see that the water is pretty nice (laminar) the first 40cm but after this point it switches to a normal water flow again.

Because i am a new member i can't post a link, but u can find it by going to Youtube.com and then add /watch?v=2K8oTGHoC6g

Just finished my first working laminar water jet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN6CQYMWD1I
Now i want to add a cutter mechanism but i really dont know what servo i should use.
I mean servo's are really small and maybe the blade will brake because of the water pressure despite that my water jet isnt that powerfull.
Hope u guys can help me out !

Hi

I am having a similar problem as you first encountered.

My flow starts off laminar but then downstream it breaks up. What did you do to overcome this?


Thanks,

Nick

There are a couple things you can do to help your stream.

1) Ensure you have a good nozzle that is lined up perfectly with the direction flow of the water. If your nozzle is rough edged or not lined up this can have an effect.
2) Ensure all of your straws are perfectly lines up inside your fountain. Sometimes they look mostly straight but if you examine closely you'll notice that their tops are slightly offset from their bottoms. This can cause the slightest of swirls and mess up the stream.
3) Check your pump and make sure its not jerky or pulsing. A lot of cheap pumps have a slight pulse to their output that can mess things up.
4) Slow down your flow and see if that helps. Most pumps have a mechanical flow restriction you can set for this. All fountains break down at some point, you might be exceeding the capabilities of yours. As you slowly fine tune things you'll notice that the you can keep bumping up the flow rate.

One cool little trick you can do for pump issues is build a "flow damper". A flow damper is a air tight tube or tank you put between the pump and the fountain with an air pocket on top to absorb the pulses from a cheap pump. For mine I bought a length of 4" PVC, a toilet flange for one end to sit up right on and a cap for the top end. I cut a hole for the inlet a few inches from the bottom and another hole for the outlet 6-8 inches above the inlet. The 4" tube and the top cap is another foot higher than the outlet. As long as the top cap is sealed the air in the top will stay and compress as the water flow varies to give you nice smooth flow.

Hope that helps!
Ike