My Project

Hmm... I know its hard to catch the light with a video cam, its much brighter in real person.
I think you got to try the right fibers, then everithing is different.

A couple of little videos shows the water injector at work.
The first is just a close up of the water droplet hit the stream
http://tinypic.com/r/23r1uvq/4
The next is a top view show the injector and the disturbance moving up the stream
http://tinypic.com/r/mt2iqh/4
The last is a view of the tube connecting to the injector and a view of the stream with the disturbance...the metal piece on the hose is just something to hold a "bend" in the hose to control the water flow - just a prototype
http://tinypic.com/r/j7rl8z/4

the water injector seems nice

But about your water beam, it seems pretty OK and clean..
But when I look close to it, it seems like it`s not is so laminar as it should be ?

It seems like it have thousands of little scratches in it.... hmm

I believe you are correct... the brass nozzle's edge could be cleaner... I will have another made this winter... I looked close with a magnifying glass... there are
little ridges in the edge... that has to go... you have a good eye

covewi wrote:A couple of little videos shows the water injector at work.
The first is just a close up of the water droplet hit the stream
http://tinypic.com/r/23r1uvq/4
The next is a top view show the injector and the disturbance moving up the stream
http://tinypic.com/r/mt2iqh/4
The last is a view of the tube connecting to the injector and a view of the stream with the disturbance...the metal piece on the hose is just something to hold a "bend" in the hose to control the water flow - just a prototype
http://tinypic.com/r/j7rl8z/4

My injector is much closer to the stream. the end of my injector is almost touching the stream. The water should not "drop" onto the stream. It should be close enough so the laminar stream and the injector stream "mix" at the point of the injector. This results in a stream that is "disturbed" but does not break apart as yours is doing in the video because of the "impact" of the drop. My injector is so close that a drop can't form.

I just got some new PMMA fiber optic cable today... I had to polish it up to see what it can do.
http://tinypic.com/r/331hv06/4

Lighted stream by Wednesday?

It is cold here in the Chicago burbs. 33 degree F and I am trying to get the lighting to work and take photos - Damn it cold.
Well here is the best I can do for now - at least I know it will work.
Thanks Magic Nozzle and John.
There is no light housing right now so a lot of light is leaking out to the environment and fooling my eyes. But hey it works.
I looked at the specs for the 5W led's and they appear to be the same size as the 3W - so I will be moving up - more power - more heat - I have all winter to figure it out.
Any suggestions?


http://tinypic.com/r/29p7otv/4
http://tinypic.com/r/2z83fk7/4
http://tinypic.com/r/24e41s2/4

Shooting star video - the light in the bottom right is a reflection in the water.

View My Video

How are you planning on mounting the leds? Are you going to put them at the bottom of the nozzle or travel a short distance like Mario?

http://tinypic.com/r/2dm5lqd/4

Probably short run of no more than 3 feet would put the light source just under the deck. That way I would have room for a small box with the led control board.
Are the dark spots in the stream turbulence? Thanks for your help.

That looks not bad, the dark spots has to do with turbulance, but if you have enough light power you can cover them. I also have not the same bright light in every spot of the stream, but still light everywhere. But a little bit of wind changes everithing. And its cold also overe here in switzerland.

What is the diameter of your fiber?

Just a thought, if you plan ti use your leds right under the nozzle i would use not fiber cables, i would use 3 single plexiglass rods, dimeter 5mm / 0.2" (here are still bendeble) this transport a lot of more light than a thin fiber cable. I made a little test, its really cool how much light you will have on the top. this way you can use the brightest 5W power leds with a larger diameter on the output. The ends needs polished like a dome, so the light concentrates ecact in the laminar stream.
If i start again, i would use it like this. I hope you can follow what i mean, with my funny english.

Magic Nozzle - I am using 3mm PMMA cable - it is much better than the garbage fake PMMA cable I first tried. My son has modded computer cases in the past and he has lite plexiglass before - you are correct it lights up well.

My idea would be to make a concave surface on the led end of the cable to match the led surface - that way there would be a great deal of surface contact - of course the surface would have to be polished.

On the water end of the cable would a straight end concentrate the light up and out into the stream better than a domed surface (which may spread out the light) before the nozzle exit.

Thoughts

A few last of the summer photos -

This stream is 7 feet high and 12 feet in distance. My best yet.
I will have to live with the fountains memories till spring.

http://tinypic.com/r/2i113cg/4
http://tinypic.com/r/vmvt4y/4

Thanks to everyone for all your help. I will be working on the fiber optics and electronics this fall and winter. Two new tubes will also be built.

When looking into plexiglass rods there is a difference:

Extruded Acrylic Plexiglass rods are available from Delvie's Plastics in standard 36" lengths. (72" lengths are also available) These economical acrylic rods are excellent for use in POP Displays and other decorative uses. They are normally supplied in a paper sleeve to protect during handling, but keep in mind that extruded acrylic rods do not have the optical clarity or machining characteristics of cast acrylic rod

Flame Polishing - great for the typical Plexiglass application such as table top. Light will "pipe" to the edge and exit like fiber optics. We do NOT Flame Polish over .375" thick as it is bad for the long term life of the Plexiglass. Flame Polishing is NOT recommended if you are planning on silk screening this material as the material edges will craze after screening. Do not clean flame polished Plexiglass with Windex, alcohol or any ammoniated cleaners.

Did you do something to increase the output of your stream?

I've been looking at the delvie's plastics place lately too!!!! I think I might try and stop by there this week. It's pretty close to my work.

John - some of the info about plexiglass rods came from the Delvies website.
What I did was to push the valve between the pool and the fountain a little farther than before.
With my first nozzle I actually cracked the plexiglass top when I pushed the pump.
I thought - what the heck - push it - its the end of the year.
Looks like the 3/8 pvc top plate can handle it.

Spring Time Yet?

Well its still winter here in Chicago - but I am starting to think about spring and fountains again. Its time to ebay off for more 8" pvc pipe, lights, camera and build action.

I purchased DMX DC light control circuit boards this Christmas season and will building new DMX control LED light boxes soon. I will be upgrading to 5 W LEDS and building 3 new fountains.

Fountain weather will be here soon - lets start discussing our new thoughts, builds and plans.

Hi, yes its wintersleep also here in europe. Cool you got a new DMX controller! What kind of 5W leds you plan to use? Its verry difficult to find leds with a small output, specially with fibers. Do you use any kind of fibers or Plexi rod? Have a good Time and dont forget to post.
Regards

Your DMX controller, can it control a stepper motor? How many nozzles could you theoretically control?

John -

Specifications

Channels:512 (all dimmable)

Devices:32

Topology: daisy chain

Transmission: RS-485/422

Speed: 250kbit/sec

Distance: 1500 meters (~4921 feet)

Connector: 5-pin or 3-pin XLR

Pinout: 1-Common, 2-Data Minus, 3-Data Plus, 4-Not Connected, 5-Not Connected
Setup
Connecting Devices

DMX connects devices to each other via a daisy-chain topology, which means that each new device is connected to the last in one long chain (also called a universe). A device can be anything from a dimmer pack to a moving light as long as it can receive DMX. For this article we will assume the device is a dimmer pack (dimmer).


Generally, there is a DMX-In and a DMX-Out on each dimmer. The DMX-Out from the previous dimmer connects to the DMX-In of the new dimmer. You can chain a maximum of 32 dimmers together on one run (universe).

Yes DMX will control stepper motors - the DMX control box (USB DONGLE) connects to the USB output of your PC. Then from there is goes to a DC solid state relay board. The output voltage of the DCSSR board can be set to almost any DC voltage depending on your needs. 12 Volts for the stepper is no problem.

Using Christmas software like VIXEN - http://www.vixenlights.com/ - you can control the steppers and the color change / dimming of all the LEDS.

covewi wrote:Magic Nozzle - I am using 3mm PMMA cable - it is much better than the garbage fake PMMA cable I first tried. My son has modded computer cases in the past and he has lite plexiglass before - you are correct it lights up well.

My idea would be to make a concave surface on the led end of the cable to match the led surface - that way there would be a great deal of surface contact - of course the surface would have to be polished.

On the water end of the cable would a straight end concentrate the light up and out into the stream better than a domed surface (which may spread out the light) before the nozzle exit.

Thoughts

Where did you get the new PMMA cable from? I'm having trouble finding a good fiber cable in 3mm diam. And the "garbage fake PMMA" you're talking about, is that the EndGlow one?

-Steffen-

I did buy my 3mm fiber from eBay .
Shipped to Norway no problem

Where did you get the new PMMA cable from? I'm having trouble finding a good fiber cable in 3mm diam. And the "garbage fake PMMA" you're talking about, is that the EndGlow one?

Just look here, not cheap but perfect!
https://laminar.forumotion.com/laminar-nozzle-talk-and-pictures-f1/fiber-optic-cables-3mm-with-coat-order-information-from-switzerland-arround-the-world-t96.htm

I'm a laminar newbie - but thought I might point you over to
http://doityourselfchristmas.com/

we have been doing a LOT with LED, RGB lights and PWM controllers, PIC/ATMEL processors etc.. to control our Christmas lights.. (aka. "Blinky Flashy"), Stacks of techinical knowledge of LED control
In the forums are heaps of people making controller boards that work both DMX512 and serial... and they sell teh board for you to make them too (the parts are usualy sourced from mouser.com).

For what-its-worth... I ventured over here because I was thinking of building jumpy-jumpy, laminar nozzles to incorporated into my Blinky-Flashy Christmas display. We are in the middle of summer during Christmas in Australia... so no "freezing" problems here

Thanks for an awesome read!
I am now looking at visiting the hardware store to buy some 90mm PVC, straws and fittings and try building one..
I even sourced some PMMA Fibre cable in Australia (awaiting a cost response - I expect it be expensive)...

Are there any "exploded" plans that I can get an idea of dimensions here? I see lots of photos - but to try and get them into metric is difficult.

Looking forward to reading some more!!!

Well I am back. Just finished ordering the following to make two new fountains.

Plexiglass rods - http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/Cast-Plexiglass-Acrylic-Rod/ACRCAR-500
RGB LED rainbow light control kit - http://www.pcboard.ca/shop/product.php?productid=131&cat=0&page=0&featured=Y
Perforated stainless steel sheeting instead of screening or aluminum - http://www.smallparts.com/Perforated-Sheet-Gauge-0-0178-Thick/dp/B00137UI7O?ie=UTF8&qid=1273360545&sr=1-18&pf_rd_r=1T4AF8GD3BEZV1QET7BT&pf_rd_m=A2LPUKX2E7NPQV&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_i=0&pf_rd_p=1261382322&pf_rd_s=center-3
Solenoids for cutters - http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G16940

My first experiment will be to cut back the length of the straws to either 3 or 4 inches without changing anything else - I hope to maintain the laminar flow with the shorter straws and use the extra room for the cutters. Without doing this I feel the fountains will get too long - close to 24 ".

I will run a 6-10 volt power supply through the LED kits and control the milliamps with a terminal limiting resistor - setting it at 700ma.

I want to control the cutters with my DMX Christmas light control box so I can synchronize the cuts to music and the light changes.

I tall order for myself but I have to try.

I just need 3 new brass nozzles.

Just finished the easiest electronic project ever built - LED Rainbow RGB Controller.
http://www.pcboard.ca/shop/product.php?productid=131&cat=0&page=0&featured=Y



I just have to apply voltage and put a current limiting resistor between the RGB output ant the LED themselves.