Need a little product design help

[wdfifteen]

I have a couple of these around my fish pond to keep herons from eating my koi.



It has a standard lawn sprinkler head on it and hooks up to a garden hose. When the motion detector detects motion (duh) it opens a solenoid actuated valve that sends water to the sprinkler. The water and the "chucka chuka chuka" sound is pretty effective at chasing away deer and herons - until it gets cold out and the water freezes.
I want to convert it to use compressed air. It would mean replacing the sprinkler head with something that makes noise and possibly motion. The unit can handle pressure of 60 psi or so. I just can't think of an air powered sound/motion gizmo to put on it.

[stomachmonkey]

http://youtu.be/6QcfZGDvHU8

[vash]

60 psi? Use a repurposed soda drink canister?

For the noise maker. What about a party noise maker. The one that unfurls and makes a honking noise.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[GH85Carrera]

We had a 4 foot tall Great Blue Heron in the back yard eating some expensive Koi Sushi. That sucker flew straight up when I went in the back yard.

After that my wife talked to several experts. We ended up going to the big box store and bought 5 copper rods used for ground rods. I drilled a very small hole across each one and pounded thm into the ground. Then we tied fishing line in a star pattern across the rods on top of the pond. Evidently the herons see the line and are afraid of it. We have not had a fish loss in the 5 years we have had the line up.

[M.D. Holloway]

mount a pellet gun to it

[gwood]

Project Sentry Gun

[GH85Carrera]

By FEDERAL law the bird is protected. It is illegal to hurt it or even "harass" it in any way.

When I went out to check it it was only to check on the safety of the bird to make sure it was not injured and stuck in my back yard.

[aschen]

Just plum in a cheap HF air ratchet or something if you want to use air. The noise should be anoying enough I would think.

You could use an air driven water pump to activate a fountain or something. It seems like a sort of round anout way of doing things though can you have a direct motion sensing light or noise maker?

[1990C4S]

Will that solenoid valve work on compressed air? I suspect it will.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

We had a 4 foot tall Great Blue Heron in the back yard eating some expensive Koi Sushi. That sucker flew straight up when I went in the back yard.

After that my wife talked to several experts. We ended up going to the big box store and bought 5 copper rods used for ground rods. I drilled a very small hole across each one and pounded thm into the ground. Then we tied fishing line in a star pattern across the rods on top of the pond. Evidently the herons see the line and are afraid of it. We have not had a fish loss in the 5 years we have had the line up.

This. Ive seen larger versions used for outdoor cafe/resturant seating etc and it works well.

Edit - larger versions as in more spokes You could even make it almost art like

[rusnak]

There is only one logical answer.

You must aggressively breed the Koi fish to resist the herons on their own.

Sort of a Darwinian survivalist Koi.

With frikken "laser beams" on their heads.

[jyl]

How about wrapping insulation around the water lines and the device's post. Maybe with some heat tape, the kind used to keep pipes from freezing.

[dad911]

Heron cleaned out my koi pond about 10 years ago. A few years ago saw a snake in the water eating the cheap goldfish I used to replace the Koi. But the goldfish breed like rabbits, and have reproduced faster than the predators eat them.....

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by aschen

Just plum in a cheap HF air ratchet or something if you want to use air. The noise should be anoying enough I would think.

You could use an air driven water pump to activate a fountain or something. It seems like a sort of round anout way of doing things though can you have a direct motion sensing light or noise maker?

Lights don't phase them. I've considered some kind of electrically powered noise and motion maker. It would require either a battery or a 110 power line but that is a possibility. I still need the noise and motion generating component.

[petrolhead611]

Can you not just insulate the water feed pipe and the jet( or use heated washer jets such as are found on cars, with a 12V power source)

[wdfifteen]

^^
I could, but it's 75 feet from the water supply to the pond. That's a lot of heating. Freezing is the most catastrophic problem with using water, but not the only one. The calcium in the water gunks up the valve and gets on the sensor, clouding it and lowering its sensitivity. When I'm away from home overnight (about once a month) I turn the water pump off, so I don't have coverage then. Basically, I don't want to use water anymore.
Crappy iPhone photo of pond.

[jyl]

I'm thinking you could use a water pressure pump and tank system, like this one meant for rainwater:

Water Pressure Booster System (GRAF-60113457)

Pull water from the pond, through one or more filters, place it under pressure, and use that to feed the sprinklers. Put the pump/tank in a little insulated box by the pond, maybe a little heat tape or heat bulb in that box. Then insulate and heat tape the few feet of water line to the pond and to the sprinkler. The filters might get rid of your calcium issue.

If you don't have power at the pond, it's ready enough to run a 110V circuit and having an outlet there could be handy in other ways. Anyway, you'll need power there to provide compressed air, noise, or motion.

Another thought: suppose you bury the water line to the pond, deep enough to avoid freezing? And lay a power circuit while you have the trencher. Then heat tape only the exposed bit of water line. Filters to remove calcium.

Final thought: if you really don't want to use water, then use compressed air to rotate a propeller, bounce a spring loaded metal flap on a hinge. Still need to run power.