Trickle Fountain
I love the sound of flowing water. Whether it be the soft babbling of a stream or the steady rush of waves, I could sit and listen for hours. So, with a shot of inspiration from Pintrest, I decided to make a trickle fountain. But this project was quite different than any other I had taken on: the mechanical design necessary to create a functional fountain was quite simple, so every decision became a matter of aestheics. From my choice of components to materials to fabrication processes, it was all driven by the desire to create the most beautiful product. In this vein, I chose to make the fountain battery powered with a solar panel for recharging, preventing a potentially ugly power adapter and cable.
With the electronics purchased and recieved, I dove into the design of the structure which, with the exception of the water-jetted display panel, was designed without the aid of a CAD software. The stainless steel base was fusion welded out of individual planar sheets to ensure each panel fit snugly with its neighbors and created a watertight seal. There is a dedicated electronics section to keep the battery, solar controller, and switch out of the water. However, welding the walls of this section to the outer walls of the base would reveal their presence due to the rainbow heat affected zone created when welding and disrupt the aesthetic of the base. In an attempt to hide this section, the walls are epoxied and sealed with a silicone sealant. The tower is comprised of six separate mild steel tubes, three square and three circular. The square tubes make up the main structure of the tower while the circular ones guide the water in a cascading pattern. These tubes have been TIG welded together, sanded to a smooth brushed finish, and clear coated to prevent rust from forming.
The submersible pump sits just outside of the electronics enclosure with its singlular wire piercing the wall and connecting to the controller. A tube on the outlet of the pump transports the water up the square tube and into the topmost circular tube where the cascade begins. All of this just to for that seemingly unremarkable sound...
