kitchenaid kd-17 hydrosweep pond pump changes for 2013

[rollermatic]

i did a post back in 2009 showing how i made a pond pump display out of a kitchenaid hydrosweep. i got the idea from an old ad i saw back around 1972 of a kitchenaid pump and hydrosweep floating in a pond shooting huge jets of water up into the sky! i decided to make my own.

this pic shows the original design in 2009.

 

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the original design had a

kitchenaid upper spray arm support mounted on a pvc toilet flange that was mounted to a 4 ft. circular peice of plywood.

 

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this floating platform had peices of 2x4

mounted on the bottom to give it extra buoyancy.

this was later modified to having peices of 2 inch pvc pipe with end caps on each end to keep water out mounted to each of these 2x4 planks for even more buoyancy!

 

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the pump was mounted underneath

this structure via pvc pipe and reducing bushings in the toilet flange.

 

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another original design

i tried with the pump and pvc pipe and toilet flange. shown here before mounting on the floating platform.

 

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another pic of the

upper spray arm support and toilet flange combination.

 

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hydrosweep is on

and entire platform ready to be launched!

 

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backing up a minute here it is

being tested to see how much water the pump will push thru the hydrosweep.

 

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here it is in action

in close up.

 

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another pic of it back in

2009.

 

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that design worked well until

the pump went out last summer. the wooden platform was also showing it's age so i decided to start over and try ti simplify the design itself. i kept thinking of an automobile inner tube design.

 

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so here it is back in action for 2013!!!

simple! take an inner tube and put a colorful (blue or green) laundry basket inside it! mount a hydrosweep upper spray arm support on that same toilet flange. reduce it down with bushings and connect it via 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe to a new submersible pond pump with a high output volume. this one is a 5500 g.p.h. pump.

float the inner tube in a pond and there you have it!

 

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and

again!

 

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this is so much better!

the inner tube won't rot out like the wood platform or become water logged. the pump is easily lifted out of the laundry basket for cleaning and the entire unit is much lighter and easier to launch and pull into shore.

 

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i actually finished it back in march and

tested it at the time of our last snow here in cinti. this year. pump would not stay upright but kept tilting until i connected a wire harness to it to keep it centered and vertical inside basket.

 

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could not wait for that snow to be

gone and spring to be here so i could sit on this bench and watch that hydrosweep go round and round while feeding the goldfish and koi.

 

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that hydrosweep spins really fast

and i clocked it at around 120 rpm. if i remember i think i did drill an extra hole or two laterally in that hydrosweep to give it extra push on it's spin!

all in all it's a complete success and is miles above the original design as far as simplicity goes!

thought someone might enjoy this!

 

[turquoisedude]

Looks great, Pete! Nice idea to replace the wooden platform with the inner tube and laundry basket - this should last a looooonnnnng time now. Now, let's just hope the snow is gone for the season... The pond and surroundings look so serene!

Hubby has also seen your pond in previous threads and has generously offered to dump my KA Electra portable in our creek and use it as a fountain pump. I can't repeat what my reply was.... LOL

 

[washerman]

I Want

That is so cool. I wish I had a pond of my own so I could do something like that!

 

[yogitunes]

EXACTLY.......I want a pond or even a koi pond(even a pool) to have a water feature like this.....and especially a dishwasher spray arm.....it doesn't get any better than this....LOVE IT!....

you beat me to the punch line of that platform, because I was thinking about that wood not lasting long.....and some thing for the future, find an old unused plastic patio table, remove the legs, and cut the umbrella hole larger.....would make a nice platform, and add a few underwater pool uplights, in colors, for dramatic night viewing....just a thought

but nonetheless....this is freaking fantastic!

 

[a440]

Great idea Pete!
Didn't you do a video of your last pump set up?
I bet it sounds great.

 

[gansky1]

I was thinking about your pond fountain just a while ago - this is a great improvement! Hope you have many hours of Hydro-Sweeping fun.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Very nice revision Pete!   Awesome job!   Very cool!

 

Is there any chance you can shoot and post video if it in action?

 

Thanks!

Kevin

 

[stevet]

Video to follow!

This deserves to be immortalized on youtube. When can we expect to see it there?

 

[revvinkevin]

We all want to see...........

 

 

VI - DEE - OOO!!   

 

 

VI - DEE - OOO!!  

 

 

VI - DEE - OOO!!   

 

 

VI - DEE - OOO!!  

 

 

Please? 

 

 

[cam2s]

This is awesome!!!

I actually tried to do something similar as a when I was really young. Grandma used to have an old (pre Power Clean) Whirlpool dishwasher. When it died, I took the upper spray arm out of it. Since it just clipped into the rack, I was able to attach it to the top of my old rabbit cage. Then I took one of those whirly gig sprinklers and took the whirly gig out so it would shoot a stream of water up into the feed hole. It flooded the yard rather then effectively distributing water, but it was fun for me to play with.

This makes me want to have a pond so I can have my own hydrosweep fountain!

 

[rollermatic]

thank you all for your kind words

i do have 2 videos of the old design on you tube, just search "kitchenaid hydrosweep pond pump' i think i did them in 2009 0r 2010.

i will take a video of this new design tomorrow with my digital camera but i have no idea how to upload a video to this site. i have tried doing it before attempting to upload the video the same as i do photos and it won't work. if you guys can explain how to do it (in simple terms please, i am not that computer savvy) i will be happy to put a video on here. i would really like to know how anyway for future reference with my washers and dishwashers.

as for the pond i simply had a neighbor come over back in 2003 and dig me a hole 35 ft. in diam. and 8 feet deep. he used a back hoe or digger thing, not sure the name but he had it done in about 4 hours. i live in a very swampy part of cinti called milford/goshen area (east side) and it filled up on it's own in less than a week. some summers i have to add water, some i don't. i added a bunch of feeder goldfish that are now about a foot long and started adding koi 2 years ago. i have had turtles in it, even a snapper a neighbor threw in against my will, snakes ofcourse, and every cat in the neighborhood knows he can get a drink whenever he wants! even had some ducks land in it one day!

i like the idea of the plastic lawn patio table, if i ever change it again i will try that! will add buoys of pvc pipe underneath. nice thing about the laundry basket (even tho it's not that professional looking) is that the pump is so accessable! i can simply lift it out for cleaning once i remove the straps that hold it vertical.

again thanks everyone for the encouragement and paul, please don't put that electra portable in the creek! i love those portables! i don't think it would float!

anxiously waiting instructions on video uoploading procedures!

(digging pond in 2003. guy on right is neighbor who threw the snapper in the next year! i'm glad he moved out of the neighborhood).

 

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another view

of pond dig.

 

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and

finally! my wonderful dog "china" looks on in excitement. she never got in the pond tho, i can't seem to keep duke out of it. weimerainers love water, dobermans don't i guess.