Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Slave Dog

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I'm not getting the picture???

Sunil � That is a quite logical, precise and relevant comment. Take care that your discernible event horizon does not fade into obscurity! :p

Sometimes you guys make me seem almost normal by comparison.

Theo Gallus - It depends what you mean by normal!

Dwight,

Never having experienced a Minnesota winter, do you think you'll reach a point where the circulator will need to run 24/7 to prevent ice freeze up?

Russ - Yes, I do expect that during a period of below zero nights and single digit days the circulator will be on 24/7.

It will be interesting to see how large an opening exists during those conditions!

Theo Gallus - It depends what you mean by normal!

The circulator battle against the ice begins!

The ten day forecast temperatures are: 27 degree average high temperature and 9 degree average low temperature.

I almost feel like camping down there just to witness it happen!

Dwight, are those seasonable temps?

According to the weather channel, much of the U.S. will have a major weather/temp change within the next 24-48 hours.

Good luck with the de-icer.

Russ - Those temperatures are below normal, thankfully! In Minnesota it seems like normal is abnormal and abnormal is normal.

I had the circulator set to run from 0600 to 0800 hours. Obviously, that was not enough to keep open water at 4 degrees. I took the first photo at around 0800 this morning and then set the circulator to run continuously as long as the temperature is below 32.5 degrees. 3 hours later I took the next two photos. As you can see there is an area of open water along with a lot of water on top of the ice. More later......

This information is extremely beneficial to me. Thank you, thank you.

These are photos taken around 1645 hours. A definite V shape has formed and the water on top of the ice has frozen. The current temperature is 15 degrees, going down to around 2 degrees overnight.

Keep in mind if you are ice fishing, that a system like this will create currents a couple of hundred feet away, so you may have unexpected weak spots in the ice a significant distance from the Kasco unit.

Bruce Condello - I am having a good time with this circulator ice management project.

This particular seasonal change was never my favorite and still isn�t, though it is a whole lot more interesting then it used to be!

I took some photos that I hoped would show those "thin ice" areas caused when the circulator is moving water under the ice.

A bright day and a lot of glare made them un-usable.

There were two obvious areas where you could see the ice "thinning". After the circulator opened the ice, those areas faded away.

Anyway, always take care when you are on the ice!

During summer use I had my 3/4 hp Kasco running 24/7 on my 1.3 acre pond. There were signs of circulation on the entire pond. I was stunned.

Photos @ 0745 hours this morning after a night of single digit temps with a low of 2 degrees.

It was 55 degrees here this afternoon. So I went out and did a pond check and some outdoor projects. A 55 degree day in December is a very encouraging. This is a photo of the circulated area looking to the west. Lately I have been running the circulator only at night and if the temperature is also below 30 degrees.

Wow Dwight, what a great picture! Is that your property in the background? 55 degress in December, in Southwestern Minn ?? I didn't think they made thermometers that registered that high in Minn.

Russ - Thanks, on the photo, sometimes I get lucky!

Our property ends at the top of the berm on the other side of the farthest rock pile.

When you live in Minnesota you learn that a very nice warm day in December is a day to get outside and enjoy. Tomorrow, who knows? :rolleyes:

Most of the ice on the pond is now at 11 inches.

30 feet behind the circulator the ice is 7 inches.

15 feet behind the circulator the ice is 5 inches.

Since the circulator only runs at night if the temperature low enough, a thin layer of ice generally surrounds it. When running, it only takes a few minutes for the ice to clear in a V-shape and then the open water spreads along the shore line.

Dwight, when you restart the circulator each morning, is it melting the ice in front of it, or is it just pushing water on top of the ice?

Sunil - It melts the ice.

If you scroll up a little ways, there are several photos that make it very clear that the ice is melted and there is open water.