Has anyone tried to use a battery powered cordless leaf blower to aerate their pond ?

I have several of these leaf blowers that run on 18 volts and I was thinking of trying to rig them up, so they run during the day, on solar panels and fix them on a angle, so they can suck in air but have the output end/ nozzle underwater, so it aerates the pond . Would this work ?

Anyone ?

Nope it won't "aerate" the pond.

Surely the idea would circulate the water in the pond, which provides some benefits ?

The leaf blower itself wouldn't do anything for your pond, you couldn't get air more then a ft below the water surface, now if you had a way to hook it up to a bubbler down deeper in the pond it may have some aeration benefits, but I can't imagine the blower itself lasting very long trying to push any amount of air with any resistance, they are mostly built to move a volume of air at no resistance.

They make a solar aeration system that is actually designed for that purpose, but I cant imagine a leafblower setup being anywhere near cost effective. but then Ive been wrong way more times then I care to admit.

A leaf blower is designed for high volume, minimal pressure. I don't see it as an efficient tool. Proper aeration is needed for hours at a time. Look at buying the right kind of system, if you want to properly aerate.

Look in the Pond Boss Resource Guide. https://www.pondboss.com/Resources?lci=1

55,
While it will not do what you want, it would help to some degree. But not the degree you are thinking. If you want to try it, don't put the end in the water, put in above the water at a 45 degree angle. This will allow you to spray some of the top water while starting a slight current. The problem is your blower is not rated for continuous use. It will fail, it will be very loud, and it will scare your fish away.

On the other hand, I have built several solar powered paddlewheel aerators. They run all day slowly and the difference is clearly testable. Use the right tool for the job. But your Idea is funny to think about.

Also, how big is your pond? Size does matter.

If your going to try solar here is what I have built 3 of. 2 or 300 watts of solar panels 12 volt output, 2 cheap lead acid deep cycle 12 volt batteries, or better yet AGM batteries. A cheap charge controller, and a cheap 120 VAC inverter for a car accessory plug. Buy a simple sewer system diaphragm pump to plug into the inverter. I have 3 running year round in Wisconsin. You can buy everything off Amazon. This is by far the cheapest system for aeration. The pump I use only draws about 17 watts so a cheap 150 watt inverter works fine. Note that I aerate in the shallow water as the pump will only work to about 5 feet deep. You can buy a larger pump and go deeper but it will draw down the batteries sooner. My set up runs 24-7 unless i get several days without sun. The controller will shut of the inverter if your batteries get low, then restart once you get a charge again. If you want to build one I can send pictures. PS any system to mechanically circulate water will get clogged or burn out. This is why compressed air is best.

woodster, I think you left out what size self sinking hose you used, and what you used for diffusers. Personally I don't like the diaphragm pumps because of the frequency of the rebuilds needed to keep them running.

well, heres a update.

I was able to purchase 4 new 18 volt leaf blowers off ebay for $40 shipped. They did not come with the battery pack, but I did not need that.

I hooked it up to a 100 watt solar panel and sunk the blower end down into the water. There was movement and although I do feel that movement was beneficial in some manner, it did not give me the results/ aeration I was seeking.

So, I took the blower apart , took the dc motor out of the blower and stuck the spinning impeller about 1 inch deep into the water in a flat position { not like a watermill is position } . The aeration was incredible . The motor did not sound strained at all .

I will be using this method to try inexpensive and hopefully successful aeration. It will only be run by a solar panel, which means it will only run on proper sunny days. Therefore it will not be running non stop. Im hoping this will allow the brushes to last a couple years , because I will only have the aerator in the pond during the spring/ summer months. The only other snag I see, is the bearings wearing out due to possibly getting wet, but I will do my best to try and make sure the DC motor is protected from the elements and the massive amount of water that is sprayed by the spinning impeller.

The good thing is, even if the brushes wear out after 6 months of use, I can always upgrade to a better DC MOTOR that has better brushes and replaceable brushes.

I already had the solar panel, so this aeration system only costs me about $10 and some ingenuity. I will probably use some pvc pipe assembles into a 12inch x 12 inch airtight square and fasten the blower unti to that, so it floats on the water, while allowing the plastic impeller to be about 1 inch into the surface of the water.

I was shocked at how much aeration/water this 18 volt DC motor / impeller achieves,

With my pond being about 1/2 acre, I think just 1 of these blowers will suffice, but if not, I can always make a 2nd blower and put it on the other side of the pond.

If anyone is interested, here is the blower brand im using. It seems that this brand is the least expensive being sold.

I'm not good at telling someone what they want to hear vs. what is actually going to happen when they try something they "think" is going to work.

Unless you have a dissolved Oxygen meter, you cannot tell whether the water movement you are seeing is actually helping aerate the pond. Do you have an O2 meter?

Can I have your permission to use that line at work?

So you are claiming that the only way a person can tell if their pond aeration is working/ helping, is by owning a 02 meter ?

That would be the only way to have definitive proof, which would be helpful for such a unique idea. A video of the system might help visualize things better also.

I would question whether you are getting any meaningful turnover at depth. A significant benefit of a good aeration system is the ability to increase dissolved O2 throughout the water column. Surface agitation can certainly help achieve that, but is not likely to be very efficient, IMO.

I applaud you for thinking outside the box. Worst case scenario if you aren't achieving great results after some time or if you find that the motors are going belly up after a short time, you aren't out much and likely got plenty of enjoyment/entertainment simply from working on the system and testing it out (assuming you are anything like me).