Pond ready for fall + winter

[Marshall]

Got my ceramic coils installed today and switched out the pumps for winter setup. Also prepared the bottom and substrate for the 4 turtles of mine that go into brumation during winter (55° F - 12° C) .

 

[sissy]

OK LOL I thought I over did being prepared for every thing

 

[rodsboys]

Definitely on top of things. I don't start doing the winter thing till October. Winter is just too damn depressing here to want to get a jump on things.

 

[sissy]

Well he lives south of me and this time of the year I think the biggest worry is hurricane season .Here I don't worry until December about winter .Last year our frost was late and did not happen until November and we were lucky because others here had frost in early October .I was still mowing the grass 3 days before Christmas .It was just to high to make it through winter safely with out being matted down by snow .Then of course we for some reason had to have snow in March when I was rebuilding my pond but day temps. made it all melt in a day .

 

[rodsboys]

I miss that about Virginia "melting in a day". lol

 

[MitchM]

Got my ceramic coils installed today ...

What are ceramic coils?

 

[Marshall]

What are ceramic coils?

Ceramic coils are heaters that are made of hollow ceramic tubes and there is a central unit that heats up a fluid that is then distributed to the ceramic coil units through insulated copper pipes and then back to the heater to be heated again. It lets you spread the heating coils around the entire pond making it heat uniform without hot or cold spots and because the one heat unit provides fluid to all the separate coils it is also more efficient. The only down side to the system is you have to know how to plumb with copper pipe and also wire everything in. They don't come in ready made kits as far as I know because the piping is customized to your ponds dimensions on site and the electric connections are 3 phase hard wired so a good understanding of electricity is a good idea. I am sure you could pay someone to do it for you but I personally do mine by myself.

 

[EricV]

Ceramic coils are heaters that are made of hollow ceramic tubes and there is a central unit that heats up a fluid that is then distributed to the ceramic coil units through insulated copper pipes and then back to the heater to be heated again. It lets you spread the heating coils around the entire pond making it heat uniform without hot or cold spots and because the one heat unit provides fluid to all the separate coils it is also more efficient. The only down side to the system is you have to know how to plumb with copper pipe and also wire everything in. They don't come in ready made kits as far as I know because the piping is customized to your ponds dimensions on site and the electric connections are 3 phase hard wired so a good understanding of electricity is a good idea. I am sure you could pay someone to do it for you but I personally do mine by myself.

Must be something people in the south can do since the freezes are not so hard.

 

[Marshall]

Must be something people in the south can do since the freezes are not so hard.

The maximum low temp they can handle is 28 F but it never really gets that cold here.

 

[MitchM]

Ceramic coils are heaters that are made of hollow ceramic tubes and there is a central unit that heats up a fluid that is then distributed to the ceramic coil units through insulated copper pipes and then back to the heater to be heated again. It lets you spread the heating coils around the entire pond making it heat uniform without hot or cold spots and because the one heat unit provides fluid to all the separate coils it is also more efficient. The only down side to the system is you have to know how to plumb with copper pipe and also wire everything in. They don't come in ready made kits as far as I know because the piping is customized to your ponds dimensions on site and the electric connections are 3 phase hard wired so a good understanding of electricity is a good idea. I am sure you could pay someone to do it for you but I personally do mine by myself.

Thanks.
Would you have a picture of the setup, or a link for an example?
I haven't been able to find any examples of pond ceramic heating coils.

 

[Marshall]

Thanks.
Would you have a picture of the setup, or a link for an example?
I haven't been able to find any examples of pond ceramic heating coils.

The coils are not called pond heaters and are designed to do more than just heat water so thats why your search did not turn up anything probably. As I mentioned in the original post the parts are all sold separately because this heating system is one of my "inventions" but I do have some images below. My pipes and coils are already installed and can't be seen to picture without pulling them up but I did have pictures of the equipment itself and was able to take a pic of the junction and breaker box that I wired in because it is above ground and away from the pond making access easy. Hope the pics help you understand the setup better. If you still have questions about the system feel free to ask.

 

[sissy]

see we learn something new every day .I got something similar when I googled it

 

[MitchM]

OK, so it's essentially a 3 phase electric boiler that runs a heated liquid through insulated copper pipes to ceramic plates where the heat radiates from?

I get it now.

I am somewhat familiar with 3 phase electricity as I have a 3 phase converter for my tablesaw.
If you have 3 phase electricity directly to your home, then you are fortunate.
Is that 3 phase electricity though, or 240V to the boiler?
What is the BTU output from the boiler?

 

[Marshall]

OK, so it's essentially a 3 phase electric boiler that runs a heated liquid through insulated copper pipes to ceramic plates where the heat radiates from?

I get it now.

I am somewhat familiar with 3 phase electricity as I have a 3 phase converter for my tablesaw.
If you have 3 phase electricity directly to your home, then you are fortunate.
Is that 3 phase electricity though, or 240V to the boiler?
What is the BTU output from the boiler?

Yep, that is basically the way the system runs. I use oil in mine cause it hold the heat a lot better and does not need to get nearly as hot as water does. With water you run the risk of busting a seal or valve but the oil does not get that hot.