Solar powered illuminated slalom course - (not a re-ride request discussion)

[Jdubs]

When I look out at the lake just at dusk and see how the wind has calmed down nearly every night, I have to ask myself - has anyone else dreamed of a solar powered illuminated slalom buoys? I know that there is the Big Dawg under the lights - and I know that Goode sold their flashlight driven Power Buoy for a year or so. (although I don't think they sell them anymore). But all of that is a major ordeal. I just want something with a seamless photo-sensor that lights up each night like the little solar powered lights sold at the dollar store that are found in flowerbeds.

 

From my understanding - all the major buoy manufactures use a molded injection process that is far to hot for a solid state electronic components to survive. I don't know about everyone else, but I would be willing to kick out a premium for my course to light up each night.

 

We have had nights we use clear duct tape to adhere glow-sticks to buoys with correct color to match guide balls and turn balls. Its a pretty big hit, but we never go so far as tried to hold a tournament.

 

Is it possible that something could ever come about in the foreseeable future?

[TylerR]

Sounds cool. It probably shouldn't be too hard to make small scale. I'm working on something else and away from my engineering textbooks, so I summon @E_T‌ for engineering knowledge.

[Wish]

Martha Stewart may have the answer...after all, she's had some experience with orange jump suits..

 

http://nazwiska.info/shop1001/product/Plaid-Craft%20MS3220-20%20Martha%20Stewart%20Glow-In-The-Dark%20Paint%206%20Ounces-Yellow

[chris_logan]

I did a quick search and found these.

 

lightinthebox.com/Solar-Power-Water-Floating-LED-Light--1049-CIS-32007-_p157282.html?currency=USD&litb_from=paid_adwords_shopping

 

They appear to be inflatable and are 11-20cm, which 8" is 20.32cm - so perfect size and colors. Durability might be an issue.

[TylerR]

@chris_logan‌ I would tear those up pretty quickly

[klindy]

Do you have bubble buoys now (or at least one)? If so, go to walmart or wherever and buy 3 of the landscape lights you mentioned. Use some silicone to seal them up as good as possible and duct tape or zip tie them to the straps which anchor the buoy. If light can be seen from inside the buoy, then sunlight is also able to "get inside" the buoy. The question is whether there's enough to charge the batteries every day. You can put the buoy anywhere to test. It doesn't need to be in the course.

[TylerR]

I'll test this when I get home next month for more than 24 hours. If someone else wants to test it before then let me know

[E_T]

Ya it can be mass produced easy. I need 20k and I'll give you the first set..... Retro fit.... Let me finish my current project and with a little encouragement maybe I'll tinker with this. Neat idea

[markchilcutt]

My ski partner @Milford built a solar powered bouy years ago it was really cool. Not sure what ever happened with his product design.

[Horton]

glow sticks are cheap

[E_T]

@Horton‌ why waste time with set up?

[ToddL]

So, here's an idea... Separate the location of the solar panel from the location of the lit skier buoy. You know how some courses have the "mini" or kneeboard buoys which are about 10 feet narrower than the skier turn buoys? The solar panel/battery assembly could be floated safely inside of the turn buoy and the light element could be mounted into the turn buoy connected by a wire. Just a diff approach to think about.

[GOODESkier]

$1 water led lights zip tied to the ball line below the ball. Takes a few minutes to hit the button on each one. Works, now to find something to get rid of the extra protein in the teeth and eyes......

[ToddL]

Then, there is this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Duck-Tape-1.88-x-10-Glow-in-the-Dark/21909791?action=product_interest

[ToddL]

Not sure this is safe to ski shortline on... (durable High Density Polyethylene) But maybe for boat guides?

http://www.aqualantern.com/

[ToddL]

High grade glow in the dark paints

https://www.glonation.com

[Jdubs]

I don't have 20K @E_T, but I would love to see what you come up with. We have four lakes and I know that we would do at least 3 if there were glow in the dark buoys to illuminate the coures.

 

[E_T]

The 20k was more of a manufacturing joke. I'll keep you updated

[BrennanKMN]

Check this out.

[BraceMaker]

Anyone in the know? It would seem like a fiberoptic system could "pipe" light into the ball, possibly using a second ball outbound for your battery/solar cell, so you could have the surface receptor.

 

At what point does some form of low voltage spotlight under the ball (like a subbouy) physically wired to shore make sense.

 

Could you carry enough power over something like outdoor co-ax?

[Milford]

I spent approximately 2 years working on a solar powered lighted buoy system. My goal was to make a system that would automatically turn on each night as the sun set, expanding the amount of time we could ski and adding some ambiance to the lake as it got dark. Nothing better than sitting back with a few beers looking at a course lit up like a Christmas tree. I showed my system to Dave Goode and he immediately loved it. We started working together to come up with a design and found that the 2009 Big Dawg finals were slated to ski under the lights at night. The the project took a turn and was developed to light up that course, in a reliable way. That tournament was the first tournament to ever use lighted buoys. I flew out to FL to attend the night finals, as a spectator, and make sure the buoys performed as they should and everything worked great. I had no plans on going to nationals that year, but these lighted buoys got me there. Ironically, I won the M3 division the next day. Obviously, I am really glad I made the trip. Goode still has the power buoy, but they require each buoy to be turned on, manually. This works great for competitions, but is not ideal for the average lake.

 

My solar prototypes worked and would charge each day and light up every night. It was beautiful! I used landscape lighting products form local hardware stores to make working prototypes. I had a solar panel that floated 12 inches below the surface of the water that would recharge each day. This solar panel also had a photocell that would turn on the light each night and each buoy would stay lit the entire night. The light was inserted into a traditional buoy with some hardware that clamped the light into place and created an airtight seal. This worked on our lake, as it is very clear. Don't know if it would work on lakes with lots of particulates or algae in the water.

 

I still think that there is a market for these automatic solar lighted buoys, but that market is very small. The R&D, tooling and manufacturing costs would not make sense, in my option.

 

Would love to see it happen, as I think, similar to landscape lighting at a house, these lighted buoys would give you something really beautiful to look at each night. They would also extend the ski able hours in the day by about an hour.

 

I still have a pile of stuff in my basement and if I get some time, might decide to pick up where I left off.

 

The video that @BrennanKMN posted above is Dave Goode's lake in Ogden, UT lit up with the power buoys.

 

Jeff Milford

[Jody_Seal]

I would think someone real handy could insert a small led into a standard buoy and utilize a water tight 9 volt battery pack wired down below the buoy water line near the hook attachment.

 

???????

[Jdubs]

@Milford I for one hope you continue to develop your idea. I think a lit up course would be something special. The lake I live on is gumbo like clay and very murky, but I would still love to test it out.

[Edbrazil]

Very nice to see some engineering and electronic types working on innovations like this.

[BobF]

Have done the glow sticks and duct tape routine and it is a blast! For extra safety and entertainment in the boat, don't forget to attach a few to a vest and the handle.

[Stevie Boy]

So if somebody produced a bouy with like a plastic test tube inside, but accesible from the outside, all you would have to do is drop a glow stick in each bouy, any colour you like ta da !

[Stevie Boy]

Coming back to that, plastic tube with one end blocked, glue gun, bouy, then make hole in bouy for tube, glue it in, inflate, drop glow stick in and voila !