Adding a Solar Fountain to My In-ground Bird Bath

Unboxing and Setup

This is the instruction manual, and it is simple to set up. It also has 4 feet of tubing included to create different do-it-yourself water features. So all you have to do is place the stake into this part, then flip the solar panel over, and it should slide onto the back of the solar panel. Then, all you have to do is push the stake in the ground in a sunny location, but this can also be mounted on a wall if that's the option you would prefer. There's a knob on the back side so you can adjust the solar panel to face the sun. And this is 6 Watt, and it has 100% glass panels. There are several different spray nozzles to choose from.

Submersible or Floatable Pump

The solar pump can be submersible or floatable, but if you're just going to submerge it into the water, you don't have to do the step. So in order to do the step, you just need to use this straight extension part and the nozzle, and put those together. They need to go inside the foam circle, so just push it in the center of the foam circle. As you see on the bottom, the pump will attach to that, so the pump will be under the float. It also has suction cups on the bottom of the pump, so you don't have to use the float; you can just use those suction cups to stick it to the bottom of your bath.

Wire Length and Tubing

Let's see how long this wire goes because this is the solar panel wire, and I have an inground bath, and it's in a very shady area, so I need this to extend to where I can place the solar panel in the sun. It looks fairly long, so I think it'll work. So this wire will attach to the solar panel here. I won't be using this tubing, but I will set it aside just in case I decide to do something with it at a later time.

Nozzle Performance and Windy Conditions

As you can see, I have a very shady backyard; see all the Big Trees. This comes with five different nozzles, and I've tried all of those to determine which works best with my bird bath. This is the nozzle that sprays the water the highest, but it is a windy day today, so the wind is blowing the water out of the bath. This would work great in a garden pond where there's plenty of water. It would also work in this bird bath if it wasn't so windy today.

Water Shortage Sensing Device

The water pump also has a built-in water shortage sensing device. It will automatically activate when there is a shortage of water, which can happen on windy days when the wind blows the water out like it's doing today. Okay, this is another nozzle, and this nozzle doesn't spray the water quite as high, so it works better in my smaller bath and also on windy days because it's not blowing the water out.

Performance in Shady Areas

When you place a solar panel in a shady area, or if there is cloud cover, this is what the fountain will do. There is not an area in my backyard that gets full sunlight all day; we have so many trees back here, but I'm okay with this. The birds don't mind when the fountain just barely spits water out. It is best to use it in full sunlight if you want a steady flowing fountain all day long, though.

Bird Preference

I have a similar fountain that I've used in another bird bath, so I know that the birds that visit my backyard prefer a fountain where the water just bubbles out. So to get it to do this where the water's just kind of bubbling out, I just don't place any kind of nozzle cover on it; I just leave it like it is, and the birds in my backyard love it when I do this. I think they just like to hear the sound of the trickling water. I've used this for a few days, and it has worked great so far.