Dock air compressor box to pump bubbles to tube at bottom of lake.

[jjj70095]

I know you are supposed to turn in in November and run it the whole winter, however, i am only up a week or weekend here or there in winter and dont want a safety issue. The elite bubbler system is supposed to break through ice by pushing air through the bubble tube with hose. I started my bubbler Feb 8 and it did not show any signs of melting bubble. The dealer looked at it and said the tub is frozen and i would need a more powerful bubbler to break open the ice. He said his bubbler is -->$2K that he uses to break ice and it would take a day or two to open it up and charge me several hundred dollars to do this.

The dealer in NY where the unit is made said it would take a "day or two" to open the ice. So what I have done is have my friend cut a hole in ice and i put my old dock deicer on a pole down today to open it like i have done the past 10 years. Then I will hopefully start the bubble system after it opens up. It is opening up as we speak.

My goal was to just turn on bubbler and let it melt the ice, but that obviously is not happening. Any ideas or air compressor models that any of you have worked with to open ice?

Pricing - Bubbler Cost | Elite Dock Bubbler

Elite Dock Bubbler prices are based on your dock system, location and de-icing needs.

www.elitedockbubbler.com

 

[garageguy]

I would find an angry liberal, and have them stare at the ice, for a bit.

 

[whitedust]

What’s your objective? If your on a lake with ice flows bubbler won’t to anything anyway to protect your pier. Thin ice and a light wind will mow your pier down like a match stick. Power of moving ice up north is unreal. They had year round steel piling piers get bent like a paper clips on Lake Geneva this year. No idea how the damage will be resolved on those? Happy I’m not involved in anyway.

 

[jjj70095]

The goal is to protect my permanent pier (small 20 feet) from ice wrecking it. For 10 years I used a kasco bubble deicer. I got an elite bubble system last year (with a tube) and i want the new bubble system to open up the hole. It ran for 3 weeks and did not open the hole. Dealer says i would need a much more powerful air compressor to melt the ice. Most bubbler systems run all winter, but i am not at house all the time in winter.

 

[pclark]

I think the only pier you can leave in all winter and not see damage is a suspended pier. Really like the idea for my single 4ft wide 20ft pier that goes straight out.

 

[dfattack]

This company is building mine now. Stays in permanently since it's a floating dock but heavy. you really don't feel like you are on one when walking on it. I've watched my neighbors dock for the last ten years and for the most part is same as it was the day it went in. In fact, the main pic on the website is my neighbors. My dock moved every year and it's moved so much now we can't really fix it anymore. I currently have 8x8 posts supporting mine which are jack hammered into the lake bed 4-5'. Ice still moves it as if toothpicks are holding it up. Ice is crazy strong.

I would have done the aerators if I lived up there and put up tons of signage and fencing but since I'm not there full time I didn't want any liability of neighbor dogs falling in the ice (they can't read) or anyone else for that matter signs or no signs. Aerators work when installed correctly. I've seen massive boathouses in Muskoka Ontario CA. not move an inch since the aerators are running but up there it's more common to have them than to not have them.

Hopefully this is the last dock I have to buy in my lifetime.

Perfect Pier | Pier and Dock Systems

Pier and dock systems, redefined. Perfect Pier constructs and installs all permanent piers to fit your needs. Built in Wisconsin and shipped to you.

www.perfectpier.com

 

[pclark]

This company is building mine now. Stays in permanently since it's a floating dock but heavy. you really don't feel like you are on one when walking on it. I've watched my neighbors dock for the last ten years and for the most part is same as it was the day it went in. In fact, the main pic on the website is my neighbors. My dock moved every year and it's moved so much now we can't really fix it anymore. I currently have 8x8 posts supporting mine which are jack hammered into the lake bed 4-5'. Ice still moves it as if toothpicks are holding it up. Ice is crazy strong.

I would have done the aerators if I lived up there and put up tons of signage and fencing but since I'm not there full time I didn't want any liability of neighbor dogs falling in the ice (they can't read) or anyone else for that matter signs or no signs. Aerators work when installed correctly. I've seen massive boathouses in Muskoka Ontario CA. not move an inch since the aerators are running but up there it's more common to have them than to not have them.

Hopefully this is the last dock I have to buy in my lifetime.

Perfect Pier | Pier and Dock Systems

Pier and dock systems, redefined. Perfect Pier constructs and installs all permanent piers to fit your needs. Built in Wisconsin and shipped to you.

www.perfectpier.com

Darren, our neighbors had one of these PerfectPier floating docks installed last summer. I can attest that they are very sturdy and you do not even notice that you are on a floating system. There are floats under virtually every inch of the pier so it creates a very sturdy platform. They also installed the floating lift for their huge Wake Boat that uses floats that fill with water to lower and pump the water out to raise it. This fall they did pull the pins that hold the sections together and float them as close to shore as possible and they sit there until ice out when they are re-installed in their normal layout.

 

[dfattack]

Darren, our neighbors had one of these PerfectPier floating docks installed last summer. I can attest that they are very sturdy and you do not even notice that you are on a floating system. There are floats under virtually every inch of the pier so it creates a very sturdy platform. They also installed the floating lift for their huge Wake Boat that uses floats that fill with water to lower and pump the water out to raise it. This fall they did pull the pins that hold the sections together and float them as close to shore as possible and they sit there until ice out when they are re-installed in their normal layout.

Yes exactly that’s how it was explained to me for winter. Nice to hear another positive review of their system.

 

[wiharley02]

When did you put the hose in, before the ice came? Not knowing the details of your system and plumbing, it seems logical that the air hose filled up with water if you did put in last fall, and the water in the hose would freeze at the waterline/ice thickness. So can you wait? Drill a hole and drop it in now when you are ready to use it? Or, do they make a check valve you can install in the line down below that will prevent the water from filling up the hose to the waterline?

 

[jjj70095]

The hose and t valve are in the water from the end of last year. Last year , i opened the hole with my old kasco deicer and we put the system in.
The system finished the year last year and worked fine. I told them i was going to just plug it in come Feb this winter and have it break open a hole with the bubbles. The dealer out east and dealer here said it would work. Well,. it doesnt, in terms of opening a hole throught the ice.

I have it 75 percent open now with my kasco deicer and will turn on the bubble system in a few days to finish out the year. It looks like the bubble system tubing got covered with dirt from bottom of lake, but i did notice a little hole being formed in one of the bubble areas before putting in kasco decicer, but it is not strong enough to totally open it. So the key is getting a strong dock compressor without paying thousands that can open a big hole with the bubble system...but i dont know if it is possible. It is only a straight 20 foot permanent pier, not a big pier at all.

The check valve appears to be working, but i think the holes in the tubing were just submerged to much or covered with debris.