July 2026: Thursday Work Crew Update
Blog by GHMF Committee Member Dennis N.
Hello Again GH Fountain Enthusiasts!
Can you believe it, we are essentially halfway through the fountain season?! So many things have transpired this year, especially with all the new tech upgrades. There has also been a multiplicity of maintenance items that have been addressed by the Thursday crew, but in the interest of time I would like to highlight just a few of them.
First, I need to circle back and clarify where I misspoke in my last update. Thank you to those that gave feedback questioning whether a new program was written for the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). Your thoughts/comments were correct. There was no new program written for that but rather some enhancements from our Choreography Software to the PLC.
Annual Maintenance Day:
On April 25, 2026, we had our annual fountain maintenance/clean-up day. The weather was ideal as were the group of volunteers who came to help. The main task tackled that day were:
Removal of sand and debris by hand from the pond.
Cutting brush along the access drive to the fountain.
De cobwebbing the speaker houses.
Painting the stairwell entrance to the pumphouse.
Removing the old lights and associated cable.
Unboxing and staging new lights to their positions.
Mounting some of the new lights.
Greasing the fittings for the Sweeps.
Removing and cleaning nozzles for the ring water features.
Decommissioning some of the control boxes for the old lights.
Maintenance Day up to Fountain Startup:
As we transitioned into the last week of April, the Thursday crew worked 3 -4 days a week and has done so through opening day on May 22, 2026. During this time frame, all manpower assets were mainly centered around completing the light installation. This included:
Removing remaining network cables as well as light cables.
These cables were then replaced with all new. The eight new network cables were pulled through conduit in the pump house and plugged into one of two new Splitter boxes (one being a spare) in the control room.
Eight new remote splitter/distribution boxes were deployed on the fountain. Each new box had to be fitted/fabricated to fit the existing stands with some repurposed and new mounting brackets. The stands were also adjusted to accept new lighting brackets. The new splitter boxes will be simplified since they will not contain decoder units. This is quite different since each new light will now contain its own internal decoder. In the new setup, the fountain computer will send a signal to a DMX Splitter in the control room. From there the signal will be split to one of 8 new splitter/distribution boxes. Each of the new boxes will be responsible for routing signals to 6-7 lights on the fountain. Each light will have its own address and when a signal arrives that is associated with that address, the light will respond and display the color chosen by a choreographer.
The new fountain lighting system will be comprised of 55 lights. That is 10 more lights than last year. The new light fixtures will have 3 different beam widths. A 15-degree beam width for the tallest narrowest water features (Spout and Helix) as well as all modules #4 rings and #5 rings. A 30-degree beam width for the 6 lights on the peacock and a 45-degree beam width for the shortest widest water features. The majority of the lights will be 45 degrees. The doves will now be lit with two 45-degree lights.
Reconfiguring the Unistrut cable raceways in a manner to more efficiently accommodate light cables in the rear of the fountain. Each T-shaped configuration will support the rear lights of 1 module on the fountain.
Start Up:
Final cleanup and washdown of the pond was completed on the morning of May 15th. Upon completion, the pond began to be filled at 10:30am and by about 10pm the fountain pumps were fired up and the new lights were aimed for best possible lighting coverage of the water features.
New Song Testing:
On May 16th, the first round of choreographed songs began to be tested. The lighting looked great and the new songs completed with the new choreographer software were impressive. I was even able to see my choreographed song, Green Acres and Help! (The Beatles) come to life with the new lights.
Mechanical Issues:
During May 16 testing and subsequent testing throughout the following week, it became obvious that an issue needed to be addressed. The issue turned out to be several valves that were not opening and closing properly. Just so happens that these valves were the ones fitted with rebuilt air actuators as reported in the last update.
After some time of troubleshooting, it was discovered that the replacement O-rings used on the pistons in the actuators were not an exact fit. However, they are the closest fitting O-ring commercially available. This was found out by taking apart a properly working valve and noticing that the original O-ring was different. It was wider and made specially for those actuators. Furthermore, the company which built the original actuators used on the fountain is out of business and the parts are no longer available (this includes aftermarket). Our Thursday crew leader, Jerry Troke, worked with a supplier and found that we could potentially work with a spacer/filler ring in conjunction with the O-rings we are using to fill the gap and allow the O-rings to work properly.
As of June 4, 2026 this appeared to have worked enough to allow the associated water features to operate, but air leakage was still evident. So back to the drawing board to try and locate properly fitting spacers or have custom O-rings made for these actuators as well as any future rebuilds. Stay tuned. Fortunately, not enough valves were affected to significantly hamper normal fountain operation.
During routine testing another issue arose which was a leaky/corroded feed pipe to the Bazooka water feature on the left side of the fountain. This resulted in having to shut down the entire Bazooka feature for some time. After a valiant effort to repurpose the old Bazooka nozzle, which unfortunately failed, new parts were purchased and the Bazooka’s are back up and running. Interestingly, the new Bazooka setup is simplified because of an adapter which allows the standard feed pipe thread to be connected to the Bazooka nozzle which has fire hose thread. Utilizing this part makes it possible to avoid having to Braze the replacement nozzle on to the pipe threads. A second set was purchased and other supporting parts (3 Inch pipe and pipe nipples) to address any leaks which might develop on the right-side Bazooka.
Also, during this time frame, a leaky/corroded pipe was discovered in the pump house in the feed line to the front curtain water feature. Unfortunately, this feature had to be disabled. Thankfully, however, this feature is not widely used by choreographers. More than likely a commercial plumbing service will need to be employed to address this issue. Additionally, it will need to be in the off season when the fountain pond is drained.
With the corroded pipe issues beginning to pop up, we can only hope that they will be on a sporadic basis. However, we must at the same time realize that some of these pipes may have reached the end of their useful life. Time will tell.
Network Issues:
Backing up a bit to opening night on May 22nd, everything seemed to be operating well, however, other issues began to arise over the next couple of days and were fully evident by the time the Memorial Day show arrived. The fountain was having a problem of locking up during a couple of shows. Naturally, one of the first things explored in troubleshooting the issue was to address several things whether mechanical or software based (which in theory) involved adjusting the new Fountain Director software. This was tried but the issue continued. Oddly enough during this time frame, a communication error was intermittently popping up between the computer and the PLC. After exploring this issue, which included involving AI, the culprit was finally discovered. The cable between the computer and the PLC was found to be faulty. The cable, which should have been one long piece, was actually in two pieces and was taped together at the point of a faulty connector. This connection, which had obviously worked just fine for possibly years, had most likely been jostled while moving equipment to accommodate the new lighting network cables. It was therefore intermittently connecting and causing the problem. A temporary cable was quickly installed and subsequently a permanent new cable. All was good from then on.
All was not lost however during the trouble shooting exercise. Because of the work done to solve this problem, new and valuable functions have been added to the Fountain Director Program. These new updates have resulted in additional control features and the associated ease of use for the fountain operators and the maintenance crew.
Miscellaneous Updates & Repairs:
WI-FI booster/range extender installed outside pump house. This will allow for better service around the pond basin for the new remote testing device. This will accommodate all users to more conveniently/remotely test individual water features on the fountain.
Replace the Auto/Remote fill valve for the pond. The automatic valve installed last year was damaged during the winter freeze and leaked this spring. A new one was secured and installed. This is a great addition to the fountain since an indoor security camera can read fountain pond levels in the site glass. If needed, the fountain filling valve can be opened remotely resulting in the pond being filled to a safe operating level.
To avoid freezing this upcoming winter the valve will be removed and stored inside the pump house.
During a routine check of the hydraulic sweep mechanism, a broken bolt was discovered. This bolt connected the main push rod to the extended length of pipe that drives the left sweeps on the right side of the fountain. This prompted a thorough check of connecting bolts throughout the whole left and right sweep setup. One other bolt was found faulty and replaced.
While the pond was drained for cleanup of 4th of July fireworks debris, a leak was discovered by Chuck Dickerson in one the main connectors of a supply pipe to a particular water feature on the fountain. This leak would not have been found if the pond was full. Fortunately, it could be retightened without any new parts being necessary.
Multiple other miscellaneous updates/repairs were completed as well.
Software Updates:
Throughout the entire summer, Brad has continually made improvements to the Fountain Director Software and Choreographer software. One interesting update involved improving the time code linkup between the fountain computer and the fireworks controller used by the fireworks company. I believe this involved having the two share a new dedicated channel/connection. I also think this will include a manual adjustment mode to advance or retard the timing while pretesting firework shows. Lord willing this will facilitate improved timing between music played through the fountain speakers and the launching/bursting of fireworks.
Summing Up The Season To The Present:
Yes…. The current season has presented some challenges. However, after (in Brad’s words) bringing online “the largest tech upgrades the fountain has ever experienced”, I would have to say this year has gone remarkably well. There have been some mechanical issues as well as a pesky network issue, but that being said, the fountain has never looked better. The new lighting is living up to the billing. The colors are more vibrant, creating an overall breathtaking experience. It can definitely be observed when comparing older recorded choreographed songs with the old lights vs running the same songs with the new lights. Other noticeable differences are more precise timing of lights and water features to the music because of the new choreography software.
Many thanks to Brad Boyink for being the driving force behind all the technological upgrades.
Thanks to all our choreographers (new and veteran) for their efforts put forth adapting to the new software. The results speak for themselves. The creativity levels being achieved with the new software are beyond amazing.
Thanks also to our fountain producer, Nicki Bonczyk, for taking the new and expanding choregraphed music library and packaging it into wonderful theme shows, music of the decade shows, genre specific shows, artist-based shows and many more etc.
Thank you also to the Fountain Committee for their work in selecting and approving music to fill the slots in the afore-mentioned shows and keeping up with decisions that need to be addressed on the fountain throughout the year.
Also to be included are our unsung hero fountain operators who present/run the shows on a nightly basis.