Here at Kasco we are all about continuous improvement, which is why we’re excited about the redesign of our 2-7-1/2HP J Series Fountains. We had a chance to sit down with the Engineer behind the redesign, David Decaire. Here’s what he had to say about the recent updates.

Can you introduce yourself and tell a little about your background?

Hi. I’m David. I’m a Design Engineer here at Kasco. As far as education, I have a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. I started working for Kasco in 2004 and over the years I have worked in many areas of the company. A few areas are; technical phone support, graphics, database programming, and product testing/design. By working in many areas I have gained useful insight into our products and how they operate.

What were the factors that led to the redesign of the 2 – 7-1/2HP J Series Fountains?

We spent a lot of time gathering valuable feedback from our customers and distributors. From that feedback, we heard that the J series could use some improvement on assembly time and performance.

Those were two of our main goals, but we also focused on enhancing the performance and versatility of each different pattern. We wanted to push the aesthetics of all those displays to the limit. We were looking to achieve the following:

• Make the geysers taller without sacrificing flow rate.
• Higher flow on our aeration-focused Birch pattern
• Distinct tiers on our more decorative patterns, like the Linden or new 3-tier Balsam pattern.
• More laminar streams on our premium nozzles like the Mahogany.

I could keep going – we had a lot of goals for this project.

Balsam (New Pattern)

Linden

Spruce

Redwood

Birch

What have been the results?

The assembly and installation has improved greatly with the one piece float and reduced hardware. I love how quick and easy it now is to put a fountain together and throw it into our test pond here at Kasco. We hope all those installing in the field are also enjoying that benefit. As far as the aesthetic and performance goals, I would suggest you check out a lot of our new photos and videos to see and judge for yourself. The patterns are looking amazing!

Can you elaborate on some of the design, implementation, and testing involved?

One of the main tools we use to help design our pumping chambers is computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software. This basically means we run our pump chamber designs through computer simulations that accurately predict the expected performance. This allows us to quickly iterate through hundreds of design possibilities until we find an efficient, optimal design that we can then prototype and start testing in the real world. We even went so far as to program our own add-in software to our CFD programs that was specific to predicting the behavior of fountain streams. That really sped up the development of more complicated patterns like the new 3-tier Balsam or Mighty Oak patterns. Our ability to simulate, prototype, and then extensively test our designs has been a very innovative approach to product development.

Are there any plans for further updates? Or what’s next?

The same premium nozzles that are optional on our larger J Series Fountains should soon be available for our smaller J Series Fountains (3400J and 4400J). It will be great for customers that like the multi-stream look but have a smaller pond. And don’t forget to keep giving us that valuable feedback so we can continue incorporating your needs at the forefront of what’s next.