Harbor Freight.. sucks!

I just checked my transformer that came with the light - it is a Cal Pump
model # PS 11V16 20 amp unit - the cement housing that the nursery made to
house it disintegrated in the pond and I found one of those red pottery
crock flower pots that fit the bulb perfectly - after dark it looks like a
lit up acquarium - one other thing - contacts are not sealed in any way, the
wires are just plugged onto the bulb terminals like you would in a car -
thats the way it was sold to me
Gale :~)
"Gareee©" wrote in message
...
Hmmm... That's making me wonder if those smaller replacement headlights
that
plug into built in car headlight housing could be used somehow? They look
like they might draw less power, and of course are smaller (but with no
reflector)

I might see if I can work up an alternate housing for the headlight in any
case... instead of pouring quickrete, maybe I can use a Tupperware (or
such)
rectangular container, use silicon for a sealer, and fill it with small
aquarium gravel to weigh it down.
(that would eliminate the long cure time, and also eliminate any lime or
chemical leaching from the concrete.


"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Home depot etc carry these - if you only want to run the one light , a
20
watt unit should be all you need - I think that is what mine is that
came
with the light ~ 8 yrs ago - I think it is a cal pump underwater light -
looks just like a car sealed beam, in fact when I had to replace it I
got
the identical light from an auto store (a Philips - don't remember the
#)
~
$7 Can
Gale :~)
or buy a small 12 volt
transformer to run it separately. That's how mine is powered
Gale :~)

Where can you find those? Lowe's, auto stores, Home depot, Wal-Mart??

--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

yeah.. I like rope lights. not the same effect as spot lights. also, there are also
those new bright lights ... I sent on an LED post from some time back. Ingrid

"Remydog" wrote:

I would have to believe by the time you tried to create your own underwater
lights, between the time effort and materials, you'd be better off buying
something manufactured for the purpose.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I took the light out of my pond yesterday and the bulb was in a plastic
holder with a lead weight - the contacts are inside and not wide open as I
remembered it (been a few yrs since I had it out) and the sealed beam is ~
garden tractor size, not a car headlamp
Gale :~)

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
I just checked my transformer that came with the light - it is a Cal Pump
model # PS 11V16 20 amp unit - the cement housing that the nursery made
to
house it disintegrated in the pond and I found one of those red pottery
crock flower pots that fit the bulb perfectly - after dark it looks like a
lit up acquarium - one other thing - contacts are not sealed in any way,
the
wires are just plugged onto the bulb terminals like you would in a car -
thats the way it was sold to me
Gale :~)
"Gareee©" wrote in message
...
Hmmm... That's making me wonder if those smaller replacement headlights
that
plug into built in car headlight housing could be used somehow? They
look
like they might draw less power, and of course are smaller (but with no
reflector)

I might see if I can work up an alternate housing for the headlight in
any
case... instead of pouring quickrete, maybe I can use a Tupperware (or
such)
rectangular container, use silicon for a sealer, and fill it with small
aquarium gravel to weigh it down.
(that would eliminate the long cure time, and also eliminate any lime or
chemical leaching from the concrete.


"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Home depot etc carry these - if you only want to run the one light , a
20
watt unit should be all you need - I think that is what mine is that
came
with the light ~ 8 yrs ago - I think it is a cal pump underwater
light -
looks just like a car sealed beam, in fact when I had to replace it I
got
the identical light from an auto store (a Philips - don't remember the
#)
~
$7 Can
Gale :~)
or buy a small 12 volt
transformer to run it separately. That's how mine is powered
Gale :~)

Where can you find those? Lowe's, auto stores, Home depot,
Wal-Mart??

--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

Good additional info. We've had family visiting for the last week, and once
they leave (soon thanks Gawd!), I can look at working up a pond light.
Probably after Weds. this week.

I'm sure I'll find a lamp/headlight at Biglots, and then it's a matter of
getting the power correct, and then sealing it.

Caulking gun silicon is great for maming small things watertight, and I'll
probably try that. I also saw that they have electrical wiring and cables
there as well.

I want to see how inexpensive and easy I can make one that actually works
good and looks nice. Lovally, they only have some low watt ones that are $40
+, and for a low level light, that's just too expensive to me. It's not so
much that I can't afford it, it's the principal of the thing.

Worst case, I can always get sealed rope light, but I want to try an
underwater floodlight kinda thing first., and maybe have it under our big
gargoyle spitter, shining up at him...

I actually got a decent night shot of our backyard and pond last night.. and
I used a new photoshop tool I got called Noise Ninja.. it cleaned up the
nightshot quite well!


"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
I took the light out of my pond yesterday and the bulb was in a plastic
holder with a lead weight - the contacts are inside and not wide open as
I
remembered it (been a few yrs since I had it out) and the sealed beam is ~
garden tractor size, not a car headlamp
Gale :~)

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
I just checked my transformer that came with the light - it is a Cal
Pump
model # PS 11V16 20 amp unit - the cement housing that the nursery made
to
house it disintegrated in the pond and I found one of those red pottery
crock flower pots that fit the bulb perfectly - after dark it looks like
a
lit up acquarium - one other thing - contacts are not sealed in any way,

the
wires are just plugged onto the bulb terminals like you would in a car -
thats the way it was sold to me
Gale :~)
"Gareee©" wrote in message
...
Hmmm... That's making me wonder if those smaller replacement
headlights
that
plug into built in car headlight housing could be used somehow? They
look
like they might draw less power, and of course are smaller (but with
no
reflector)

I might see if I can work up an alternate housing for the headlight in
any
case... instead of pouring quickrete, maybe I can use a Tupperware (or
such)
rectangular container, use silicon for a sealer, and fill it with
small
aquarium gravel to weigh it down.
(that would eliminate the long cure time, and also eliminate any lime
or
chemical leaching from the concrete.


"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Home depot etc carry these - if you only want to run the one light ,
a
20
watt unit should be all you need - I think that is what mine is that
came
with the light ~ 8 yrs ago - I think it is a cal pump underwater
light -
looks just like a car sealed beam, in fact when I had to replace it
I
got
the identical light from an auto store (a Philips - don't remember
the
#)
~
$7 Can
Gale :~)
or buy a small 12 volt
transformer to run it separately. That's how mine is powered
Gale :~)

Where can you find those? Lowe's, auto stores, Home depot,
Wal-Mart??

--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

I have always had good luck with Harbor Freight. I would expect with pond
items this is a time of high demand for those type of products and the low
prices, so there may be backorders and such. I order those type of items in
the off season ie; December ,January etc. On other items I have ordered I
have gotton my order within a week. You just can't make a blanket statement
about a company...well...you can if you want to..LOL MIKE
"Steve J. Noll" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 26 May 2004 18:58:03 -0400, "Gareee©"
wrote:

Just got an email reply from them, after asking them what happened to my
order last week.

The pump is backordered til June 26th, (assuming they come in then), and
the
lights are backordered till aug. pth!

I just told them to cancel my order, and f I still needed them then, that
I
would reorder.


So anyone else know of another good onlinbe source for underwater lights
and
for pumps?


Here's a list of a bunch of them:

http://www.kissingfrogs.tv/ponddirectory.html


--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!



Steve J. Noll | Ventura California
| Glass Block Pond http://www.kissingfrogs.tv

I and a friend have also taken these floating 12-volt fishing lights from
Walmart. They have a styrofoam case that makes them float, light facing
into the water. You just wire them into your 12-volt landscape lights.
Easy to do. The lights sell in the 5-8 dollar range. MIKE
"Gareee©" wrote in message
...
Good additional info. We've had family visiting for the last week, and
once
they leave (soon thanks Gawd!), I can look at working up a pond light.
Probably after Weds. this week.

I'm sure I'll find a lamp/headlight at Biglots, and then it's a matter of
getting the power correct, and then sealing it.

Caulking gun silicon is great for maming small things watertight, and I'll
probably try that. I also saw that they have electrical wiring and cables
there as well.

I want to see how inexpensive and easy I can make one that actually works
good and looks nice. Lovally, they only have some low watt ones that are
$40
+, and for a low level light, that's just too expensive to me. It's not so
much that I can't afford it, it's the principal of the thing.

Worst case, I can always get sealed rope light, but I want to try an
underwater floodlight kinda thing first., and maybe have it under our big
gargoyle spitter, shining up at him...

I actually got a decent night shot of our backyard and pond last night..
and
I used a new photoshop tool I got called Noise Ninja.. it cleaned up the
nightshot quite well!


"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
I took the light out of my pond yesterday and the bulb was in a plastic
holder with a lead weight - the contacts are inside and not wide open
as
I
remembered it (been a few yrs since I had it out) and the sealed beam is
~
garden tractor size, not a car headlamp
Gale :~)

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
I just checked my transformer that came with the light - it is a Cal
Pump
model # PS 11V16 20 amp unit - the cement housing that the nursery
made
to
house it disintegrated in the pond and I found one of those red
pottery
crock flower pots that fit the bulb perfectly - after dark it looks
like
a
lit up acquarium - one other thing - contacts are not sealed in any
way,

the
wires are just plugged onto the bulb terminals like you would in a
car -
thats the way it was sold to me
Gale :~)
"Gareee©" wrote in message
...
Hmmm... That's making me wonder if those smaller replacement
headlights
that
plug into built in car headlight housing could be used somehow? They
look
like they might draw less power, and of course are smaller (but with
no
reflector)

I might see if I can work up an alternate housing for the headlight
in
any
case... instead of pouring quickrete, maybe I can use a Tupperware
(or
such)
rectangular container, use silicon for a sealer, and fill it with
small
aquarium gravel to weigh it down.
(that would eliminate the long cure time, and also eliminate any
lime
or
chemical leaching from the concrete.


"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Home depot etc carry these - if you only want to run the one light
,
a
20
watt unit should be all you need - I think that is what mine is
that
came
with the light ~ 8 yrs ago - I think it is a cal pump underwater
light -
looks just like a car sealed beam, in fact when I had to replace
it
I
got
the identical light from an auto store (a Philips - don't remember
the
#)
~
$7 Can
Gale :~)
or buy a small 12 volt
transformer to run it separately. That's how mine is powered
Gale :~)

Where can you find those? Lowe's, auto stores, Home depot,
Wal-Mart??

--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

wrote in message ...
I have always had good luck with Harbor Freight. I would expect with pond
items this is a time of high demand for those type of products and the low
prices, so there may be backorders and such. I order those type of items
in
the off season ie; December ,January etc. On other items I have ordered I
have gotton my order within a week. You just can't make a blanket
statement
about a company...well...you can if you want to..LOL MIKE

Well, I can based on my experience with them. I ordered from them, got no
contact at all from them for almost 2 weeks, finally emailed them inquiring
the status of my order, and THEN was told it was backordered.

I've ordered MANY things online, from plants, to computer hardware, and I
almost always get emailed some kind of order confirmation/status either the
day of order, or within a day or so.

Someone else followed up with a comment that the underwater lights they have
were terrible, so I'm glad I didn't get them now.

If you'd like a correction:

"My dealing with Harbor Freight indicate that they SUCK!"

There ya go.

I want to order when I want to order, not when it is convenient for the
company I am ordering from. If they don;t have an item in stock, it should
be listed as such in their online catalog. I had expected delivery of these
items in time for a vacationing visit from my in-laws. Obviously, I did not
get them in time, and our pond was now unfinished for backyard barbeque and
picnic entertaining plans.

Once I contacted them, and decided to cancel the order, they did expedite
that quickly, but I know I'll not order from them again.

Here's a GREAT online company example we just had last week:

We ordered two DVD sets from Amazon.com, and received both DVD sets two full
days BEFORE the actual release date! The day before our order arrived, we
had a delivery confirmation, and they not only arrived the next day, BUT our
credit card was actually charged the day they arrived!

While this is not the norm, this is an excellent reason why Amazon continues
to earn our business.

Online companies can only offer a few reasons to buy from them:

Price
Fast/Cheap delivery
Excellent customer service.

Out of the top 3, Harbor only gave me the first reason: Price.. and if I
can;t order and get items from them, the other two reasons become worthless.


--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

wrote in message ...
I and a friend have also taken these floating 12-volt fishing lights from
Walmart. They have a styrofoam case that makes them float, light facing
into the water. You just wire them into your 12-volt landscape lights.
Easy to do. The lights sell in the 5-8 dollar range. MIKE

Hmm. and I'm going to Wal-Mart today...

Maybe the case can be submerged, or it can be used as a floating planter of
some sort...

--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!
--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

Do this at you own risk of course. {:O) It has worked for us. MIKE
"Gareee©" wrote in message
...
wrote in message ...
I and a friend have also taken these floating 12-volt fishing lights
from
Walmart. They have a styrofoam case that makes them float, light facing
into the water. You just wire them into your 12-volt landscape lights.
Easy to do. The lights sell in the 5-8 dollar range. MIKE

Hmm. and I'm going to Wal-Mart today...

Maybe the case can be submerged, or it can be used as a floating planter
of
some sort...

--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!
--
Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

I don't blame you. If I had gotten service like that I'd feel the same way.
As far as their underwater lights. They work fine for me. {:O) MIKE
" Online companies can only offer a few reasons to buy from them:

Price
Fast/Cheap delivery
Excellent customer service.