Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That then would be a good pump, not an ugly one

personally, I like to avoid misunderstandings as much as possible
language as such is already limited enough

to me, the word "efficient" cannot be misinterpreted:
to merit this adjective, all issues must be covered

introducing another word like "effective" only adds to confusion
as by itself it has no meaning
it needs explanation: something could be considered effective @ a particular purpose, I agree
but if it is not efficient, this statement will not hold
or at least will be questionable
"effective" if not "efficient" will stay inefficient

same goes for "good" and "bad":
without the addition "good @" or "bad @", these words have little meaning

my two (euro)cents

frank

I had posted on another subject about a new pump that was being tested here where I live- an ammonia driven water pump. I've been trying to find information about it ever since. I finally located a website that gives information on this new technology. Although I am not personally using this pump, perhaps this could help someone else here. They are also planning the production of generators as well.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2006/09/71818

Pumps, pumps, what to choose.

What would be a good choice in the States for a pump for one of the caged white tanks? I am looking at 1/2HP pumps, but I think it would be overkill? The watts used ranging between 370w and 400w, seems a bit excessive. I have looked at the craftsman, but I have not had such good luck with craftsman products.

Look at aquarium or pond pumps. They work well at low head and 24/7 usage. And the watts are really low.

in theory, for a recirculation rate of once per hour, you would need only 3 watts to pump 1000 l/hr to a head of 1 m.

but, as the available pumps rarely perform better than 5%, you would be looking in the 60 watts range

frank

So if the available pumps have to be around the 60watt mark. Doesn't that make the (3 watts 1000 l/hr to a head of 1 m) an imaginary pump.

Has anyone had any experience with these Easy Pump (made in Italy) sump pumps? Probably a bit late to ask seeing I just bought one from ebay for $76 delivered but it is the 300AV and looks good for use in a CHIFT PIST sump and for that price I figured I should risk it.

http://www.creativepumps.com.au/work/a_ ... o_sump.htm

Very power wasteful.

For example (disregarding the head height of the pump you have chosen, do you really need to be able to push water 8 metres vertically up from the sump tank?), this pump:


http://www.rockaroundtheblock.com.au/product.asp?pID=329&cID=63

moves the same amount of water, for 1/3rd the power, at the usual AP head heights.

However, if you are needing to move the water to a decent height, your pump is fine

Power hungry yes but I need a sump pump (I think). Can you fit a level switch to the Tornado and if not how would you use it in a sump?

I am wanting to use the least power possible and only run one pump but figured it was either a hungry sump pump on and off using a venturi drain from the FT or a Tornado or similar in a buried FT with water returning direct to the FT, so no sump?

It can always sit in the shed as a backup pump if I work out a better option.

Hi
I couldnt get onto the rockaround the block website, what is the pump above in the picture, I have a standard BYAP system main 3000lt FT into 4 beds and have the pump for that, but the grow beds drain by gravity into a fingerling tank and im looking for a pump for that tank back to the FT, the distance between the fingurling tank and the fishtank is around 4 metres of 40mm pressure pipe and elevation of around 1 m, I want something really reliable and efficient, a float swith with the pump would be ideal but being electronically minded I could wire up an external float system system anyway, I though maybe something like a 3000l/hr pump roughly 60watts max would be ok, suggestions, oh it will be a 15/45 min flood drain

Bree

as far as available pumps go, this is actually a good choice, OBO:
Tornado Jebao 6000 JFP6000
head in m flow@head flow@head pump rating head in kg/cm² pump effect efficiency
0.200 m 85.0 l/min 5100 l/hr 95 watt-hr 0.020 kg/cm² 3 watt-hr 2.98%
1.000 m 73.0 l/min 4380 l/hr 95 watt-hr 0.100 kg/cm² 12 watt-hr 12.81%
1.500 m 57.0 l/min 3421 l/hr 95 watt-hr 0.150 kg/cm² 14 watt-hr 15.00%
2.000 m 45.0 l/min 2700 l/hr 95 watt-hr 0.200 kg/cm² 15 watt-hr 15.79%
2.500 m 32.0 l/min 1920 l/hr 95 watt-hr 0.250 kg/cm² 13 watt-hr 14.04%
3.000 m 13.0 l/min 780 l/hr 95 watt-hr 0.300 kg/cm² 7 watt-hr 6.84%

best performance @ 2 m, but very reasonable @ 1 to 1.5 m

it's little brother,
Tornado 4500 Pump SPF1375
is doing even a little bit better @ 1 m:

0.500 m 75.0 l/min 4500 l/hr 65 watt-hr 0.050 kg/cm² 6 watt-hr 9.62%
1.000 m 52.0 l/min 3120 l/hr 65 watt-hr 0.100 kg/cm² 9 watt-hr 13.33%
1.500 m 39.0 l/min 2340 l/hr 65 watt-hr 0.150 kg/cm² 10 watt-hr 15.00%
2.000 m 28.0 l/min 1680 l/hr 65 watt-hr 0.200 kg/cm² 9 watt-hr 14.36%
2.500 m 13.0 l/min 780 l/hr 65 watt-hr 0.250 kg/cm² 5 watt-hr 8.33%

frank

You can get inline magnetic floating switches for the tornados.

Thanks, I will have a look for them.

a floating switch is very difficult to adjust and protect your pump against running dry and needs a lot of room to operate
better use a membrane switch (like the ones used in dishwashers and washing machines): extremely reliable

an industrial version (of which I have installed hundreds) is available from Huba Control

the mbar (millibar) equals the level in cm
so if you choose i.e. a 12.5 ... 80 mbar type (I'm holding one in my hand right now)
this means you can adjust the kick in level between 12.5 cm and 80 cm from the position of the switch

frank