Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

G'Day Gang,

Here is a valve that may have some application in a flood and drain system.







The valve works by the incoming water fills up the rectangular box and the weight closes the valve. When the water supply is stopped the box slowly drains and loses weight and the valve opens.
The valve is a off the shelf item from a Coobreeze evaporative air-conditioner.
I haven't devised a use for it yet but I will be working on it
Any questions cheerfully answered

Cheers
Dennis

It kinda looks like a float valve. Hard to see where the chamber fills. Might be okay for timed flow to different gb's. All the metal bits stainless. or out of the water.

G'Day DuffLight,
There is 2 barb type connections that will take what looks like about 3/8 hose. There is quite a large overflow outlet underneath. I would think some modification will be needed to make it work in a AP system. In the a/c the inlet valve fills the box then the water overflows to fill the trough. The pump then starts and keeps the tank full and valve closed. When the pump is turned off the water in the box drains back through a 1 way valve and the pump which allows the drain valve to open.
In a flood and drain system I would think the hose sizes would need to be bigger. I will play around with that when I get time. (Have a few other projects to get out of the way first)

Cheers
Dennis

Can you diagram it's operation? I'm not quite getting it but sounds like a possibility.

G'Day TCL,

I have just downloaded Google Sketch Up so I will have a crack at a diagram this afternoon.

Cheers
Dennis

Hi all,
It's just like a mercury filled Flip-Flop switch for allowing power connections for float valves and the like. It also works on exactly the same principal as Japanese Bamboo water features. They allow water to fill a raised reservoir (on a pivot) and as the mass of the water increases in that reservoir, it changes the effective centre of gravity. As the centre of gravity passes over the pivot point, the bamboo tube flips over so that the reservoir is now on the low side, empties the water out, changes the centre of gravity again and the tube swings back to where it was, ready to be filled again.
There have been many mechanisms based on this "over centre" action; rember the little glass long necked birds that used to bob up and down into a glass of water? Same thing only using the evaporation and condensation of gas. The Chinese developed "water" clocks using this principal (as did a few others).
I think that it could well be used for timing pump flows and flow switching very effectively. It would be able to be regulated by the amount of water entering the reservoir.
Cheers IanK

Thanks Ian.

Well put. I will still try to do a sketch.

Cheers