Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I am looking for a 24vdc low power pump that can handle solids? I currently only have 24v available near my trout tank and would like to expand by adding a grow bed so any leads on this type of pump would be great.

Thanks
Mallow

Run a Google for "24v grey water pump usa" - it gets 2 million hits. As far as I know, grey water pumps are built to do solids. You could also do "24v solids water pump usa"

Or you could add a sump tank and put your pump in there so it is pumping clean water - I think pumps not required to handle solids are more efficient with better tolerances for pressure etc.

I've never seen a 12/24V pump that can pump decent solids.. Not for a reasonable price anyway. We use the oase aquasolar pump in our solar system. German built and have a good name for reliability, but can't pump solids and costs about 5-10 times as much as a 110/240V equivalent.

I have this 12 volt one and it will pump what ever will fit in the opening. They make 24 and I think 36 volt ones. Not cheap, but mine is going strong after a year of continuous use.

http://store.waterpumpsupply.com/mppufrse316s8.html

Here are a few issues I am dealing with.

1) The fish tank is a round concrete tank that was originally a cattle tank. This is spring fed which is running about 20gpm currently but slows to a few gallons a minute in the late spring to almost no flow late fall. I have rigged up a SOL on the orginal outlet that works fairly well but the discharge pipe is buried and goes fairly down in a wooded area.

2) I currently have a ReSun MPQ904 24v 4800L/Hr air pump which I run on a timer on and off throughout the day. It keeps blowing Diaphragms but I am not sure why. It is located right next to the tank with no diffuser stone and about 4 feet of 3/8" tubing.

3) I am thinking about trying an air lift and constant flow but really limits where I can put the growbed and height.

Thanks for the input so far and I will take a look at some of the suggestions to see if I can come up with a good solution.

Thanks
-Mallow

I read on one of the sites I visit that restricting output on diaphragm pumps will regularly blow diaphragms. Maybe check that side of things? Are you limiting output from the pump in some way?

According to his post he doesn't even have a diffuser, just 4 feet of tubing. Of course, the tubing could be partially plugged in some way.

The outlet is 3/8" so that is the line I am running. I did have a diffuser on it at one point but would blow them as fast as I could change them. The next option is to upsize the line right after the outlet. I have some adapters maybe ill go to hard pvc and use that for a while to see if it stops the problem. I am currently making my own diaphragms using silicone baking sheets. It seems to last the longest of all the materials I have tried.

Looks interesting Helomech.

Is it submersed? It also seems quite power hungry compared to a bilge pump with the same flow rate...

If it's within your power budget then I guess the reliability would trump an extra amp every time.

No it is not submersible. Mine is just above water line on the outside of my tank. It will suck the water up some, but needs to be primed if shut down because my tank is buried. If the pump can be placed lower than the water line it would not need primed.

If you get a PVC check valve it should keep it primed for you.

It isn't hard to prime, just have to stick my finger over the end of the excess flow pipe and let it build pressure. Only takes a few seconds, depending on the water level. If the water level is near the height of the pump then no priming is required.

I mainly mean for if your power goes out or something (I don't know what backups you have power-wise). Power could go out for 10 minutes but be hours before the pump is found running dry.

It is a D/C pump, the pump won't go dry then come back on. As long as the battery is up the pump will run, when and if the batter fails then the pump won't start again till you put a new battery in. This pump is running off of a battery, and that battery is charged by a smart charger, which keeps the batter charged, if power goes out then the pump just runs off the battery.

Just for a game of worst case scenario, there is still the situation (however unlikely) where the power could be out long enough for the battery to go flat, then come on again and the charger powers the system back up. The odds of this happening without you checking on the system or being aware of it are probably around 0% though.

Sorry, I don't mean to be a pest or anything, it's just part of my job to think of these kinds of things.