Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just looking through Ebay, there is an explosion of different solar gadgets. One I kinda like the look of is the solar pumps. Just wondering if anyone has used them? I was thinking they might be good added to something like a car or truck battery so that the pump kept going at night. I'm looking for alternatives because we pay 49 cents per kilowat hour for electricity and my last electricity bill was $750 for the quarter at home - nothing fancy, just normal stuff and we don't have electric hotwater or electric oven/stove (it's gas)

Far out, no wonder you are investigating solar options, 2 x 500watt pumps aint what you need!

Yeah - you can get inverters and solar regulators on Ebay pretty cheaply too - so looking at a solar panel -> solar regulator -> battery -> inverter -> pump

Not sure if it's worthwhile yet - so am open to opinions

From Memory, LB put a diagram of a set up he was proposing using these types of things, think it is under "back up power"

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vie ... c&start=15

This may help

I looked at the solar pumps too - but the price ticket put me off!

Yep - just did a search and read it. 12V DC seems to be the way to go. Only difference is that I'm looking at it as my sole power source and not my backup with enough juice in the battery to run the pump, which turns on and off periodically, 24/7. LB's diagram shows what I had in mind as far as the solar circuit is concerned. I don't want to muck around with fuel generators as it is for a school (so noise is an issue) and fuel here is $1.96/litre for unleaded (diesel is more $$$). Wind would be a viable alternative here as it is frequently strong enough to blow a dog off a lead (like it is right now) but would not be included initially.

Your electricity bill here would make your toes curl then!!!

LOL...
I have looked at imagery from your part of the world - beautiful, but not my cup of tea as I like my forests and looming mountains.

Wow, Norfolk Island. Nice.

Hope the media circus has gone already so you folk can get back to your idyllic island life.

I guess supply and demand is a big problem out there. That power sounds high!

I burn up 120 per month by myself. This is called high.

Hi Ozv,
I am currently running my small system (35 jade perch in a 200 ltr tank and one strawberry tower) on 12 volt pumps.
I have 12 volt bilge marine type pumps x 2 One to continuously pump from the fish tank to the strawberry tower and one which is switched via a float switch to empty the sump under the grow tower back into the fish tank.
I run the system off a 12 volt car battery which is charged by a battery charger and a solar panel. The solar panel provides about 1/4 of the power.
My interest in it is because of my underlying desire to be self sufficient.
I understand about high power bills, I lived in Port Moresby for 10 years and suffered under unreliable but expensive power.
I must say that I am still keen on the 12 volt thing, but it is not as easy as first may appear.
To do it properly would require a big investment in equipment.

Out there where you are, power generation by wind would be really viable I would think, and I have access to very good quality Marine wind driven gen sets that can put out up to 25 amps, but you need a big credit card.

I had a lighting set up in Port Moresby run on a Marine Generator (wind) with a battery bank as a backup for the house, and it worked brilliantly. Moresby is very windy for about 9 months of the year. The other three months were a bit difficult. The solar panel I am using now is one I brought back with me from POM

The other thing is the pumps. I am now on my third pump in 4 months, even the good ones are not designed around “continuous operation” , so “flood and drain” would be a must.
I am currently using a really low cost pump from tank to tower in continuous pumping, and it has lasted longer than the ones 3 times the price.

I am going to go the 240 volt way on my full scale system because of reliability. It is just to upsetting when one loses large numbers of fish due to a pump or aerator failure.

But one day when I have the spare cash to do it well, I will do a 12 or 24 volt system
(24 volt is much better that 12 volts)

Muzza

Wow that's a bad run on pumps Murray. I have the 24/7 varieties and they have gone for years without a hitch. Cheap too.

king pumps. apparently a few name brands buy King brand and re-label them...

I think continuous flow beds a viable option, but be prepared - continuous flow Aquaponics, to my limited knowledge, grow 20% faster than flood and drain, and can be hard to contain.

Aqua-A
We don't have "King" brand here in Australia to my knowledge, perhaps I should import some. In fact I have not been able to find any 12/24 volt water pump that is continuously rated. I would very much like to locate and test some.
Murray

Aquaaddict, are yours AC or DC pumps?

Murray, do you know what caused the pumps to fail? Brush wear may be fixable, where burnt out windings would be cheaper to replace the pump.

Some continuous rated DC pumps here. LVM brushless looks like the duck's proverbials, and so it should be at AU$480. Shurflo Premium may also be suitable at $385. Note that the inline LVM pumps, while cheap, would
require regular brush replacement, some at 100-150 hours of operation.

I suggest that a thread be started dedicated to pump history. eg. PumpBrand, model, AC/DC and voltage, continuous or start stop, date start and still going or time before failure, head, cost/source. If everyone keeps it updated it would a valuable resource.

Note to EB : Would Luke be able to provide some info on reliability of marine bilge pumps?

Yep, thats what I found very difficult to find to Murray, DC and continuous rating don't seem to go together..

I had been looking at the possibility of wind generation something along the lines of these Air X wind turbine

Pretty cheap when you compare them to solar panels... Have you had any experience with these things Muzza?

NOte to B2B: already asked Luke about continuous DC pumps, no luck...