Posts Tagged ‘Power’

First, it is noted that the "solar-powered pump is really a description of two phases. Is 1: a real pump and 2: a power source is solar, which connect two wire device. Solar pumps to pump water for humans, animals and plants. The need for water is greater during the hot sunny days the technology is the clear choice for this application.
Water is pumped through a solar-powered technology is a simple, reliable, and requires virtually no maintenance.
To date, the increased use of solar powered pumps, is a country in which the pumps can be used on farms and remote Outback stations to supply water to livestock. Distance is the key here and turn the pump in any other solar energy would be costly and inefficient. Similarly, solar pumps are used widely in developing countries, to pump water to wells and rivers to villages for domestic consumption and irrigation of crops.
A typical solar powered pumping system consists of several photovoltaic (PV) cells are the powers the electric motor that drives the pump. Water is often pumped into the country or in the creek below and the storage tank, which provides the gravity feed. O storage of energy needed to these systems (except, perhaps, back to the source, rechargeable battery). Solar-powered pump is a cost-effective alternative to windmills (particularly silent day), remote area water supply.
Cheapest solar powered pumps cost less than $ 1,500, while larger systems can be used for more than $ 20,000. Most PV water pumps rarely exceed 2 horsepower size. In place of quality PV water pumping systems can provide over 20 years of reliable service and continuous.
Although it has been the needs of developing countries and farm, which originally brought the demand for solar power to the pump technology, increase environmental awareness throughout the world has seen in many homes use solar powered pumps (that more environmentally-combustion engine) to build solar power or solar power supplies waterfall show pond.
Solar pond is fed directly from the solar panels as long as the direct sunlight, the sun brighter than the stronger the flow. Some water sources are solar powered long enough to wire a solar panel that allows the solar panel may be far from the source. Solar power provides a convenient option when the wiring is not possible – as is often the gardens.
Decorative accessories of solar powered pond show such as the bright lights and solar powered frog water lily floating solar LED usually can be bought at the same place you buy a kit of solar-powered pump.

A solar water fountain could become the highlight of your entire landscape. Some people plant bedding flowers and flowering shrubs and perennials to beautify their gardens. A solar fountain will make an fascinating feature to your garden or patio d

No to pick on about. com (mentioned them in an earlier post in Fish as Pets), but after an email form a hobbyist about aquarium power heads/pumps I thought I would investigate what is being said in reviews and stumbled across an article with the reviews of five different power heads.

Either they are from another planet or I must live in a parallel universe!

First they left off the list two of the best aquarium and pond power head/ water pumps then their reviews were quite contrary to my extensive experience with these pumps in literally 100s if not thousands of aquariums over the years in my aquarium maintenance business.

Here are six pumps I will review (including refutations of their comments):

*ReSun; this pump (power head) was really left off their list, although not as well known in the USA/Canada they are very well loved in Asia and Australia. ReSun has some sizes such as the #6 that are quite capable for very ?mucky? pond environments and yet operate very well. The stainless steel coated impellers along with the ceramic shafts found on the larger models) are extremely durable and nearly never fail.

These pumps are very reliable and start up without a problem; they also have very brilliant head pressure (in fact among the best)! ReSun pumps can be submersed or place in line.

The models 3A, 5, and 6 are awesome in heavy duty applications such as ponds or very large aquariums where high flow and head pressure are necessary (as well as ability to deal with large amounts of particulates in the water).

About the only con is that with their heavy duty construction, these pumps can be somewhat noisier than some others (although still not terrible here either). ReSun power heads are also not as adjustable in flow as some other power heads, but this a minor inconvenience IMO.

*Via Aqua; ; this is a real workhorse line of pumps that is VERY widely used in the professional aquarium maintenance community yet did not even get mentioned by about. com (go figure!). These pumps in the power head line (not the basic line) also have ceramic shafts and very durable construction. Via Aqua pumps (along with ReSun) can be used in sumps or as a power head and have brilliant head pressure. The Via Aqua power head line (such as the VA 1300) can be submersed or used in line which adds to versatility that not all pumps can match. For Aquarium sumps (usually in marine applications) the Via Aqua 2600 and 3300 are unsurpassed in usefulness.

Again the only con is these pumps are a small noisy, but only when used in line (they are a small quieter than the ReSun line when submersed). Via Aqua power heads (as with ReSun and Rio) are also not as adjustable in flows as some other power heads, but this a minor inconvenience IMO. This inconvenience is more than made up for in versatility! I will also admit to a couple of models by Via Aqua that I not recommend due to less than desirable durability and these are the 2300 and 4900.

*Rio (by Taam); although no longer a preferred pump by me as the person who founded Rio started Via Aqua and improved on some of its problems. These are still brilliant pumps IMO and although I partly agree with about. com with their assessment, I reckon they go overboard with their comments as to high maintenance. Rio power heads are very powerful with brilliant head pressure (depending on the model).

The cons are the impeller (although very durable), seem to have problems in environments (especially ponds or dirty aquariums) that have a lot of debris and organics in the water column. But they still are very excellent at starting up when used as wave makers and are properly maintained. These pumps are also not adjustable in their flow

*Maxi Jet Power heads; I will have to agree the most with about. com on their assessment of these pumps. They are reliable and economical and start back up easily even when used as wave makers. But they do have their cons and that is they have poor head pressure and are not very versatile (unlike the Via Aqua, ReSun, and Rio pimps) as they are only power heads and nothing more.

*Penguin Power Heads; I do not generally agree with assessment by about. com on these power heads. Although they do have a clean feature with the reverse flow power head for UG filters (which are not very common anymore though), the other nice feature is the adjustable flow feature.

But nice these features are these power heads have a poor track record for reliability, they have very poor head pressure, and do not re-start well after the pumps have been in service for a while (in applications such as wave makers).

*Hagen Aqua Clear Power Heads; this pump is also over rated by about. com in my extensive experience with them. I have used more Aqua Clear power heads than ANY other (including the Via Aqua pumps I now generally recommend). When these power heads first came out they were industry leaders in design, but they are of 1980s technology IMO and although they are better than Penguins in reliability and head pressure, they still would stop and not re-start in many of my applications when power was even briefly interrupted, making them a poor choice for wave maker applications. Aqua Clear power heads also do not handle high organic/debris loads well and need more maintenance than the Rios that about. com claimed needed!

Bottom line with Aqua Clear power heads is that they are reasonable ?retro? pumps, but certainly NOT the latest in technology!

*ZooMed Power Sweep; even though I sold these in my business, I rarely recommended them. They are basically a gimmicky power head with poor head pressure and low output. They are not real durable and the ?sweeping? directional output feature is run by cheap plastic gears that often fail. These pumps do not handle high bio loads well and are best used in small aquariums or better vivariums where not much is questioned of them.

SUMMARY:

I have had persons also question me why many brands such as Via Aqua are not as commonly available as Hagen and does that make them of lower quality as no one really wants them?

The answer is quite simple; Hagen is sold through a larger network of mainline Pet Store distributors (although they are now transitioning to their own in house distribution system). This system promotes an all or nothing approach to marketing their products basically meaning you carry the whole line (excellent and terrible) or not get discounts or even sell anything at all. This marketing system has been very successful (not to mention slick packaging), but this does not mean a better product.

Via Aqua (among many other high end brands) does not sell through traditional marketing distribution methods and systems, rather it sells many high end Marine fish importers and similar without all the expensive marketing gimmicks. This in particular places their products in the hands of Aquarium Maintenance Professionals who do not care about slick marketing or whether it is the fad, rather whether it works or not which is why Via Aqua and many other similar high end companies choose to sell this way.

For further information and pictures in an article that is still being added to, please visit this url:REVIEW OF AQUARIUM (& POND) POWER HEAD PUMPS BASED ON REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE

If you are thinking of doing a few upgrades to your garden, have you ever thought of getting a solar powered pump birdbath? In fact, why buy one, when you can make it? So why would you want to make a solar powered pump birdbath? The Advantages Are: Fountains circulate the water, keeping the bird bath from going stagnant The pump does not have to plugged into your power supply The pump runs on DC power, so no inverter is needed. It requires small power (about 6 volts) so you only need a few small solar panels. No batteries are required, since the pump only really needs to operate during the day when the sun is out and the birds are in the garden. You could learn to make your own solar panels, reducing the cost even further. The birdbath can be placed anywhere in your garden, without the need for unsightly wires. And what does it take to make a solar powered pump birdbath? The simplest way is to simply buy a birdbath with a pump and fountain already fitted. Then all you need to do is wire up some small solar panels. The alternative is to, and more DIY approach is to buy a birdbath that is ready for a fountain pump to be installed (it has the right holes, and a place for the pump to be installed), and then add the various pump and power components. If you go the DIY route, then you will need to get: The Birdbath: Here you have a choice of cascading fountains, copper fountains, terracotta birdbaths, resin fountains, or the conventional ceramic birdbath. Just make sure a pump system can be installed on the birdbath. The Fountain Attachment: This is optional, but it make the water spirt out the top, instead of just trickling out. It can be found at you rlocal nursery or hardware store. Small DC Pump: Depending your birdbath size, the volume of water to be pumped and how high you want to pump it, will help you choose on the voltage and size pump needed. For your average, medium-sized birdbath, a small 6 volt DC pump will suffice. Thin, Flexible PVC Pipe: This what the water will flow through. It is best to question your nursery about the various irrigation options. Otherwise, get thoughts from finished pump powered fountains. As a rule of thumb, the PVC piping needs to be narrow to maintain enough water pressure. Silicon Sealant: This is used to seal all joins where the water could escape from, and also to insulate any bare wire from getting wet where it has been joined. Solar Panels: This is what sets this off-grid system apart from conventionally powered birdbath fountains. The pump will help determine how many solar panels you need. For a 6 volt DC pump, you will need at least a 6 volt solar panel, but rater double up on the solar panels for times when the sun is weak. ->To get the solar panels, you have 2 choices: 1 : Buy a small expensive solar kit from Wallmart or Target or any other local supplier. 2 : The cheaper, DIY route and make the panel yourself. Luckily this is really rather simple for anyone to learn to do. So if you want to learn to make your own, then carry on reading to the end. . . To get the maximum sunlight, the solar panels need to be fixed in simple frame, and be south-facing (if you are in the northern hemisphere). How simple is it to place it all together? Once you have all the components and tools at your disposal, putting the system together shouldn’t take you more than 2 hours. And within an afternoon you could have a fully functional solar powered pump birdbath. A nice added extra is to hook up some batteries to the system. That way you can store any excess power, and the pump could run all day and night. If you do want the fountain to operate for 24 hours, then you will need the following: Deep cycle battery: Since the system is small, a 12 volt battery should be enough. This will be wired up between the charge controller and the pump. Solar charge controller: This is not essential, but it prevents your battery from over-charging. So it can really extend the life of the battery. It will be wired up between the solar panels and the battery. The nice thing about about building a solar powered pump birdbath yourself is that it is not only cheaper, but once you know how, you can make as many as you want. It could also make a fantastic gift for an energy conscious friend or family member.

I am making a 25-30 gallon container water garden with a couple goldfish. I want to have a filter/fountain in it, but where it will be is 50′ from the closest electrical outlet. A solar fountain is out of budget, so I want to run an outdoor extension cord under the ground. Years ago, my Dad ran two 100′ unprotected outdoor cords between two houses and left it there for about 5 years without problems. But my situation is a small different. It will be underground, and it will be running nearly constantly. Is this feasible? If so, how can I protect the plug at the pump? Electrical tape?
Thanks!