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I've just had the submersible pond pump that I've been using blow up and I need to find a good replacement. What is everyone else using and how are they finding it. I dont want to spend too much money on it if possibly.

To give you an idea of what it needs to do. All my hoses are standard garden hoses and I have a 200L barrel that holds the water. When I am running in VM mode the head is about 2.5m high and I runs through a gloved cold finger, then down through a leibig, then back to the barrel, so the pump needs a little bit of grunt. The last pump was 1100L/h unit and worked pretty well.

I have been using one similar to this and it works a treat,heaps better than the pond pump that I was using
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/12-Volt-Water-Pu ... 7C294%3A50

Hey mate, if you dont mind me askin, how much did you pay for it.

Aces High wrote:Hey mate, if you dont mind me askin, how much did you pay for it.

Im borrowing it of a mate My pond pump wouldn't run the VM properly when he was here so he went home and got his pump,its a rippa

they look pretty good, might be just what I need, its a shame that you have to bid on them and just can't buy it. Just a couple of other questions jd.

How are you powering it?

Also, do you know what brand it is, i might try and buy it somewhere other than ebay

I gather it's not a submersible (thats not really a question i know)

I am just trying to work out how to power a 12V pump. Here's the spec below. Is there any reason that I couldn't run it with a 500W computer power supply. There is a 12V 16A output from the power supply as per the attached picture. Its been too long since my electronic days. I've got a few mates in the computer industry, so i have a couple of power supplies floating around

Capable of being run dry
Liquid Temperature: 140°F (60°C) Max.
Priming Capabilities: Max 4 feet (1.2 m) suction lift
Max Pressure: 40 PSI
Inlet/Outlet Ports: Pre Filter and Hose Barbs 12.5mm
Current Draw: 9.2 Amps
Certifications: CE Approvals

Aces High wrote:they look pretty good, might be just what I need, its a shame that you have to bid on them and just can't buy it. Just a couple of other questions jd.

How are you powering it?

Also, do you know what brand it is, i might try and buy it somewhere other than ebay

I gather it's not a submersible (thats not really a question i know)

The name has actually worn off
I power it with a 12 car battery or a 12 volt charger,it does the trick

9.2x12=110.4 W

Dnderhead wrote:9.2x12=110.4 W

So wer're in the power range then Dnder. I feel a plan coming together. So the yellow wire is the +12V wire, any idea what colour the neutral wire will be (green possibly) sorry, i probably should know this stuff, but its been a lot of years since i studdied electronics and I haven't used it much in between

Thanks Dnder, thats great. I should have figured that someone would have tried this before

Thank you, Aces.

Aces

Not sure if you realise but head is measured from top of your water level not where the pump is.

BTW on the switchmode supplies from computers the old ones, with an actual 240v switch on the front usually have a dummy load built in.

airhill wrote:Aces

Not sure if you realise but head is measured from top of your water level not where the pump is.

BTW on the switchmode supplies from computers the old ones, with an actual 240v switch on the front usually have a dummy load built in.

So airhill, are you saying that the head distance would be measured from the top of the 200L barrel to the highest water point on the still, not from the pump at the bottom of the 200L barrel to the top of the still?... nope, I didn't realise that. That would reduce my head distance to around 1.5m... thank mate, good info

If you put a return line back to the barrel it will reduce the presser needed to pump once it is filed.
it is also better to put in a bypass rather than to restrict the flow.

Sorry Dnder, what do you mean by a bypass rather than restrictin the flow?

I have in the past had the water dribbling back into the barrel just so i can keep an eye on the waterflow, in future i will put it back into the barrel completely

I you have excess water from the pump,, do not put in a valve to restrict the flow, put in a T with a valve to return excess water to tank.
restricting pump flow will make it work harder leading to shorter life.

Dnderhead wrote:I you have excess water from the pump,, do not put in a valve to restrict the flow, put in a T with a valve to return excess water to tank.
restricting pump flow will make it work harder leading to shorter life

+1 on that, it also allows you to vary the flow through the still.

Got ya.. thanks guys, Plenty to think about there and keep me busy over the weekend