Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

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orlando
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Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by orlando » Mon May 13, 2013 4:15 pm

I am interested in the ways in which you users have attached the pump to the power supply, particularly to keep it watertight. Pictures, diagrams and blue prints welcome.
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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by Befuddler » Mon May 13, 2013 4:41 pm

I twisted the wires together and wrapped them in tape. :lol:
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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by barneey » Mon May 13, 2013 4:44 pm

Twist the wires together length ways, solder, heat shrink tubing does it for me. Neat & Tidy - Tidy & Neat (must stop reading MR Men books :) )
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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by jmc » Mon May 13, 2013 5:10 pm

On my solar pump and stir-plate I use the same jack connectors so I can use the same power controller / transformer on both of them. Connections taped up but not water-proof I'm afraid :oops:
12V MF power jack connectors.
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see topic: cheap solar pump copy thing.

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orlando
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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by orlando » Mon May 13, 2013 5:17 pm

As an adjunct to the thread I noticed these pumps on Ebay and quite liked the look of them. The pump speed looked a lot more impressive. Thoughts anyone?
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

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Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by jmc » Mon May 13, 2013 5:31 pm

orlando wrote:As an adjunct to the thread I noticed these pumps on Ebay and quite liked the look of them. The pump speed looked a lot more impressive. Thoughts anyone?
Spec says up to 100C which is normally the problem area.

Not sure about thread size:
Diameter of intake: 20.3mm
Diameter of outlet: 20.3mm (4 points thread)

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orlando
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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by orlando » Mon May 13, 2013 5:44 pm

Yes thread size says 4 points thread, what does that mean? I don't usually pump at 100c or over, only sub 100 so that doesn't worry me but I would like to use it with my existing gear so how does it compare to the usual solar pumps threads?
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
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Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
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chivelegs

Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by chivelegs » Mon May 13, 2013 8:03 pm

I use a helpful little voltage controller wired in line from the DC adapter to the pump. I also have a little twin-flex lead which fits into the adaptor socket, but that's just so I can use the adapter for other things.

One of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Light-Dim ... 0439435534

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lord groan
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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by lord groan » Mon May 13, 2013 10:17 pm

Orlando
I've got one of these pumps
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WST-High-Qual ... 5aedb8fb06

I'm pretty sure it's the same pump but from WST it's cheaper, delivery was about 10 days in a small jiffy bag. As you can see from the connectors I've added to mine the threads are 1/2" bsp and a brass 1/2" > 3/4" adaptor will let it take the hozelock jobby, both from toolstation and cheap as can be.

Image

I confess I've not had a chance to use mine yet but the intention is to use it to flush water from my rainwater butt through my immersion chiller, and so not have to worry about my water meter

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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by Hogarth » Mon May 13, 2013 11:04 pm

Watch out for wort leaking out of the pump, down the wire, and into whatever connection you've used. It makes your brewday go with a bang.

Happened to me recently. The fuse blew in the transformer. I didn't have a spare fuse -- they're the little 2A quick blow jobs -- and I was in the middle of recirculating, so I wrapped a bit of 5A fuse wire around the old fuse and put it back in ... EVEN BIGGER BANG! Knackered the whole transformer. Goes to show. Now I make sure the connection is above the pump.

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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by jaff » Tue May 14, 2013 3:57 am

I got one of those LED dimmers to use with the solar pump. It worked to alter the flow but made a horrible whiney noise. I changed a capacitor inside to adjust the PWM from 680 Hz to 20 kHz, hoping that would shift the whine out of audio range. Maybe it did, but then it didn't work at all. :(

Some of the black pumps off ebay don't have encapsulated magnets inside. I would stick to the tan ones.

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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by orlando » Tue May 14, 2013 7:13 am

lord groan wrote:Orlando
I've got one of these pumps
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WST-High-Qual ... 5aedb8fb06

I'm pretty sure it's the same pump but from WST it's cheaper, delivery was about 10 days in a small jiffy bag. As you can see from the connectors I've added to mine the threads are 1/2" bsp and a brass 1/2" > 3/4" adaptor will let it take the hozelock jobby, both from toolstation and cheap as can be.

Image

I confess I've not had a chance to use mine yet but the intention is to use it to flush water from my rainwater butt through my immersion chiller, and so not have to worry about my water meter
Have you any experience of the tan ones? There is a suggestion in the specs of the black ones that they are more powerful. Jaff says the magnets inside are not encapsulated but if they aren't how do they work? My current tan pump is superb and has served me for over a year, however I continue to use it more and more in my brewday and am worried that one day it will give up the fight so am looking to supplement it with another one and need to decide whether I go for the black one or the tan one which I know works OK and has been reasonably robust.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by Kev888 » Tue May 14, 2013 9:10 am

No experience with the black pumps myself, but IMO their specs don't actually seem as good as the 14w solar project pump which has a very marginally better flow rate but in particular a 5m head vs the black one's 3.8m head. They are half the price though, so for me it would be a financial decision vs if I wanted to take a hit in pressure/head.

But I would want to know more about the magnets. The brown pumps have the magnet in the wort so theres no need for a shaft seal which is great, however said magnet is behind a not-easily-removable bearing which can trap wort and bits of organic matter in/around the magnet, wearing/clogging the shaft and making sanitation harder, so I guess the design of the black pump could be better or worse depending on how its done.

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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by Fil » Tue May 14, 2013 5:00 pm

im using a chinese 12v black pump with speed control included submerged in my souse viede coldbox.. the housing is very brittle and snapped when overtightened with a 1/2" bsp compression nut but works ok submerged at temps upto 86C for 24-36hours is currently clogged with limescale from the heater and needs the top off and flushing, (or a filter on the input :)

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Re: Question for solar pump enthusiasts?

Post by lord groan » Tue May 14, 2013 5:16 pm

lord groan wrote:Orlando
I've got one of these pumps
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WST-High-Qual ... 5aedb8fb06

I'm pretty sure it's the same pump but from WST it's cheaper, delivery was about 10 days in a small jiffy bag. As you can see from the connectors I've added to mine the threads are 1/2" bsp and a brass 1/2" > 3/4" adaptor will let it take the hozelock jobby, both from toolstation and cheap as can be.

Image

I confess I've not had a chance to use mine yet but the intention is to use it to flush water from my rainwater butt through my immersion chiller, and so not have to worry about my water meter



Have you any experience of the tan ones? There is a suggestion in the specs of the black ones that they are more powerful. Jaff says the magnets inside are not encapsulated but if they aren't how do they work? My current tan pump is superb and has served me for over a year, however I continue to use it more and more in my brewday and am worried that one day it will give up the fight so am looking to supplement it with another one and need to decide whether I go for the black one or the tan one which I know works OK and has been reasonably robust.
No experience of the tan ones, went for black because I won't be using it for wort so don't really care about the magnet. I have just taken the cover off my black one and Jaff is spot on, the magnet is exposed.

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