Off Grid Living / Camping > Utilities
To pump water , Help
bj:
Like Ross, mine is 240volt. It has been in the well since 1994. I have a spare on hand, but no signs
of needing it yet.
From a neighbors woes, I can tell you that they do not like to cavitate. He was replacing his at least
once a year, but big family, silly water usage etc. meant they regularly pumped their well dry. He finally
installed a pressure switch that has a low end cutoff. (like mine) If the pressure drops ten pounds
below cut-in, it drops out, and needs a manual reset. Since then, (approx 5 years) same pump, no
problems. I think the manual reset feature also taught them some usage lessons.
Just for info
madlabs:
Ross,
Bummed to hear that. Luckily I got my Shurflo for free, so if it goes sideways I won't cry. So far so good though.
Are there any other DC, low flow pumps, aside from the Nemo, which I am going to investigate? I'm not attached to the DC part, its that it pumps a small volume and no start up current rush. My well is a DIY affair, with a DIY well screen and I only get about 2.5-3 GPM, so I like a pump that outputs less than the well's recovery rate. Pumping a well dry routinely is a killer.
Jonathan
Grit:
Madlabs > Its under the use guide >.3. FLOJET DIAPHRAGM FAILURE: If a diaphragm fails it will flood the case and the pump will stop running. However, the life of Flojet motor brushes is (very conservatively) rated at 2000 hours and a Flojet diaphragm will almost always last at least as long as the wear-down life of the motor brushes. An exception is where there is a substantial buildup of pressure inside the Nemo Case caused by excessive overheating of the Flojet motor. Such pressure can compromise the diaphragm and thus flood the case.
OK here's a change ?? I already have a 240 v pump in the well What would it take to power it up with SOLAR ? Cost ? hummmm --- battery's, panels ??/ what the heck kind of inverter is my biggest question. I have heard of a piggy back , 2 inverters of lesser power and use two 110 leg's to make 220 v??? That really has me stumped . how to do that and, will it work.
To me using 24v pump seams easier I need enlightenment ???? My well is 25 GPM. grit
Rossw How do you power your pump ??
tomw:
Grit;
Just need to come up with the numbers for use to size a system.
How long does it need to run per day, Week, Month?
How much power does the pump draw in use?
My submersible is @180 feet and is a 1 horse 240 volt pump. It happily runs from a dedicated 2500 watt 5,000 watt surge 240 volt inverter that is not a very high end unit. 24 volt bank. I have a huge bank compared to many (1350 AH). I "think" it is a sine wave inverter. but simple math tells me it uses less than a kilowatt to run at a full horsepower. It could have a huge starting surge but I never checked what that might be.
Toss out some numbers if you didn't already and someone here will be able to help you sort out the system sizing.
The great part about submersibles is they are available at every farm store at reasonable cost as well as being a mature technology with the bugs worked out.
Just from here.
Tom
rossw:
--- Quote from: Grit on May 07, 2012, 12:07:32 pm ---OK here's a change ?? I already have a 240 v pump in the well What would it take to power it up with SOLAR ? Cost ? hummmm --- battery's, panels ??/ what the heck kind of inverter is my biggest question. I have heard of a piggy back , 2 inverters of lesser power and use two 110 leg's to make 220 v??? That really has me stumped . how to do that and, will it work.
--- End quote ---
Most systems will want a battery to provide the extra oomph to get the motor running.
That said, there are special inverters for pumps that "soft start" and run with solar panels alone and no battery.
--- Quote ---To me using 24v pump seams easier I need enlightenment ???? My well is 25 GPM. grit
--- End quote ---
I thought the same thing. The shurflo I had was 12/24V. It took the same current either way, just pumped more water with 24V. A positive-displacement diaphram pump, but just not up to the job I was asking of it.
I certainly didn't realise at the time that the shurflo had brushes. For $1600, I expected ECM. I'd never knowingly bury a pump that's DESIGNED to wear out so quickly. Brushes in that application are just plain yucky. There's absolutely NO NEED for them. Arcing, sparking yuckyness that wears out, causes friction etc. Get with the modern age, guys! :)
--- Quote ---Rossw How do you power your pump ??
--- End quote ---
Originally, the shurflo was run from solar panels and a car battery. That was before the house was built.
Later, it was from 24V solar panels alone. That was while the house was being built.
Once we finished the house, it ran from a 24V transformer and rectifier. The transformer was fed from the 240V house supply when the top tank was low.
Once the thing failed for the 3rd time and I wasn't going to blow that much on a new one, I replaced it with the "real" pump, removed the transformer/rectifier and run the pump directly from the inverter as required. It takes under 1kW, and the inverter has plenty of headroom. When I ran the pipe (40mm poly) I ran several cables - two 16 sq mm (4AWG?) and 3 control lines (12AWG), so just run the pump off the heavy ones.
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