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Hi everyone, 

I have a Washdown Pump 3.4, that came from a boathouse used to suck up Bay water to wash down the boats. 

THe label says Flow Max: 13 l/min 

Shut in: 3.7 bar/370 kPa

Shut off: 5.0 bar/500 kPa

Max:  11 amps

Use: 15 amp fuse

 

I'm not sure what any of that means. Does anyone know if this would work for 

Travis W. Hughey's Barrelponic system? 

 


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Adam the 13 is liters per min. The shut in and off are pressures that the pump turns on and off at. This is not a continuous duty pump and will burn out if ran continuously. Wouldnt recommend it. 11 amps makes it a pressure pump and not a pump for much volume which is another negative on using it.

Thanks a bunch David. The Barrelponic system says it needs a minimum of 100 gallons an hour and 5 feet head. If I were to buy one new, what would you suggest? Are there certain waterpump terms I should look for or steer away from? 

Is it better for the pump to be inside the tank or out? 

I really like the beckett pumps. They can be bought thru amazon. I would definitely buy a submersible that stays in the water. They are much more efficient at low gallons.
OK David, really appreciate your help. What do you think about a Well pump. Its super old, massive and doesn't really have a legible label. Do you think this would be able to handle continuous use?

I doubt a well pump would be appropriate to your use.  They generally operate off a pressure switch and don't usually run continuously.

 

I expect you will find many small inexpensive pumps that will manage to run a barrelponics system.  I ran on with a 258 gph pump that probably only manages 15 gallons per hour at 6 feet.  I don't think I ever measured the actual output at 5 feet though.

 

The Danner MD 3 would probably give you plenty of flow for a barrel ponics system, looks like at 5' head it would be giving 4 gpm which is around 240 gph.  That is like a 35 watt mag drive pump.

 

Quiet One Makes a pump (Aquatic eco lists it as the QP12) that uses 26 watts and provides a similar flow to the danner pump listed above.

 

And I'm sure you can find many more pumps that will fit the bill.

Adam I agree with TC. You really want a pump that fits your system correctly. It is the heart of your system. A old well pump will have a stainless motor housing and screen but it might have bronze impellers which you want to shy away from.

Thanks  again TCLynx and David, 

after about three hours of looking for the right pump, I think I'm gonna go with the Quiet One, its the cheapest I could find that meets the system requirements. THanks for the help guys!

The small quiet one pumps are good and energy efficient.  I'm particularly fond of the Quiet One 4000 (listed as the QP14 at Aquatic Eco.)

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