Finding the right pump to your system

[Adam Garrett-Clark]

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? 

 

[David Waite]

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.

[Adam Garrett-Clark]

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? 

[David Waite]

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.

[Adam Garrett-Clark]

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?

[TCLynx]

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.

[David Waite]

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.

[Adam Garrett-Clark]

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!

[TCLynx]

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.)