ac to dc pump

Foleyart

I posted here a while back on trying to find a solution for a pump which is on my envirocare septic tank. The pump is 60watts and the damn thing is on 24/7. I had asked if anyone could come up with a solution and someone said I could probably have the pump converted to dc and then install a solar panel to run it. I have not come across anyone who can do this for me and I imagine that the cost might prove prohibitive. Would it not be possible to just buy the dc equivalent pump and run that with solar? Any help would be appreciated.

10-10-20

Hi Foyleart,
I remember that question which you raised alright.
I think you are going to have to firstly source a suitable pump as converting an AC pump to DC is not commonly done due to the nature of the design.
You'll need to get the specifications on the current pump in terms of L-min and the pressure specs (head pressure) and match a DC pump to that.
You will hopefully find that the DC pump will have a lower wattage, and therefore will ease your solar and battery design...

Foleyart

Hey 10, thanks for that, it makes sense to me. Any idea where I might source one of those. I live in Galway
Thanks

Oldtree

The noise from one of those pumps would drive me cracked with its low backround hum, apart from the electric cost of a pump on all the time. My pureflow system, tank seperate from septic, has a cistern type switch to activate the pump when necessary and not continuously. Could your envirocare be adapted?

10-10-20

I was about to mention a similar thing as I see that most 12/24 DC pumps are low-duty and aren't designed to run 24/7.
Can you explain what function of the septic tank requires 24/7 operation?

Out of interest have a look at this...
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_waterpumping.html

Also...
http://www.alphasolar.com/alpha_solar_053.htm

And...
http://www.shurflo.com/pages/RV/rv_categories/potable_water/potableWaterPumps.html

liberty 2007

In order to get that thing to run the way it's designed, unfortunatly, you'd need several sq meters of PV panels. Have you considered connecting your power supply to a timer switch.

10-10-20

Well, if you can get away with switching the pump from the mains, then you should be able to switch the DC motor also and by doing this reduce the area required by the PV panels.
Let's see if we can spec this once we know the wattage of a suitable DC pump?

Foleyart

I just spoke to an engineer from envirocare and also my own engineer about the problem. They told me that the pump serves two functions. First it keeps the effluent aerated and therefore helps the cultivation of bacteria to help break down the crap, and then it pumps out the excess water once it gets to a certain level. To switch off the pump for any period would disrupt the bacterial cycle in the crap. So O crap I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it. At least it's only 60 watts. Thanks for all your help.

Avns1s

I have a similar system but not the envirocare one.

I don't know if mine also "pumps out the excess water once it reaches a certain level" or if this is achieved by gravity, so it may not be the same as yours. It certainly aerated the material in the tank.

Because of the noise and the cost I put mine on a timer and I run it for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. I've been doing this for the past couple of years and it seems to work fine.

Foleyart

I don't have a problem with noise from the envirocare pump, even though it is about 30 feet from the house, you can barely hear it even standing over it. Somebody worked out the cost the last time I posted about this and it is about 80 Euros a year. Not too painful in the general scheme of things!.

10-10-20

60W @ €0.1385 per unit @ 24/7 = €82 p/a ex VAT.

jobrok1

The system I have has an aeration pump which runs 24/7 at 60W. I believe this is tha same as what's discussed above. The pump doesn't actually pump the the treated water out of the system. It just circulates it in such a way that the treated side fills to a certain level and just flows out the outlet to your perc area.

I also have a raised perc area, so I need a seperate submerged pump with a float switch to empty the treated side. This pump will only run for a few minutes at a time every day or two. It also has a stronger wattage.