Have any here used solar pumps/aerators ?

I am contemplating building a water feature using either solar pump or aerator and wanted to have advice from any who have tried these . And suggestions as to vendors to use (or not) that would be reliable sources for equipment .

Thanks

Hi.

I have no experience with solar devices in a pond, but have thought about it. I would think that a draw back would be that they do not operate at night.

This message was edited Nov 24, 2010 4:56 PM

Agreed , most would do that but there seems to be a few models with the expanded capability of charging a battery through the day as well in order to run the devices at night . Was wondering if any here had tried that .

Here is one that claims to run 3 hours after sundown ;

http://www.solarkey.com/product_details.asp?classtype=0202&mid=266

another that does not say how long after sunset ;

http://www.attictrunk.com/fotesopuki34.html

I have seen a number of solar chargers claimed to be capable of charging deep cycle marine batteries . Certainly something could be fashioned I would think to run a low voltage pump in the night .

My neighbor has one for a small pond (750 gallons?). I'll try to remember to check the brand. At least here, it's no big deal if it doesn't run at night or after a long cloudy period. The battery charging is more expensive, but maybe if you were worrying about freezing continuous operation would be essential.