I have been a boater for many years, and the bilge pump has served well in pumping gallons of water out of the bilge. I bought one at West Marine for about $35. It's rated at 1000 GPH and is exceptionally well made. I can get it to pump a stream of water straight up to over 10 feet, and it has been in service for over 10 years without failing. It has been powered by a small deep cycle battery and has been pumping my water fountain spray steadily for over a week. Once a week I recharge the battery for a few hours and it's good to go again. Of course, eventually I'll replace the battery with a 12 VDC power supply. The pump draws only 1 Amp; so a small DC supply should be cheap and readily available.
Being rather respectful of electricity, the 110 VAC killing kind, I wonder why 12 VDC pumps, such as this bilge pump, arent used more extensively in water gardens, particulary fountains. Seems to me that, in addition to being dependable, powerful, and a lot cheaper, they are certainly safer -- and contact with 12 VDC rarely kills. What am I missing?
Jim
Merchantville, NJ
Why not 12 VDC pumps?
Jim,
Just a few weeks ago, I was researching low voltage pumps for ponds and fountains. I was able to find some of them on the internet. The only thing I noticed was that they were usually 1000 gph or less. I was going to get one and hook it up the some low voltage landscape light setup that I have. But for the last few days, I researching to see if there is a solar pump out there that i can use.
xman
I looked into solar pumps because the electric wen out at the ponds but they were ver expensive and I need two. BEV
I've seen bilge pumps up to 1800-2000 GPH and they are usually under $100.
What's more, they have to meet Coast Guard standards. The pumps that are sold for water fountains are 1000 gph or less. Now, solar is a different matter. Solar cells dont put out much current (unless they are very big and very expensive), but they can be used to trickle charge an external deep cycle battery. Of course, a lot depends on your locale -- how much sun, how intense, how often.
I have no familiarity with bilge pumps. My question here though is the intake. Ponds are dirty with debris. Can a bilge pump handle solids? My other question is if the power would be too much for the filter to which it would have to be connected? It takes a balance between GPH, pond volume and filter rate capacity. All three components have to work together to keep a healthy aquatic ecosystem. It is more than just moving water. But, again I know zero about a bilge pump - Just a seven year ponder here with two ponds and two waterfalls asking some questions.
I question wether such pumps are really built for 24/7 use over the long term and how long they might last like that. We are using pumps that pump over 3k gph and use less than 2Amps.
Well, I'll try to keep this brief:
I have been experimenting with the bilge pump concept; and, after several fits and starts, have reached the conclusion that it isnt worth it, but not for the reason most would assume.
I ran the 1000 gph West Marine bilge pump for 24 hours and the next morning it was dead. Inspection revealed a broken wire at the joint where I had crimped the pump's leads to the 12 VDC leads from the power supply. Fixed the broken connection. Another 24 hours -- same thing. Fixed connection again. The third time, I noticed a slightly green goo around the connection. Ah-ha, copper sulfate. Now, what was happening was that electrolysis was eating thru the copper wire on the positive 12 VDC lead. Why doesnt this happen in the bilge of a boat? Probably because a bilge pump runs for 2-3 minutes to pump out the water in the bilge; then a float switch cuts it off and no current flows to the pump until the next time the water level rises to trip the float switch. In the pond application, however, the current is applied 24/7 and over time it allows the electrolysis process enough time to eat through the connection. I'm sure it has something to do with the use of dissimilar metals (aluminum pump wires vs copper wires from power supply. I'm sure the bilge pump, quality wise, is capable of 24/7 operation -- and it certainly was able to pump the water to 6 or 7 feet in the air with 1000 gpg; but the electrolysis problem is something else.
Perhaps somebody has another idea?
Bottom line -- I bought a Cal Pump designed for water fountain use. Cost four times as much as the bilge pump, but works great.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear you bought a cal pump :( They really have a very bad reputation for not lasting long.
Hi,
Has anybody used a low voltage pump? Are there any disadvantages to using this?
thanks,
xman
As to pumps, I'm not thrilled with Danner PondMaster mag drive pumps either. My last one just started to slow way down for no apparent reason. The impeller was in very good condition. They do have a generous warranty but sending it in for "evaluation" and maybe a warranty covered repair is not practical when you immediately need a pump in service. Danner also discontiuned the model I was using, even more frustrating as I couldn't get simple replacement parts if I needed them, like an impeller. I plopped in a Savio. Way not cheap! We'll see. The intake clogs real easy on this Savio so you have to be careful with it. It puts out 360 GPH more than the Danner did, but the difference in flow is amazing. I think the Danner must have been gradually slowing down over a long period of time without my noticing until it got to a certain point where the flow was inadequate. Anybody here tried Laguna? I'm open to suggestions as I want to have a replacement pump on hand just in case - submersible between 3600 and 4000 gph. I've got 2500 gal with 30 feet of head and and two filters, a skimmer filter and a 30 gal capacity bio filter. I rely on a strong pour out over the waterfall to oxygenate the water. That coupled with the head dictates the need for the strong pumping capacity.
I would also love to hear what pumps you would recommend...high efficiency and lowest electric usage...mine is 4000-6000gal approx, as long as this is still on topic about pumps? Submergable vs external?...
We love our sequence pumps, for the $ some of the longest lasting and most power efficient pumps in that range on the market.
Azreno
I wish I had know that Cal Pumps had a bad rep -- maybe that's why this fountain kit had a price tag of $229.95 and was marked down to $50!!!
Anyway, you mention "sequence" -- Is that a type of pump or a brand name of a pump manufacturer?
I always try and do a google search on what I'm interested in and the word forum, usually gets you a good range of opinions on the subject and can save you heartbreak :(
Sequence is a manufacturer, I think all external pumps- here's 123ponds sequence page
http://www.123ponds.com/pumps-sequence-centrifugal-pumps.html
As far as this pump and solids, we use prefilters on both of ours as well as a screen at the intake in the pond. These pums may seem costly to some, bt if you compare a comparable pump in terms of energy usage, it's worth it in the long run. We also have used and still use a danner magdrive, they use a ton of electricity :(