IK this is more of a computer forum but there are some intelligent people here who build things so I thought ide get some input.
I like to garden a little bit, a couple of seasons ago I pounded a well spike about 15 feet down by hand and use a pitcher pump to get water from it. This works fine but I'm kinda tired of pumping manually
I decided a bit of an upgrade is in order. Goal: get a tiny trickle of water out of my well, enough to fill a 5 gal bucket after a full day
use 4 6v solar panels wire them in Parallel to get higher amperage 6v output and run the little pump down my well with a line for the water attached with a check valve to keep the water up when the pump is not running
potential problem: Little pump may be not Strong enough to push even a small amount of water 15 ft straight up.
plan B: reuse the solar panels from plan A split the 4 panels into sets of two wire them in Parallel then wire the two sets in Series to get a reasonable amperage 12v output. get a larger 12v pump of some kind not sure what yet and try and get my trickle of water this way. The pump would probably have to be at surface level, it may not fit down the pipe requiring it to pull a trickle of water 15ft up anybody have any input here?
plan c: Keep adding solar panels and stronger pumps till it works
Also, radial/centrifugal pumps do not like random changes in power delivery, and their efficiency/flow curves are non-linear in relation to RPM.
I suggest modding your current pitcher pump with some kind of motorized mechanism to move the piston, as piston pumps (given that the seals inside do not leak) will always move the same amount of water per "stroke".
EDIT: But why even bother with, electronic stuff out in the weather, any reason to rule out wind as power source? some inspiration:
Sorry another EDIT: There also might be some legal restrictions regarding groundwater. At least where I live, you can take as much water from the ground using a manual pump, but as soon as you want to use a motorized one, you need to get a permission. Just a thing you might want to keep in mind.
I would put a battery into the mix and have the system run pumping cycles when it is charged enough. Then run the pump for how ever long is needed to cycle the battery for optimal lifespan of the battery. If you need more water add more PV cells.
water table is constant with a small amount silicates dissolved, more than enough water to ever pump dry. A filter would be a good idea here and yeah the little pump is unlikely too work. Wind is not viable here. A piston style pump would drive the cost up a little too high and the picture pump pulls too much water at once and would require a more energy too automate, I don't think I could power it without an extensive solar array.
But you guys are right I should get something a little more capable and add a battery, automate it a little so it turns on when the battery reaches a certain level. I could maybe consider buying or building some heavier duty solenoids but still reasonably small, add some check valves and power them on and off timed with a microcontroller and relay to create a small piston pump.
I am a quite capable welder as I worked as one for 15 years. I am trying to keep the costs and energy requirements low. If I where too do that I might as well make it gas powered as it would be much cheaper than solar. Not totally against that idea, I have plenty of small engines to work with but would rather go more green
12v at 1amp isn't too bad. $20 bucks. Doesn't seem like a bad let's see if it works. D.C. Brushless helps along with ceramic insides also is a plus. Looks capable might be a bit under powered at a 4m lift but it could work.
I provided the picture to give some inspiration how you could modify your pitcher pump to operate with a motor. It's a oil pump btw. I'll list the essential parts (from right to left), to communicate hopefully better than with just the word "inspiration". 1) actual pump (the piston part). You got that already, it's the pitcher pump minus the handle. 2) Rope/Chain/rod that moves the piston 3) Lever, lengths on each side of the pivot point depending on the height it should move and the power of the used motor 4) Vertical rod, to transform circular to somewhat linear motion 5) Flywheel to keep the rotational inertia going, then spun by whatever motor.
@AngryNun, the problem I see with the pump you linked: not submersible --> need to mount over ground --> no NPSH (net positive suction head) listed, so I guess it's zero,then it won't pump anything up.
Other than that, and for other use cases, nice specs for the price.
Yes Pala I understood, its just the amount of energy for that is a bit much for a reasonably sized solar array. It is likely I will construct something similar if I attach a gas engine too it.
Might have read over that, my fault. The appearance and construction of the pump just got me to the assumption it's not submersible. If @pepeprs can fit that pump in a most probably 1¼" well spike, he could give it a shot. Not trying to get into an argument, I just tend to check other peoples recommendations out.
You're going to need a pump that can handle much larger amounts of head. Flow control could be achieved with a ball valve but you're going to need a way to keep the pump from dead heading or it will just burn up or cavitate.
I understand. But I'm predicting that mixing low-cost, solar/green and water pumps = a shitload of maintenance pain. The good thing is that the well is shallow and water is plenty. If the water table is somewhat constant, I'm assuming you're on relatively flat land (downstream)? That would be one less thing to worry about when irrigating.
that's exactly what i meant when I responded to AngryNun, however, if the pump is submersible if sealed of properly, and the ground water level is not to far from ground, it might be a budget option. But the space constraints could still be a problem given that pepeprs would still need to fit a submersible pump into the well spike.
I gave my two cents, I guess I let the forum hive mind figure out a solution.
Building a solenoid pump seems like the most reasonable option that I think could work what you think? maybe two solenoids on each end, one for the up motion and one for down so I would not have to worry about wearing out springs
Yeah the problem with that pump is its far too puny to get the required ft head needed to move any volume of water that height. A larger pump could be use on the system at the surface but if it ran dry thats GG for that pump. Then youd need a check valve and all that jazz.
I think a little motor on a worm gear would yield better results but this is probably the better idea.
I would suggest getting a larger solar panel than is the absolute minimum. Solar panels are pretty cheap and the cost per watt of a larger panel (>100W) is much lower than a smaller panel. Using cells is fun for experimenting, but having an entire panel with strong tempered glass will be more resilient outdoors and very difficult to replicate for the same cost. Check out the Green Power Science videos about making your own panels for more information about making your own panels. I paid ~$175 shipped for a 145 watt panel a handful of years back and love it! Shipping can be a killer, so shop around.
How are you going to use the water once it is pumped out of the ground? Are you just filling a bucket to carry around, or something more elaborate? I have a small rain barrel setup with drip irrigation. The water level is usually 4-6 feet higher than the drip irrigation. this gives me a rough 2-3 PSI (very roughly 1 PSI for every 2 feet of head, there are online charts for specific numbers).
I found that many irrigation devices give 'flow for a given pressure' numbers which can be punched into a calculator. I actually used a fuel injector calculator and punched in numbers, then tested it out by putting emitters in a bucket to measure output. The calculator was remarkably accurate. If you want to put the water to work where it comes out with some pressure and not have to manually walk around with a bucket then storing the water as high as is reasonable will be quite useful. My next project will have around 30 feet of head to give me some usable water pressure for my rainwater irrigation system.
I agree with having some sort of battery in the mix, even if it is just a small 20AH UPS battery or old car battery. A used battery off the street plus a cheap ~$25 charge controller will work wonders. MPPT and other over the top charge controllers are too expensive for simple work like this. Unless it is mobile or grid tied then you are usually better off spending the money on a larger panel than the small efficiency boost you get from an MPPT controller. Most online sources praise MPPT, and it can be useful, but I disagree with people who say it is always best, because if you factor in cost then the math doesn't always put MPPT on top from what I have figured.
I could go on for days about this subject. If you give more details of how you plan to use the water then I might be able to give some insight. I'm hoping to either design my own irrigation system from scratch or buy an Open Sprinkler Pi or similar irrigation control system for off grid use, so this is something I have played with and very interested in.
That is extremely low pressure, even for drip irrigation (just drilling holes in the hose or using any particular emmiters? spaghetti extensions?), but I guess if you want very low flow and don't have many plants it's ok. What's your flow and barrel capacity?
And that's true for everyone.