Brushless water pump

RalphVa · Sep 9, 2019

I'm looking for a 12v brushless water pump that'll do around 5 gpm and put up about 60 psi, typical of ones you guys would use for sprayers on your tractor 3 ph.

Cannot seem to find a source.

I'd like it to pump out of a little stream up to my rain tanks. I've some diaphragm pumps with brush motors that work but don't last very long on a battery charge. Brushless should go much longer.

Thanks.

Ralph

RNeumann · Sep 9, 2019

This is where I started.

RV | Enjoying Water | Residential Solutions | Industry Solutions | Pentair

RalphVa · Sep 11, 2019

Not much help. Went on Agri Supply and Northern Tools sites and contacted them. No reply yet.

Ralph

oosik · Sep 11, 2019

My neighbor has two remote cow watering stations. They both have 12V, solar powered pumps. I think they are "Red Jacket" by brand. Simple float controlled operation. Lift is 15 feet or less. He had to put the float controls inside a 18" diameter vertical pipe to keep the cows from "jamming the works".

Otherwise - they operate from spring thru fall. I know the local deer & elk sure appreciate these watering stations also.

Around here a watering station is every bit as good as a food plot.

EddieWalker · Sep 11, 2019

I have a Shurflo pump for my sprayer that's worked great, but I only use it a couple days in the Spring, and a couple days in the Fall. The rest of the year, it sits outside with my sprayer tank. It's not what you are looking for, but it has been a good pump and maybe a starting point for something bigger that you are wanting?

https://www.amazon.com/Shurflo-2088...1YFSZGMP4W3&psc=1&refRID=5V6QBBGAV1YFSZGMP4W3

RalphVa · Sep 12, 2019

Finally just ordered one off Amazon, as we had some points there. Cannot find brushless pumps except for aquarium ones.

Strangely enough, on any pump where it tells the operating amps, they're lower than what one would calculate for the pump flow & head and even 100% efficiency on the combined motor and pump. Diaphragm should be the most efficient. I calculate 12 amps for a 3 gpm/60 psi pump on 12v at 95% efficiency. Think I need to buy a backup marine battery to match what we have on our gate to get much running time (e.g. higher amp-hour). Don't think the little utility battery will last very long and be worth my time connecting it and all. The 3 gpm will fill my tanks in about 6 hours; so, a 72 amp hour battery is needed.

Ralph

Industrial Toys · Sep 12, 2019

Could have gone with a 110 volt pump and an inverter, even though I must say, I don't like inverters. Possibly any inefficiencies in the inverter might be made up by less circuit resistance to the pump, depending on layout.

Also, I have considered taking a high quality gear pump, or other style and then joining it to the DC motor of my choice. 12 volt pumps have always been stupid expensive and not of high quality either.

RNeumann · Sep 12, 2019

If you are running the pump off a battery and don’t have an automatic low voltage (say 11.5 volts or so) kill switch that would explain the short pump life. You will smoke the thing in no time at low voltage.

RalphVa · Sep 12, 2019

Didn't know there was such a thing. Will look into it.

Figured out why their quoted amps are lower than what I calculate. Gotta be using about 14 volts. Yeah, as voltage drops, the amperage would go up to maintain the same pump flow/head. Think what happens is the motor slows down though.

Ralph

Larry Caldwell · Sep 12, 2019

If you set up solar panels and a charge controller, you won't have to haul the battery in to charge it every day.

RNeumann · Sep 12, 2019

RalphVa said:
Didn't know there was such a thing. Will look into it.

Figured out why their quoted amps are lower than what I calculate. Gotta be using about 14 volts. Yeah, as voltage drops, the amperage would go up to maintain the same pump flow/head. Think what happens is the motor slows down though.

Ralph

One word- heat!

radios1 · Sep 12, 2019

you can probably adapt a BLDC motor to replace the brushed motors in the diaphragm pumps.. ElectroCraft : RapidPower™ Brand Brushless DC Motors

RalphVa · Sep 23, 2019

The new pump with a new marine battery are working fine. Should run for 8 hours, as the battery is 95 amp hour. Very quiet. Will see where the levels in the 3 tanks and 4 barrels connected together end up before one overflows, if that happens before I shut the pump down at about 6 pm. Also pumping into the soaker hoses of garden and raspberry patch.

Each pumping period should give me 3 to 5 days' worth of water by switching among the tanks and barrels.

Ralph

radios1 · Sep 24, 2019

I did find a brushless pump that may be good for what you want!. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ultra-Qu...shless-Motor-Submersible-Water-Pump/898433292

RalphVa · Sep 25, 2019

Won't do 100 ft lift.

Ralph

RalphVa · Sep 25, 2019

Well, spoke too soon. The pump apparently quit.

I've near a quarter mile of 3/4" poly pipe down to it and haven't used about 1/2 of it for 3 or 4 years (haven't needed it). Found a leak and suspected maybe another; so, cut the line where it ran underneath the tractor crossing and reconnected just before the crossing to the other side.

Then could not get the bloody pump to work. Took it back up here to the house and thought I had it going again. Still would not pump. Going to send the pump back for a refund. Cannot take it apart. The screws have VERY soft heads and use a driver type that I don't have. Loosened all but 3, but they would not budge and rounded them out a little bit. Figured the bigger 3.0 gpm pump would be more foregiving of most stuff.

Got out one of my old (US made Flojet) 1.8 gpm ones. It worked in pumping from a nearly full bucket sitting beside the pump. Took it down, but it would not pump up the approximately 18" to the pump sitting on the tractor crossing. Figure I've a very tiny air leak on the suction side. Will simplify what I have on the suction and try it again tomorrow. Got another old Flojet 1.8 gpm.

Think my neighbor has the right idea. He put in about a 2 or 2 1/2" poly line from the creek up to his house with a motor driven pump, about 50 gpm: MUCH more forgiving a slight leaks on the suction side. Much bigger project.

Ralph

RalphVa · Sep 26, 2019

I've about concluded that diaphragm pumps (did not ever run into them in refinery work I did as a chemical engineer; dealt with pumps a lot) are absolutely no good for drawing UP on the suction side. They're made to suck from gravity tanks that are usually at the same level with liquid higher than the pump until suction is near empty. Also, very clean service: not sucking from a flowing stream.

I got the sorry pump working sucking from a bucket on the pavement and pump elevated in the FEL. Took it down to the stream: NOTHING.

I'll take it apart tomorrow. This US made pump has nice stainless steel screws holding it together, not the very soft metal ones the Chinese one had. (Wife sent it back by UPS today.)

Think what I need is a small reciprocating pump. Don't seem to make any small ones. A small centrifugal would chew up too much battery juice because it would not be very efficient.

Ralph

RNeumann · Sep 26, 2019

Your best bet is probably a submersible pump. No vacuum. The little vacuum pumps rely on rubber/neoprene internals (diaphragm or vanes). A submersible doesn’t. Might be time to invert and use 120v pump.

RalphVa · Sep 26, 2019

Think all submersible ones are centrifugal. The smaller ones (like the ones our the old power steering systems) only do about 30% efficiency. That's about 3 times the amount of juice a positive displacement pump driver would need. The inverter would burn some more juice in losses.

Ralph