what size water pump?

Just to bring this thread to life again............

I have a bit of a slack week ahead, have a large selection of stainless steel tube & sheet and a TIG welder.

Just to give me some sort of idea for pumps, I know the flow rate isn't massively important but the head is (so i keep telling Mrs Neo!)

If i was to make one of these..........




with the longest of the 3 poles @ 1m, what sort of head would i need to run all 3? Is it a case of roughly adding up all 3 heights, or just going for the longest?
Would different diameter feed pipes be needed (ie smaller diameter for the tall pipes, bigger diameter for the low one to get the flow sort of even?) or could it be done with valves / taps to restrict the flow?


As you can see, not mega clued up on the getting water from A to B part, but putting it together will be fine......... hopefully

Its actually a mixture of flow rate and max head height that is improtant.

As you imply, if the head height is too low the water will never get to the top, but if there is not enough flow rate it will never fill all 3 tubes.

Ideally the 2 lower tubes should have their own inlet controlled by a valve, so that you can adjust each one untill you get your desired result. the tallest need not have one since it gets what the other 2 don't use

(like balancing radiators if you will. )

The one pictured often has a triangular feed pipe with screws that partialy block the pipe. or not depending where the screws are set to.

The hole at the the top also has a lot to do with the size of the pump. if it is big, say 2cm in diameter then it is going to need a much bigger pump than if it were say 5mm in diameter.

As for which pump it depends on the size of the top holes, the height of the tallest pipe from water surface, etc etc but i would say a medium sized fountain pump from a diy shed will do

Other suppliers of fountain pumps are available

Do remember:

A big pump can be turned down, a small pump can not be turned up. And cheap pumps don't last.

Not all pumps are the same, you do not want a watefall pump (These can pump high volumes but not to great heights (head)

You don't want a sump pump, these will work very well (too well) and cost a fortune in prolonged running costs

Excellent!

So it's really a case of getting a semi decent pump and just tweaking things til it works

I'll whack some pics up when i've knocked something up!

Cheers Breezer

in a nut shell, yes, but also bear in mind (as you mentiioned) the head height of your chosen pump, and some valves would not go amiss. look forward to the pictures

ill be intrested to see the results, may be able to put some business your way!

Now the pressure is on
Gimme some ideas and i'll whack something together

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please

That was actually one i scribbled up last night but in stainless