Where to find pumps for Prop-controlled fountain

Comments

• steve_b Posts: 1,563

  2007-08-16 19:52 edited 2007-08-16 19:52

  Someone else might have better words to offer....
  but I'm thinking you'd need a pretty fast pump to get pressure up high enough to jet water (how high?)!
  
  I've been thinking of this too and am unsure how i want to tackled it. It would just be for a small backyard pond with a couple of water arcs passing back and forth.
  I was thinking of doing it pneumatically. Have something similar to a bicycle pump, where you fill it with air and it pushes the rod out. The rod then forces water out of a nozzle/tube that sends a stream across the air. (do I then use a spring to bring the rod back to start position? or have a couple of valves on either side, and use air to force it back the other way creating another stream....
  The downside would be a loud cranky pump, every once in a while, that would recharge the reserved tank of air....
  
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  <FONT>Steve
  
  
  
  What's the best thing to do in a lightning storm? "take a one iron out the bag and hold it straight up above your head, even God cant hit a one iron!"
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• Tim-M Posts: 522

  2007-08-16 20:05 edited 2007-08-16 20:05

  How about a high pressure pump scheme? The pump could run in a by-pass mode when not producing the arcs or effects that you are looking for, but when you want them, the pressure would be there at the ready for you to use.
  
  Tim
• Beau Schwabe Posts: 6,547

  2007-08-16 23:20 edited 2007-08-16 23:20

  SSteve,
  
  The STOP/START conditions that would be required for a pump to do what you are asking would be very hard on the pump and shorten the life of the pump. What you want to do is have a reservoir similar to what is often called a "water hammer", (only it would need to be bigger ) and "gate" the flow with a solenoid style valve rather than doing it from the pump.
  
  Think of a large air-filled reservoir tank... as the "water pump" runs, the air inside the reservoir compresses increasing the internal reservoir pressure. ( Water pump stops when a set threshold pressure is reached ) A secondary line with a solenoid valve allows the resivor to bleed off the internal reservoir pressure in the form of short powerful controlled bursts. A secondary "air pump" may also be required to maintain an air cavity within the reservoir tank.
  
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  Beau Schwabe
  
  IC Layout Engineer
  Parallax, Inc.
  
• SSteve Posts: 808

  2007-08-17 16:18 edited 2007-08-17 16:18

  Thanks, Beau. You've shattered my dreams.
  
  Seriously, though, thanks for the info. You've saved me a lot of time and effort just to find out it wasn't going to work.
  
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• Capt. Quirk Posts: 872

  2007-08-17 18:10 edited 2007-08-17 18:10

  Most fountain pumps are centrifugal pumps and·are rated in how many inches or feet it can pump water straight up per diameter of pipe.
  
  If you want a pump that could send a small diameter stream all the way·into your neighbors yard, LOL, try a gear pump instead.
• SSteve Posts: 808

  2007-08-17 19:18 edited 2007-08-17 19:18

  Capt. Quirk said...
  you want a pump that could send a small diameter stream all the way into your neighbors yard, LOL, try a gear pump instead.

  I was thinking eight to twelve inches. If I want to spray my neighbor, I'll just use my garden hose.
  
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  OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
  
  links:
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• Paul Baker Posts: 6,351

  2007-08-17 20:40 edited 2007-08-17 20:40

  Take a look at http://www.atlanticfountains.com·they have all sorts, including laminar.
  
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  Paul Baker
  Propeller Applications Engineer
  
  Parallax, Inc.