PC Water Cooling pump as ATO pump???

[Integral9]

I am looking at using this, http://koolance.com/pump-pmp-300-g-1-4-bsp but have a few questions out with the company that sells them.  Has anyone looked into using this kind of pump?  Anyone know of a pump that will output to 1/4" tubing?  (besides a peristaltic or aqualifter)

 

I am looking to upgrade my aqualifter to something that can handle more than 18" of head and will work with 1/4" airline so that I can use to feed my kalk stirrer.  None of the powerheads I have seem to be able to catch primer with such a tiny outlet, or even have 1/4" outlets, so they effectively do nothing.  So I went out and got an aqualifter.  It works, but is barely able to keep up with my evaporation as it only pumps about 1 - 2 drips per second.   The peristaltic pump I have works, but as an ATO I find the neoprene gets crushed very fast and since the price of the replacement tubing has gone from $10 to $30+ I do not want to keep replacing it. 

[Coral Hind]

It sounds like a good idea. I too was frustrated by the lack of power in the aqualifter. Tagging along to see how it works.

[Origami]

Not sure if this might help you adapt a pump to 1/4 inch airline. It worked for me, though.
 

http://wamas.org/forums/topic/41910-maxijet-to-quick-connect-john-guest-adapter/?p=353454

 

Sent from my phone)
 

[Integral9]

Koolance got back to me with the following:

The PMP-300 has G 1/4 BSPP threaded fitting sockets, but does not come with hose fittings. You can purchase NZL-V06B which will give you the 1/4" I believe you are looking for.

Our pumps are not self priming.

The housing is aluminum, POM, and plastic. The mounting bracket is nickel plated steel. We have not tested this item in a marine environment.

 

So if I go this route, i will need the following:

 

1 x PMP-300 pump   $39.99

2 x NZL-V06B Fittings $7.48

1 x Shipping & Handling  $10.90

  $58.37

+

7 x days to wait for delivery  >.<

1 x AC to DC power supply 12V 1.6A  (old PC power supply)

 

I think Tom has a cheaper method and I think I will swing by homedepot on my way home from work today and pick up the parts.  Hopefully it will work. 

 

Thanks Tom. 

 

[Integral9]

Went out last night and got the parts for what I am dubbing "The Origami ATO Mod".   Put it all together, and it works.  I think my Maxijet 600 is having some trouble though as I am no where near the 59" height and the pump slows to a drip, but at least now it can keep up with my evaporation and I have an air pump (the aqualifter).  I swapped out my old 1/4" line with new 1/4" line and there was no difference.  I think if there was a little bit more room to move the water, the MJ600 would be ok.  I have a Rio 50 that I think might work for this too.  I'm going to try it out and see what happens.  If not, I might look into modding my K1 to accept a 3/8 line. 

 

edit: 

btw, I went with sanding down the MJ output nozzle, vs trying to bore out the CPVC tube.  Same difference, but I think it's a little easier to sand depending on whether or not you have a drill press or a 1/2" drill bit with a tapering tip.  My 1/2" bit is a meant to bore holes; the tip is shaped like a capital Sigma instead of a V so it doesn't take much for me to miss the angle on the tube and drill out through the side wall.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Integral9

[Origami]

Do you have an MJ1200 handy?

[Integral9]

No I don't.  Is that the size pump you are using?   btw, I how loud is yours?   My 600 rattles quite a bit. 

[Origami]

I don't use it anymore. I used it on an old biocube 29 that I had in my wife's home office as an ATO top off pump. It wasn't noisy at all. However,since it was freely resting on the bottom, it might rattle against the bottom when it was turned on. You can solve that pretty easily by zip-tying a bit of an old mouse pad or similar cushioning around the body of the pump if that's the problem. It's been a while, but I probably used an MJ1200.

 

Wait. You're only lifting 18 inches, right? If so, there's something wrong with that pump, assuming there's no blockage or something interfering with the impeller rotation. Have you opened the pump up to make sure that everything is working properly?

[Integral9]

The noise is the pump vibrating against the bottom of the bucket, but it is worse than normal operating vibrations because the impeller is cavitating with all the back pressure of being reduced from 1/2" to 1/4".   I think the tubing is restricting the flow of the water past or very near the pump's minimum rate of flow.  I am hoping that the smaller powerhead will be able to operate at a lower rate of flow so at least it won't rattle as bad. 

[Origami]

I've used a Maxijet 1200 in this configuration with 1/4" tubing to lift water close to 5 feet. I never had a problem like you're describing, though.

[Integral9]

This is a really old MJ600.   Probably one of my original pumps, so that makes it about 5 years old.  I'm kinda surprised it still works, tbh.   The volute on it is very loose, which I admit could be contributing to the noise. 

 

Well, I'll see what the Rio50 does.  Could be good, could be worse.  I dunno.  

[Integral9]

I tried the rio (turns out it us a rio 180, not sure why thought 50), and it was not any better. So ihooked up a 3/8" line to the mj600 and reduced it to 1/4" just before the check valves and kalk stirrer. The pump runs a lot better now and I get much more flow. I am able to keep up with evaporation much better now. The flow would be too much if the pump ran for too long, but I have a second float switch to turn the pump off if the water level gets to high.

 

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