DC Pumps? Why isn't anyone using them?

[Doctor mcboy]

Thanks for confirming that. Seems like most of the brands out there cater to aquarium owners. Have had a hard time finding many that are built for ponds (Aquascape has a few, I guess). And the ones that I could find had dubious user reviews.

Have you had luck with any kind of brushless DC pumps?




I don't think that is correct.

it is correct, that is why there are no 12v dc pond pumps. you can buy a 12 vdc bilge pump but they suck power and do not last .

 

[Pharian]

I looked at them when I was building my pond, but the need to either have a looooong lead with a lot of power leak along that length or to have the power in some sort of waterproof housing put me off. Plus they didn't seem to be as well make or durable, and they also didn't seem to be able to pass the same size solids (which for bits of leaf and stuff is important in a pond).

 

[Doctor mcboy]

me also. i really wanted to go green and use solar/wind power ect. with my pond. there are some good small dc pumps but when you get up to large flows there is really not many other options than the ac pumps. but i have not given up yet. i am going to make a small 10x10 water garden in my backyard and i want to go green with it and use as much 12 vdc stuff as possible and use solar/wind to power it. if anyone finds somethig that works and it does not cost way more than 120 vac i would like to know!

 

[combatwombat]

it is correct, that is why there are no 12v dc pond pumps. you can buy a 12 vdc bilge pump but they suck power and do not last .

The pumps I've been looking at are 24 or 36vdc. In any case, though, it looks like there is some nuance. These dc pumps have an open impeller design that makes them very efficient at moving water when total dynamic head is <10 feet or so. Once your TDH climbs above that, they drop off significantly.

There's a guy over on Koiphen who set up a test bench to test all sorts of different pumps, and he's published some really good data if you'd like to review it.

 

[Doctor mcboy]

cool, i am hoping the solar/ battery techonlgy will get better and cheaper so i can power my next small pond with dc .

 

[dustboy]

I do like the idea of the DC or low voltage pumps for a pond, unfortunately everything I’ve seen appears to be junk. Might take a look at variable speed pool pumps. They are expensive but often last 10 years or more. They are also very efficient and designed to be safe for swimmers. None are submersible.

 

[combatwombat]

I do like the idea of the DC or low voltage pumps for a pond, unfortunately everything I’ve seen appears to be junk

Yes, it does seem the industry is dominated by cheap disposables. I don't know why that is. Seems to be no "middle market"—either super cheap (Jebao, Perhia, etc) or extremely expensive (Flowfriend, etc.)

 

[huy]

Seems they are very popular with aquarium hobbyists. They're low voltage, can be plumbed submersible or external, have variable flow rates, and are super energy efficient. You can find them in a few different brands rated all the way up to about 6,600 GPH.

Why are these not at all popular with the pond community? The main downsides I can see are:

1. The controllers/transformers tend not to be weather rated (probably because only aquarium owners buy them), so you would need to protect them from rain/snow.
2. They don't do well with high head applications. So if you have a tall waterfall or long pipe runs (or both) I think they really under-deliver in those scenarios.

But if you're not dealing with much head and you can protect the electronics, I would think us pond people should be making them fly off the shelves.

But when I do a search on the major pond forums... there's not a lot of discussion about them compared to all the AC pump options.

Why do you think that is?

I bought a 3000 gph DC pump for my 1200 gallon pond. It works great! The control unit is housed in a weather/water resistant plastic box and the pump is in the pond pulling water and debris from an undergravel suction grid and then pumped into an adjacent bog filter that runs directly back into the pond. It's energy efficient and I also like the fact I can control the flow during feeding or slow the flow of water through the bog I designed. Most of the time it's only running less than half it's capacity.

 

[Doctor mcboy]

when i first thought about my garden pond i wanted it to be a green solar powered deal that works in a budget , and is dependable. putting a lot of plastic / rubber pond liner in the ground did not seem green at all so i ditched the pond liner and made a clay bottomed pond. then i started going solar power on my pond. to have dependable power just to run 100 watts of pumps i was going to have to buy 2 large batteries solar charger controllers and more expensive dc pumps. now how green is that? and it would still be iffy on running the pumps 24 hours on sunny days. so i ran vac to my pond. the pump technology is much better for the price on ac pumps due to the much higher demand for ac pumps.
in my case dc power is not green or reliable or worth the higher cost .

 

[dustboy]

I bought a 3000 gph DC pump for my 1200 gallon pond. It works great! The control unit is housed in a weather/water resistant plastic box and the pump is in the pond pulling water and debris from an undergravel suction grid and then pumped into an adjacent bog filter that runs directly back into the pond. It's energy efficient and I also like the fact I can control the flow during feeding or slow the flow of water through the bog I designed. Most of the time it's only running less than half it's capacity.

So, what brand is it and where did you find it? I’d love to have a variable speed pump that I could run at 25% when i only need circulation, then crank up to 100% when we want to enjoy the waterfall.

 

[combatwombat]

so i ran vac to my pond

You did what now?!

 

[Doctor mcboy]

voltage alternating current

 

[combatwombat]

voltage alternating current

Ah, got it. Haha. Thought you meant a vacuum line.

 

[Doctor mcboy]

cool, i am a longtime plant electrician and that is the terminology used on machine electrical prints. vdc is voltage direct current. also a correctly wired ac pump is just as safe for swimmers as a dc pump.

 

[SoCal Pond]

I am starting my new 1200G pond and 500G bog and running it all off solar. I am using DC variable pumps and this is what I am getting just starting out. For the waterfall with about a 32" rise and 18" width I am using two 12-18V 660-898GPH AEO pumps.

I did a lot of testing using a kiddie pool long before the pond was built to make sure it would work.

I am very satisfied with the flow and have noticed that during the day when the marine batteries are fully charged at 14.4V it does flow more. When the batteries get down to 12.5V at around 10pm the flow slows a little bit but is still pretty good. The waterfall on the pond has been running for about a month. When running directly off the 18V solar panel they have way more flow but would only run during the daylight hours. That was not an option.

Last night I started the pumps on the bog which are two AEO 12-24V 240-410GPH pumps. I plan to run them 24/7. Unfortunately there is a leak in the bog so I had to stop testing it this morning. I was not satisfied with the flow so I will replace them with two more of the 660-898GPH pumps. I can use the smaller ones to push water around the pond instead.

My next option is I am running 1 inch lines and will 1 1/2 inch make a difference? The larger pumps have options for each size.

660-898GPH

240-410GPH