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Trygve Henriksen posted an update: 1 year, 6 months ago · View
I think I need a better pump than the one I have,but…
the Petco 9904 is a USA model, and trying to run it on 220V/50Hz instead of 120V/60Hz is probably not a good idea…
(Even if it were to survive the higher voltage, the 50Hz would mean it would be running slower than in the USA)I’m REALLY starting to dislike the manufacturers and resellers of these things.
’Suitable for 20 – 100L tanks’, ’Delivers 150L/minute’, ’Delivers a pressure of xxx mBar’, and so on…I have yet to find a single site that gives me a GOOD formula to find the amount of air needed for a given tank size, so there’s no way of comparing different models.
(Not only do the different manufacturers have their own ideas of what is suitable, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this also depends on the shape of the tank… )Started looking for a decent 12V version, too, in case I wanted to go solar…
Sure, there are pumps out there that runs on 12V, and some of them also have the same horrible ratings as the ones running off the grid, but… they’re all 12V AC!
The few battery-powered ones I found all seems to run off of 2 x 1.5V ’D-cells’, and no, none of those came with any recommendations.(They’re ’emergency equipment’ and aquarium owners are supposed to accept whatever the manufacturers decide to give them… Comments on assorted websites indicates that they’re ’better than nothing… barely’ )
Its going to be difficult to get your hands on a product that has no mainstream mass market value. Battery backup air pumps for aquariums have a very small market I would image. And its easier to run them off of batteries then alternative sources of power. Especially when marketed to the western world.
I came across this though:
http://www.hailea.com/E-hailea/product3/UAS-15000.htm
http://www.aquacon.com/batteryairpumps.html
Second link shows a 12v DC car adapter.
Company is in South Africa.
You’re probably right…
So I’ve decided to shelve the 12V option for the time being.
It is annoying, though, that the manufacturers of ’normal’ pumps can’t seem to provide proper spec sheets.
(I still have no clue as to how much air the Petco pump delivers, and even if I knew, there’s no reliable way to compare it to other pumps… )
Even then, with mass production, you could end up with a weaker unit.
Btw I came across something that might help. I know at one point you were looking at controlling the system from a PC, but you wanted an enclosed product.
http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKPS01
Unless they make a 220V model that accepts ’Euro’-style two-pronged plugs with round pins, that device is useless for me.
If I was to control it from some sort of computer, I would probably use either a Parallax Basic Stamp (probably a 2p as I have one of those sitting idle) or a Parallax Propeller(because I like overkill.It’s also cheaper… And I can hook itup to a TV real easy… )
I am not using a petco pump and my air pump design is not per their design, but when I was researching them, I ran into the local pet store and wrote the specification down off the boxes since it was imposible to find online. The important specifications when comparing models will be the air flow. So here are the petco’s data.
9901 – 1.8l/m, 9902 – 4l/m, 9903 – 4.5l/m, 9904 – 9l/m
Review this http://our.windowfarms.org/2010/04/11/alternate-air-pump-performance-data/ if you like math.
Assuming that the 9L / Minute is the combined output from all 4 ports, the 9904 pushes 2.25L/ minute from each port, which is ’a bitt better’ than thee 2 x 1.5L / Minute my current pump does.
I’ll try to find a pump with 4 ports that pushes at least 8L/minute, preferably 9L or more, then.
http://www.schego.de/pdf/Schego_Aquariumtechnology.pdf
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(Just trying to be helpful here, Trygve
Thanks for the effort.
I’ve already looked at the Schego pumps, and they look nice, but they’re horrendously epensive. At least any place that I can find them.
Also, I can’t find any model of theirs with 4 ports, which would be nice if I want to expand to fill an entire window.
Ordered a Sera 550R instead, which delivers 9L/minute from a total of 4 ports yesterday.
The old pump, an AM-TOP Cr-30 will probably be relegated to the kitchen window and smaller bottles for herbs later as the 2 x 1.5L /minute is inadequate for a full-height garden.