[hydrophyte]

I'm working on a concept for a decorative vertical garden and I'd like to plan a way to push low volumes of water up pretty high (~8'). It would be great to find something nice and compact and with 12V operation.

What do you think about something like this?...

Swiftech MCP355 Watercooling High Performance Pump Equivalent to Laing DDC 12 volt DC Pump

I think I have read that those CPU water cooling pumps need to run with very clean water. Does anybody have any experience with this kind of pump? I wonder if I could keep the reservoir water nice and clean with a fine filter screen(?).

Thanks for considering this.

 

[hydrophyte]

If anybody has any opinions about those little CPU water cooling pumps I'd love to hear.

 

[stevenhman]

A Mag-drive 3 should give 75 GPH at 8ft of head. Even less flow than the CPU cooling pump.

Danner Mag-Drive Supreme Water Pump

 

[Rhesus Feist]

I have never worked with computer liquid cooling systems so this is only educated guessing from working with aquarium, pond and swimming pool pumps. If that pump is designed to run a closed loop of coolant, it probably wont last long running water full of particulate. Unless you plan on running some type of 10 micron or smaller mesh filter on this system, even dust and tannins in the water will probably take their toll.

Personally I would go with a decent aquarium pump like the suggested Danner Mag pump. If your flow is too strong at your head, you can always add an in-line ball valve after the pump and use it to throttle down the flow from the pump. Never run a pump with a valve closed on the inlet side, you will kill the pump, and possibly kill any aquatic animals through gas supersaturation in the water.

 

[hydrophyte]

The pump needs to run inline, not submersible, and like I said it will also be best with 12V operation. The location we have in mind is several yards away from an outlet and I can't run a regular extension cord.

 

[Rhesus Feist]

Danner also makes inline versions of the mag pumps Danner Manufacturing Inc. - Categories but I don't know what to tell you as far as the wanting a DC pump. You can give the cooling pump a try, but you'll be using it for a purpose it wasnt designed for. no telling how long it will last.

Are there going to be animals in this display? I can't tell if the motor is sealed on the cooling pump you listed. If you are going to have animals, I wouldn't use a pump with an unsealed motor. An unsealed pump isn't going to last long with all the dirt that will end up in the water.

 

[EvilLost]

Not a direct solution but just food for thought....

you can make a 2-stage system using check valves and 2 pumps although you will need a smaller reservoir for the 2nd pump halfway or w/e up

 

[ynotnad]

I use that pump in my sons pc to cool his gpu and cpu...if that pump gets anything inside of it will fry up in a heart beat. I know this from personal experience, while doing a 48hr test run for leaks some how when I was pouring the coolant into the reserve I got a piece of the foil (about 1/8" piece) that was on the coolant bottle top into the system, needless to say within 5 hours the pump was fried. It is a great pump and it is stronger than it appears but I would be worried about anything getting into the pump.

You could add a prefilter to it but you would still have to check the prefilter at least every other day if not daiy to ensure it is not getting filled up and slowing the water flow. These types of pumps do not like to be run dry for any amount of time.

One option would be to use one of the pumps here Low Voltage | 12 Volt Pond Fountain Pumps scroll down till you see Inline DC Pumps any of these will work.

Or I just found this one on ebay that I think would be perfect
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

Tony

 

[chin_monster]

If I'm understanding your intentions correctly a LiterMeter might be exactly what you are looking for.

LiterMeter III Peristaltic Dosing Pump - English

You are building a living wall type thing?

 

[TerraFerma]

Check out Iwaki pumps. They have low gph models that work at pressure (up to 8 ft head) and non pressure rated models that will give you less gph at your desired height. Iwake makes a great pump - they are popular for aquariums but also have industrial uses and can pump chemical slurry etc

 

[hydrophyte]

If I'm understanding your intentions correctly a LiterMeter might be exactly what you are looking for.

LiterMeter III Peristaltic Dosing Pump - English

You are building a living wall type thing?

Well you are right a peristaltic pump might be perfect for this. My only hesitation would be that it might need to run several times a day and those hoses in peristaltic pumps wear out pretty fast. That particular pump is outside of the budget for this project, but I see a couple more on the same page that are in the ninety dollar range. Do you think a pump like this would be OK with less than perfectly clean water?

 

[ZookeeperDoug]

As a PC watercooling enthusiast for many years, I can tell you with certainty you don't want to use a pump designed for PC watercooling for this project. Those pumps are indeed designed to circulate only very clean water. So clean in fact that generally you use distilled water and some kind of antimicrobial additive.

Something designed for aquarium/pond use with a high head pressure rating is what you want. Install an inline ball valve to valve back the water flow to the desired rate. Do not restrict the intake. You can and probably should have a prefilter installed before the pump. Something like letting the water drain through a micron bag in your reservoir would work well. Get two bags and you can clean and rinse one while the other is in use.

 

[chin_monster]

Well you are right a peristaltic pump might be perfect for this. My only hesitation would be that it might need to run several times a day and those hoses in peristaltic pumps wear out pretty fast. That particular pump is outside of the budget for this project, but I see a couple more on the same page that are in the ninety dollar range. Do you think a pump like this would be OK with less than perfectly clean water?

The peristaltic pumps used in the reef hobby are used to move mostly very "dirty" liquids -whether they are liquid micro (coral) foods, calcium additives or water replenishment (which ideally should virtually pure). The pumps seem to hold up well -w/ the proviso that the tubing does wear and requires replacement occasionally.

The version that moves 50ml/ minute would prolly be just the ticket. When I looked at the site I thought that both of the smaller, cheaper ones were delivering very tiny amounts of liquid per minute. The more powerful one (50 ml) is designed to delivery enough top off water to a reef tank to maintain properly salinity levels while the other one is designed to delivery very small amounts of concentrated chemicals very consistently (less the 2ml/ minute).

 

[james67]

ive used this pump for a similar task (although not 8 ft) and if hooked to a reservoir at the top of your unit for dripping (which ive found works very well) and providing your not running it continuously, it should be a good fit. it can be a little loud as it primes though

james