12 VOLT WATER PUMP

This pump was purchased from Charles Austen via EBAY at a cost of £136.00. There is a more expensive brush-less version available for an extra £100.00 that would have a longer life, but as there is likely to be a lot of developments in this area in the next few years I think this one will do for now. In some early experiments using an old central heating radiator painted black I tried an Audi headlight washer pump from EBAY and a few windscreen washer pumps £10 a time from car spares shops. The Audi pump used too much current and pumped too fast and was awkward to connect to, But looked like it would last for ever. The 1st two windscreen washer pumps only lasted a couple of weeks, but pumped about the right amount. The third pump has been going for a few months and is still going, but I would not expect it to last much longer. The Charles Austen pump is quite noisy, sounds like a woodpecker in the loft. It needs to be suspended in some way using plastic cable ties and insulation, depending on your setup. Also make sure that all your pipe connections are secure as this pump can build up quite a pressure if the flow pipe is blocked or restricted. The pump must be about 150mm to 300mm above the water level in the loft expansion tank. The DL2 pump from Charles Austin appears to be no longer available unfortunately. Although they are still doing a 24 volt and 240 volt ac version. Some people have suggested to me that they ( C/A ) have stopped selling the 12volt pump to the DIY community after pressure from a big customer in the solar hot water trade. An alternative pump worth looking at would be the SID 3.5PV manufactured by IVAN LABS, INC of Florida. I have seen this pump on EBAY from a seller ( mavericksolar ) .

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