bicit
Well-Known Member
ive heard it gets kind of loud when you charge your accumulator with it to somewhere between 250-500psi, though.
Who makes an accumulator tank that can handle that much pressure?
HP vs LP Aeroponics
- Thread starter LiquidLumen
- Start date
Who makes an accumulator tank that can handle that much pressure?
I'm looking around for a nice food-grade tank here in Europe, there is an Italian company Zilmet that makes a full Stainless Steel model but the smallest one is 5 gallons, and its 10 bar, 5 gallons seams a bit overkill for my small system. It seams like anything above 10bar is rare, at least where I live...wish I could find a 16bar one just to have peace of mind...but on the other hand 10bar is around 145 psi and I wouldn't be going above 125...so a 10bar would do just fine. All my components that are metal are SS so I would really like to find a steel tank that has a SS connection and food-grade bladder...just to keep things nice and pimpin'
My 16`s are grundfos, the 10 bar is a lowara (pic attached), they all have stainless hardware and replaceable butyl bladders which are for potable water.
No need to get a stainless tank as the nutes wont be in direct contact with the metal.
A 5 gallon accumulator might seem like overkill but its only 1.25 gallons (4.74L) of nutes if you run it 90-125psi.
No need to get a stainless tank as the nutes wont be in direct contact with the metal.
A 5 gallon accumulator might seem like overkill but its only 1.25 gallons (4.74L) of nutes if you run it 90-125psi.
indrhrvest
New Member
We are using a 24oz accumlator to drive 22 .182 LPM nozzles @ 6-7 Bar. On a 3 second on, 3 minute off cycle, the pump runs briefly every 2-3 cycles.
There really is no need to have such a large accumulator.
i really have no interest in hydraulic aeroponics, but dont you think its better on pump life if you have fewer pump cycles.
There is local Grundfos distributor where I live I'll see what they got. Thats right...the higher the pressure in the tank the less space is left for the liquid inside the bladder...makes sense. Thanks for the info
No worries. Over here tanks are much cheaper than pumps. A large tank will give the pump an easy life and it provides a cushion against draught due to power outages. Iindrhrvest`s pump runs 9x an hour with a 24oz tank, with a 100L tank it would be once every 18 hours.
indrhrvest
New Member
Pressure and volume are not the same thing. Your pump will have to run longer to charge the larger accumulator once it has lost pressure due to larger volume. So it's either shorter, more frequent cycles, or longer and less frequent. Shorter pumping cycles are less stressfull on the pump.
Those larger accumulators are designed for systems with more volume.
you have me a wee bit confused. when you say more frequent shorter pump cycles are less stressful on the pump, than fewer and longer pump cycles, and you back this up at all or are you speaking from your ass?
also no shit on the pressure and volume lesson. are you trying to insult my intelligence?
larger accumulators can also be for people with noisey pumps, that they dont want cycling on every 15 minutes, when there trying to sleep.
also im using a mechanical hand pump in my upcoming hp set up, just discovered a newfound interst for hp. i would much rather spend 20 minutes pumping every 3 days than 7 minutes everyday.
indrhrvest
New Member
17 years as a liscensed Plumber, 10 years design build, backflow specialist, greywater specialist, medical gas endorsement, project manager and estimator for the third largest mechanical contractor in the U.S.. I don't speak out of my ass.
You asked a question and I replied. I have no idea what your intelligence level is.
Well that's all fine and dandy. I merly originally stated that one does not need such a large accumlator for a HPA system to operate properly. You responded by asking me if I thought shorter cycles were bad for a pump. I assumed you did not know the answer because you posed it. I simply stated that pump cycles would be the same, regardless of accumulator size because volume is volume no matter how you slice it.
But you are expereicned, so you already knew that right?
Pump starts usually involve an inrush current (surge current) and mechanical stress (takes more energy to start a motor than to keep it running).
One start and 5 minutes running would be easier on the pump than 50 starts and 6 seconds running. The pump runs for the same amount of time in both cases.
The motor windings in the frequently started pump will be subject to residual heat carried over from the previous start. It has less chance to cool back to ambient between starts, especially if its mounted in a sealed box to reduce the noise.
One start and 5 minutes running would be easier on the pump than 50 starts and 6 seconds running. The pump runs for the same amount of time in both cases.
The motor windings in the frequently started pump will be subject to residual heat carried over from the previous start. It has less chance to cool back to ambient between starts, especially if its mounted in a sealed box to reduce the noise.
indrhrvest
New Member
It's minimal with these types of pumps. The diaphragm, or pressure switch will wear out before the motor does. I don't think I've ever seen these pumps mechanically fail if the water is properly filtered, it's usually just worn brushes.
Thats another plus point for the manual pump + large accumulator. You dont have to worry about diaphrams, pressure switches or brushes failing, it doesnt have any to fail. The worst that can happen is a seal or o-ring goes after a few decades of use. A full seal kit is $63.89 in the states, a bit cheaper here
indrhrvest
New Member
I agree, that's a great idea for a home system, or hobby system. It might not be such a good idea for a 50,000 s/f commercial aero system though
