Solar system up and running

Kelly

Forgot to say that we still have 5 of the barra that we put in the main system with the perch about 2 months ago and they're going well

cjinVT

So did you get an inverter?
If the snow ever melts & it warms up I will be converting my hoop house to solar. Technically it's solar now since we're off grid but hubby wants it stand alone.

Kelly wrote:

Just one to throw out there. Has anybody come across a decent 12v pump that will last? Between the 2 solar systems we are running we've been through 4 or 5 pumps. We have bought both expensive and cheap pumps and find that they have about the same life span. In all cases it's been a case of water leaking through the seals. Power supply is good and constant so power to the pumps hasn't varied.
Starting to think maybe an inverter with a 240 pump might be the go!! Does anybody have any suggestions?

Kelly

Hi cj, no we haven't got an inverter yet. Just one of those things we haven't got around to yet. Will have to get on to it though ( the usual thing is to wait till something blows up then run around trying to get something asap.)

Kelly

Took this photo a short while back.Sometimes I hate those first winter storms of the year.Pretty much snapped at the base.

earthbound

Bugger.... Luckily only half.... :thumbright:

BullwinkleII

Chatty wrote:

Looks good Kelly!

What is the maximum head rating of a bilge pump? Have you checked out the pH of the water in the system? Those concrete troughs would buffer the water and raise the pH i would have thought. I'm sure some others will comment further though

Chatty

We had a concrete rainwater tank that was many years old and always kept water at pH7.6

The rain was 6 when it went in.

A layer of bio-gunk might change how reactive the concrete is, but the actual concrete should buffer a system to around the same as shell grit until the trough dissolved completely in 10,000 years or so

BullwinkleII

oops sorry, too many browser tabs open at once, I thought that was a more recent issue :oops:

Backyard Aquaponics
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