Pump Irrigation from Water Butt

[Beetroot Bob]

I'm thinking about a system similar to the one in my campervan.

It has a 12v pump with presure sensor included (Surflo Trailking) a solar panel and 90 ah leisure battery should power it fine (thats all I have in the camper). I'm thinking then I could run a permenant pipe up the length of the plot with 2 or 3 taps. Because the pump has a pressure switch built in the system would work liek a low pressure mains system.

Could prob get it sorted for about �100 all in but could also do a lot of other things with that money.

[rana]

For my rainwater harvesting set upo I use a small submersible 12V caravan (Whale) pump hooked up to an old car battery which in turn is charged by a small solar panel. This pumps rainwater from the water butts and once installed costs absolutely nothing to run.

[jacob marley]

I was thinking about this problem a couple of years ago and the pump's that i found would do the job the best would be 12volt Shower pumps that are used on boatand yacht's they are for sale on ebay not very dear either perhap's some thing for you to think about....jacob

[Capsid]

Do you need a pump? If you position the butt above the plants then gravity will feed the water to a reservoir with auto cut-off. I like these

Watering plants - installing an automatic system | How to | Projects | BBC Gardeners' World

[Growing pains]

Solar waterer

Try this:

The Organic Gardening Catalogue

It doesn't have a timer but seems to meet your other criteria!

[janeyo]

For my rainwater harvesting set upo I use a small submersible 12V caravan (Whale) pump hooked up to an old car battery which in turn is charged by a small solar panel. This pumps rainwater from the water butts and once installed costs absolutely nothing to run.

But does it just run while you are there? Or is it timed in anyway?

[janeyo]

Try this:

The Organic Gardening Catalogue

It doesn't have a timer but seems to meet your other criteria!

I don't want one. OH is seeing of he can make one that does everything cheaply as a commercial product.

[Growing pains]

Ah, in that case I'm sure he should be able to do something for less than �150. Just found the company's website: Solar powered irrigation pumps and home irrigation systems ? WaterWand

Should give your OH lots of ideas.

[janeyo]

Thanks He is working on lots of bits of it

[crichmond]

Just upgraded my system with this.
12W Solar Panel Battery Charger NEW 12V on eBay, also, Solar Panels, Gadgets, Consumer Electronics (end time 08-Feb-09 20:30:00 GMT)

And a 50 amp leisure battery but I also got this:
Top Car Boat Truck 500W Power Max 1000W Inverter Supply on eBay, also, Accessories, Campers, Caravans Motorhomes, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 08-Feb-09 15:19:57 GMT)

And this timer:
2 IN 1 PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL PLUG IN LCD TIMER SWITCH on eBay, also, Other Safety Security, Safety Security, Home Garden (end time 18-Mar-09 20:37:16 GMT)

And as I have a spare pump for my hydroponic system I am going to use it for the watering system.

Of course it means I can have mains lighting in the sheds as well now.

I havent fitted it all yet but I tried the inverter with the battery when putting up the new shed as I modified the door and door frame using 6x2 planks inside so I could fit internal locks and it easily powered my belt sander, drill and jigsaw. Of course if I happen to loose the keys now the only way in will be to takr the side or the roof off as the door and door frame are as thick a fire door now and just as solid.

[Pieman]

This is really something I would like - installed the micro irrigation system in the greeenhouse - all the bits on the floor of the gh are "dripped" but nothing is going any higher.....

The only one I can find is the WaterWand system mentioned previously but it's about 100 quid more then i want to spend

[jonohanson]

Just upgraded my system with this.
12W Solar Panel Battery Charger NEW 12V on eBay, also, Solar Panels, Gadgets, Consumer Electronics (end time 08-Feb-09 20:30:00 GMT)

And a 50 amp leisure battery but I also got this:
Top Car Boat Truck 500W Power Max 1000W Inverter Supply on eBay, also, Accessories, Campers, Caravans Motorhomes, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 08-Feb-09 15:19:57 GMT)

And this timer:
2 IN 1 PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL PLUG IN LCD TIMER SWITCH on eBay, also, Other Safety Security, Safety Security, Home Garden (end time 18-Mar-09 20:37:16 GMT)

And as I have a spare pump for my hydroponic system I am going to use it for the watering system.

Of course it means I can have mains lighting in the sheds as well now.

I havent fitted it all yet but I tried the inverter with the battery when putting up the new shed as I modified the door and door frame using 6x2 planks inside so I could fit internal locks and it easily powered my belt sander, drill and jigsaw. Of course if I happen to loose the keys now the only way in will be to takr the side or the roof off as the door and door frame are as thick a fire door now and just as solid.

Would that panel be able to fully charge a 50ah battery as its only 12w? As I wouldn't mind installing a solar/battery system on the lottie? Would a regulator be required?

Cheers

[chriscross1966]

I use a waterbut to water the GH..... it has a gravity fed drop to the plants fo about a foot (it's on some bricks) so its still below the level of the GH gutters...... I use the cheapo Gardena ripoffs as I can get a 2l/hr dripper in that..... If I was going to upgrade it for use on the lottie then I'd look at using a 1000 litre bund tank for the water supply and getting a mate to progrma a pic chip with soem sensors plugged in for whatever matters to you (I'd ahve it on for an hour in the evening and four hours in the morning plus a soil moisture sensor..... but you can already get one of those that runs for a year off a 9V battery .....

chrisc