How to Choose a Fountain Pump
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Article by: Mike Guista When replacing a fountain pump , Growing Ginseng or choosing a new one, first there are some key terms to keep in mind: "Head": This is the maximum vertical lift of the pump. , Pond Liner Repair For example, a 6' head means the pump , Flower Gardening is rated to pump water , Finding the Best Pond Pumps up to 6 feet high. Note, however, that at 6 feet the pump , Discount Patio Furniture would be providing very little water, , 5 Easy Steps To A Successful Residential Landscaping Project. with gallons per hour around zero. So if you need to pump, , Ideas for Decorating Your Outdoor Patio Area say, 200 gph at 72", you will probably need about a 300-600 gallon per hour pump , 5 Easy Steps To A Successful Residential Landscaping Project. to do the job. See a "pump curve" for the amount of water , Iris Flowers Remind Me Of Mom! pumped to various heights.Major pump manufacturers , Abatement With DDT Concept Needs Second Look include pump , Treating Rust on Metal Railings curves on their boxes, brochures, or other literature. You should take a good look. "GPH": Gallons per hour, usually rated at different heights "GPM": Gallons per minute, usually rated at different heights "Pump Curve": The amount of water , Send Flowers Online volume "curved" according to various heights. A 500 gallon per hour pump, , Your Garden - Growing from Seed for instance, might pump , Grass Clippings 500 gallons per hour at 0" lift, 350 gallons per hour at 24" of lift, and so forth. When buying a pump , Ideas for Decorating Your Outdoor Patio Area for the first time or when seeking a replacement pump, , Garden Gazebo - A Stunning Addition to any Landscape it is essential that you know how many gallons per hour you want to pump , Natural Gardens and at what heighth (head). Water Volume: The total volume that you will be pumping is controlled by a few factors. One factor is the size of the pump, , Types of Annuals in the Garden - Tender, Hardy and Half-Hardy as covered above. But you also must consider how wide your tubing will be. Tubing is measured in two ways: inside , Shrub Roses and Climbing Roses diameter (i.d.) and outside , An Introduction To Palm Trees diameter (o.d.). Very skinny i.d. tubing will greatly reduce water , Cymbidiums Orchid Plants - What You Need To Grow Successfully flow. Many customers are shocked when they find that, after hooking up their 500 gallon per hour pump , Lose That Ugly Algae! to ½" inside , 6 Important Tips for Beginner Bonsai Tree Caretakers diameter tubing, they are only getting what they consider a trickle. Well, about the most they will get is 200 gallons per hour or so under the very best conditions. They have restricted the flow too much by choosing skinny tubing. When purchasing a pump, , Our History with Blueberries - Reviving Their Home-Grown and Local Farm Status find out what size of tubing is supposed to go with it. Another problem is running the tubing too far. Long lengths of tubing create resistance. If your pump , Pond Liner Repair calls for ½" i.d. tubing, for instance, but you are running the tubing twenty feet from the pump, , Making a Garden Pond With a Pond Liner it is a good idea to use ¾" tubing instead so as not to cut down too much on flow. How much water , Natural Gardens do I need? What size of pump? This question is answered in part by whether you want a "trickle" or a roar. When you buy a fountain, you will usually find a recommended flow. For waterfalls, , Flower Gardening use this as a rule of thumb: for every inch of stream width or waterfall , Teak Outdoor Benches- Fantastic Seating for Your Patio and Garden "sheet," you will need to deliver 100 gallons per hour at the height you're pumping. So if you are building , Pond Liner Repair a 12" wide waterfall , Weathervanes - Monitor your Wind Direction with Beauty! that is three feet tall, you need to buy a pump , Your Garden - Growing from Seed that will be pumping 1200 gallons per hour at three feet of height. For ponds, , Choosing Lawnmowers For Cutting Grass On Tennis Courts whenever possible, it is a good idea to recirculate the water , Garden Gazebo - A Stunning Addition to any Landscape once an hour, more often if possible. Thus, if your pond , Flower Gardening is 500 gallons, try to buy a pump , Planning Your Garden from Scratch - the Basics that will recirculate water , Abatement With DDT Concept Needs Second Look at a rate of 500 gallons per hour. For really large ponds, , Weathervanes - Monitor your Wind Direction with Beauty! this is not necessary and is far too expensive. For a nice waterfall , Lose That Ugly Algae! effect, we usually advise about 4000 gallons per hour or more at the top of the waterfall. , Dealing With Pests In a Hydroponic Garden This creates enough volume for a wide, crashing spill. Adjust stones , How to Grow Sweet Corn to soften the splash if desired. When Is an External Pump , Grass Clippings Appropriate? "In-line" pumps , Growing Ginseng provide the "most bang for the buck" in two ways. For one, the purchase price is quite reasonable for the high volume of water , Your Garden - Growing from Seed being pumped. But even more importantly, these pumps , Plan Before Buying Rose Bushes dramatically outperform typical submersible pumps, , Tips about Flower Care cutting electrical costs two to three times. Since electrical costs for a large pond , Ideas for Decorating Your Outdoor Patio Area can easily run from thirty to one hundred dollars a month, choosing the most energy-efficient pump , Flower Bulbs in Dry Climate is tremendously important. However, if you need a lot of "head," that is, if you are pumping to a height of more than say, seven or eight feet, or if you must pull the water , The Flower Drying Game - Part 3: An Affordable Home Flower-Press (not "push", for in-line pumps , Garden Ponds push water , Natural Gardens fine but don't pull well) a long distance from the pond , Using Plants To Make Us Happier to a skimmer located far away, then these pumps , The Flower Drying Game - Part 3: An Affordable Home Flower-Press probably won't work for you. How About Battery-Operated Fountain Pumps? We receive many, many calls , Cymbidiums Orchid Plants - What You Need To Grow Successfully about battery-operated pumps. , Our History with Blueberries - Reviving Their Home-Grown and Local Farm Status While there are companies who manufacture pumps , Finding the Best Pond s that can operate on "A" and "AA" batteries, we have not found a battery-operated pump , Grass Clippings that lasts or that is reasonably priced. For those customers who need battery fountains for wedding centerpieces (a common request), we suggest finding the one you want and buying as many as possible at a store like Wal-Mart. You get the whole fountain for as good of a price as we could get you these specialized pumps , Natural Gardens all by themselves! Where is the Pump , The Front Porch Swings Through History Made? Pumps, like anything else, are made all over the world, and we suggest you buy pumps , Our History with Blueberries - Reviving Their Home-Grown and Local Farm Status from someone who will stand by a guarantee and who has testing programs before marketing their pumps. , Greenhouse Gardening as a Hobby It used to be that Asian pumps , The First-Time Vegetable Gardener -- Some Pathways to Success were quite bad but this is changing. What matters most is how well the pumps , Flower Gardening have been engineered and the materials used in the production. Italy for quite a while has been the major manufacturer , Ideas for Decorating Your Outdoor Patio Area of fountain pumps , Dealing With Pests In a Hydroponic Garden (think of how long Italians have had fountains), but Germany, Korea, Taiwan, and China are making pumps , Our History with Blueberries - Reviving Their Home-Grown and Local Farm Status as well. Most American fountain pump , Growing Ginseng companies (for example, Cal Pumps , The Front Porch Swings Through History and Beckett) have their pumps , Landscaping Your Patio manufactured overseas. As long as American engineering is used and the plans , An Introduction To Palm Trees are followed, this should not be a problem. Should my Pump , Iris Flowers Remind Me Of Mom! Have a 2-wire plug or a 3-wire plug? Outdoor pumps , Iris Flowers Remind Me Of Mom! should always use a grounded, 3-wire plug. Indoor , The First-Time Vegetable Gardener -- Some Pathways to Success fountains sometimes have 2-wire and sometimes 3-wire plugs. For people wanting a really thin cord, 2-wire pumps , Greenhouse Gardening as a Hobby provide the more aesthetic experience. Some retail stores require 3-wire pumps , Using Plants To Make Us Happier even for indoor , Treating Rust on Metal Railings fountains (though, ironically, they might not for aquarium pumps), and these thicker cords can be hidden by plants, , All About Hybrid Tea Roses stones, , Cymbidiums Orchid Plants - What You Need To Grow Successfully or other decorations. All pumps , The First-Time Vegetable Gardener -- Some Pathways to Success must be connected to a GFI outlet for safety. , Abatement With DDT Concept Needs Second Look Why do pumps , Landscaping Your Patio burn out so often? 95% of the time the customer has let the pumps , Gardening With Climbing Roses get hot , Growing Ginseng by running them dry. Most fountain pumps , Tips about Flower Care are water-cooled and once the fountain is dry they burn up. Usually there is nothing you can do about this other than to buy a new pump. , Cymbidiums Orchid Plants - What You Need To Grow Successfully Also, however, pumps , Gardening With Climbing Roses are supposed to be cleaned every so often by opening up the impeller case on the fountain pump. , Greenhouse Gardening as a Hobby Follow the manufacturer's directions.Michael Guista, who has published two books, owns Fountain Mountain, Inc., which distributes fountain pumps, , Garden Folklore: Plants Thrive in Good Company pond lights , Gardening With Climbing Roses and filters, and fountains. Here are some suggested sites: For Pumps http://www.cheappumps.com http://www.fountainmountain.com http://www.fountaintechpumps.com |
  
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