I'm sure I've bought the wrong stuff already? Need airlift pump help please.

[flyfisher]

Good afternoon,
I successfully drilled a well on our property to 20', hit water at 10 (running stream under ground) so I lucked out there. I installed 2" well casing and have water standing in the well at 10' consistently. I charged up my compressor at the barn, drove it 1/4 mile over to my well, poked the 1/4" air line into the 1/2" PVC pipe and put it down the well. WALA !!!!!!!!!! water came out of the well, it was awesome!!! (air lift water well system). Only problem was that I ran out of air after 15 minutes. It only takes 3-4 PSI of air down this well to pump the water out b/c of it being so shallow. One major problem is (I have no power on this part of the property).
So, I was told to go buy the Harbor Freight 45WT solar panel kit (did it), a 400WT converter (did it), 100 amp hr battery (did it) and a charge controller (did it). Also bought an aerator that didn't work at all as there wasn't enough power to push the air up the PVC pipe.
My goal is to use this well to help keep my pond full. I would like to run it approx. 5 hrs at night which will allow the solar panel to charge the battery up during the day without being drained and help keep the compressor/motor cool.
I've been told to stay away from DC motors as they are brushed and will wear out soon. All of the AC motors I have looked at pull so much amps that I'd need a truck load of solar panels to make this work. I've read on this forum that a Brushless DC motor does exist. Question: What the heck is it and where can I find one? Preferably attached to a air compressor.
This was a project that my dad and I started before he passed away last month, so it's just something that I want to complete for him. Any help would be so much appreciated.
Thanks
Mark
flyfisher

[Sunking]

I got a lot better solution especially for such a shallow well and works 24 x 7.

It is a rather new technology no one has heard of born after 1970. They cost 1/10th of solar and does 4 times the work for a given capacity. Requires little maintenance other than a little grease now and then, and turn off when the pond over flows as they have no automatic controls. It is called a Windmill.

[flyfisher]

I got a lot better solution especially for such a shallow well and works 24 x 7.

It is a rather new technology no one has heard of born after 1970. They cost 1/10th of solar and does 4 times the work for a given capacity. Requires little maintenance other than a little grease now and then, and turn off when the pond over flows as they have no automatic controls. It is called a Windmill.

Great idea Sunking!!!!! Wish I had thought of that. Oh yea, I DID. Can't do it because I have 40'-50', 100yr old oak trees around me that block the wind for miles. Hence the reason I'm on this solar forum b/c my well is located in an area which would receive 8 hrs of sun per day.

[SunEagle]

I got a lot better solution especially for such a shallow well and works 24 x 7.

It is a rather new technology no one has heard of born after 1970. They cost 1/10th of solar and does 4 times the work for a given capacity. Requires little maintenance other than a little grease now and then, and turn off when the pond over flows as they have no automatic controls. It is called a Windmill.

You can always use the tried and true donkey wheel. They don't eat much and have no problem going around in a circle.

Now to be less sarcastic I was wondering if anyone is working on a low velocity wind turbine. I have seen a design that has fans mounted on the top edge of a tall building. They use air flow caused by rising heat which is enough to turn the fan blades and generate some electricity.

If there was a way to capture thermals like that instead of straight line wind there may be a way to use wind technology in areas that have a lot of trees.

[russ]

Close to your insolation - how much sun you get on an average over time for Houston

"Station Identification"
"City:","Houston"
"State:","Texas"
"Lat (deg N):", 29.98
"Long (deg W):", 95.37
"Elev (m): ", 33
"PV System Specifications"
"DC Rating:"," 1.0 kW"
"DC to AC Derate Factor:"," 0.770"
"AC Rating:"," 0.8 kW"
"Array Type: Fixed Tilt"
"Array Tilt:"," 30.0"
"Array Azimuth:","180.0"

"Energy Specifications"
"Cost of Electricity:"," 9.7 cents/kWh"

"Results"
"Month", "Solar Radiation (kWh/m^2/day)", "AC Energy (kWh)", "Energy Value ($)"
1, 3.68, 84, 8.15
2, 4.12, 84, 8.15
3, 4.82, 107, 10.38
4, 4.98, 105, 10.18
5, 5.24, 112, 10.86
6, 5.53, 112, 10.86
7, 5.43, 113, 10.96
8, 5.44, 114, 11.06
9, 5.40, 111, 10.77
10, 5.19, 111, 10.77
11, 4.33, 92, 8.92
12, 3.34, 75, 7.27
"Year", 4.79, 1220, 118.34

[russ]

You can always use the tried and true donkey wheel. They don't eat much and have no problem going around in a circle.

Now to be less sarcastic I was wondering if anyone is working on a low velocity wind turbine. I have seen a design that has fans mounted on the top edge of a tall building. They use air flow caused by rising heat which is enough to turn the fan blades and generate some electricity.

If there was a way to capture thermals like that instead of straight line wind there may be a way to use wind technology in areas that have a lot of trees.

Those roof top units are sucker bait and nothing more - they do not work as advertised. A turbine needs laminar and steady air flow - not turbulent or gusting. Some of the funny turbines do make decent lawn ornaments but nothing more.

[SunEagle]

Those roof top units are sucker bait and nothing more - they do not work as advertised. A turbine needs laminar and steady air flow - not turbulent or gusting. Some of the funny turbines do make decent lawn ornaments but nothing more.

You mean like those lawn gnomes with propeller hats?

Maybe if they are used in DC. There certainly is a lot of constant hot air there.

[Sunking]

You can do this with solar, but you would not do it at night. It would all be done during the day so you do not have to have batteries.

[Texas Wellman]

Have you priced a windmill, set-up on a tower with pump etc, lately? Solar is easily 1/2 the cost.

I got a lot better solution especially for such a shallow well and works 24 x 7.

It is a rather new technology no one has heard of born after 1970. They cost 1/10th of solar and does 4 times the work for a given capacity. Requires little maintenance other than a little grease now and then, and turn off when the pond over flows as they have no automatic controls. It is called a Windmill.

[confused]

Airlift option

Hi Flyfisher
I use an airlift pump for all of my water, both for the house and irrigation, after having a DC Lorentz PS200 solar pump stolen out of my well.
The well is at least 300 metres above the house and the airlift pump is 40 metres deep. I resolved the distance issue and the proximity of thieves by running 6 atm PVC water pipe (I need 4 atm to drive my pump) from the house to the well. It doesn't cost very much and no thief wants it. The compressor sits at the house and I drive it either via my PV system or a generator depending on the weather.
Given that you need only 3-4psi to run your airlift you could pretty much get away with the cheapest PVC water pipe going. You simply need to hook the pipe up to the airline connectors, the parts for which any decent hardware store can provide you with.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Confused

[AirWindSolar]

Have you priced a windmill, set-up on a tower with pump etc, lately? Solar is easily 1/2 the cost.

Closer to 1/3, though such a shallow well in a low-velocity, turbulent wind sounds like it might be an interesting spot to play with a homebuilt Savonius turbine. Not sure what method would be best for the actual pumping, but if there's any ground level wind at all, that could be the way to catch it. As for solar pumping, anything but air lift is going to run into a problem due to the 2" casing; a suction pump could do it, but not as efficiently as a submersible in a 4-5" casing would.

[russ]

[QUOTE=AirWindSolar;82222 to play with a homebuilt Savonius turbine.[/QUOTE]


No one in their right mind has anything to with one of those dogs!

[AirWindSolar]

No one in their right mind has anything to with one of those dogs!

Well, you still haven't ruled out too many people.

One situation where the Savonius is the best choice is unstable, turbulent winds, where high speed rotation isn't necessary. (And preferably where the turbine can be fabricated from scrap so there's little to no actual cash outlay.) Some sort of direct driven (or reduction drive depending on how big one's available plastic barrels are) screw pump might actually be the easiest thing to do for a 10' lift in a noncritical application.

[russ]

A properly built savionus is nothing more than a yard ornament - a homemade one is just a cheap yard ornament. The VAWT types are useless as proven by numerous qualified groups. They are still sold by companies looking for suckers.

You can point to one with reasonable output specifications? Nope you can't.

[rba13]

Bear on a bicycle to generate power. You might need something for the winter when the bear is asleep.