Battery pumps

[poohbear]

Does anyone know if there are any AA-D cell water pumps? Preferably in AA as I've got a bunch of AA NIMH cells.

Looking for something of a backup if the power cuts off for a long time or days.

I know Petsmart has battery operated air pumps but I don't think I've seen any battery water pumps.

Another reason for the battery operated pumps is because I've had some thought about if I wanted to go travelling on a bike tour with friends I could hook up a trailer and put a small portable aquaponics setup to take with me along with my tour gear.

Portable and good conversations while on the road. Tho...now that introduces the question of how to keep the tank cool while you're riding all those miles.

Anyways. Thanks in advance.

[Jonty]

Never heard of one. Personally I'd buy a computer UPS (uninterruptible power supply). A 300 watt is around $85.00. Buy a 12 volt pump and connect it and the air pump to the outlets with surge protection and battery backup. If the power fails, the UPS kicks in and supplies power.

This would be a temporary measure. For longer outages use a genset.

As for the bike tour, is it motorised or leg powered? If it is a motor cycle, you should be able to rig up an ancillary battery for charging whilst on the move. Otherwise solar panels might supply enough energy to keep a small battery charged if pedalling and keep the tank cool.

I can picture you now, screaming downhill, the sea sick fish all bunched up at the bottom of the tank -fighting, lettuce leaves tearing off in the wind and expanded clay balls leaving a trail behind.

[poohbear]

Never heard of one. Personally I'd buy a computer UPS (uninterruptible power supply). A 300 watt is around $85.00. Buy a 12 volt pump and connect it and the air pump to the outlets with surge protection and battery backup. If the power fails, the UPS kicks in and supplies power.

This would be a temporary measure. For longer outages use a genset.

As for the bike tour, is it motorised or leg powered? If it is a motor cycle, you should be able to rig up an ancillary battery for charging whilst on the move. Otherwise solar panels might supply enough energy to keep a small battery charged if pedalling and keep the tank cool.

I can picture you now, screaming downhill, the sea sick fish all bunched up at the bottom of the tank -fighting, lettuce leaves tearing off in the wind and expanded clay balls leaving a trail behind.

I have thought of the UPS setup before. Not sure how long such a unit (say 600VA rating) would last. I'm in an urban area so our blackouts are ~1-5hrs. Most of the time ~1-2hrs max. Worst power outage was the north american blackout of I think 2003. It was like 4 days of no power and hot temps. You could see the people trolling for fuel (car or charcoal) from the second floor even resorting to stealing.

Yah the bike thing is a dream idea of mine. If I try something like that most likely it'll be using a bike trailer attached to a bike or an extended recumbent bike. As for the fish tank my thinking was something like a floating suspension to minimize as much shaking at all. THe idea of a velodome setup has crossed my mind. It's going to be leg powered with thoughts of it being an e-bike as well. You know... helps with the climbing of the hills when you're drained in energy trying to climb the hill on the granny gear. I'm sure someone on a bike forum has thought of this idea before.

[jpcw]

You would need one hell of a lot of AA cells to run a pump if a 600VA PC UPS didn't have enough grunt. I don't think AA or D cells would be feasible or cost effective. How much are you looking at spending and what size pump are you planning to use, ie 100W, 300W etc. One option if you have a 12V pump is to use something like a lead acid battery, SLA or gel cell and run the pump permanently from the battery and have a battery charger running full time to give the battery a float charge. That way if the power drops the battery pump keeps running and you don't need any fancy cut over circuits.

My hobby is building an electric car (yes a real one not a toy) so I have looked in to batteries quite a bit. The biggest issue you will have is getting the correctly rated battery. Too low and you might run the pump for a while but if you discharge your batteries too far you significantly shorten their life. Good rule of thumb is to never discharge below 80%, especially with lead acids or the likes.

[fishfood]

A lot of the small water features run 12 volt pumps from a tranny i dont know the amp draw but if interested i have one somewere i will locate it and get specks and a photo

[hellbent]

i bought one like this one: <link>
it has a built in AC relay, if the power cuts, this turns on. its tiny though. uses 2 AA.

[Jonty]

Personally, I'd prefer this on from Guppys. It has 2 outlets. http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.co.../prod_383.html