Need advice -- ventilating an air pump cover

[Mmathis]

I recently purchased this plastic cover, designed to cover and protect my air pump from the elements. It does a good job, but needs more ventilation than just the single louver & mesh vent that is there. There is a lot of heat underneath. Plus we have humidity issues. I am planning to paint it a lighter color, as well, but that will only help a little bit.

• I would like to "install" 2 more vents, one on each side for flow-through. They need to be small enough that the integrity of the cover isn't lost. (And in colder weather, don't want it to get too cold under there)
• Notice the bumpy surfaces which will make a flush-fit difficult.

• I would prefer that the "vents" be louvered, so as to deflect rain & dripping water downward and not drip into the cover
• I would like a layer of screening to keep critters and debris out.

• The vents can be DIY and totally fabricated -- such as simply cutting horizontal slits with my Dremel and gluing a piece of screening on the inside -- but how to come up with a way to deflect water???
• Or they can be store-bought (or a combo of both store-bought and DIY). But most that I've looked at are WAY too big.
• Then there's the issue of the uneven, bumpy surface.....

I saw this on the Home Depot site and wondered if it could be modified to work....

_____________________________________

All ideas and suggestions welcome!

 

[Dave 54]

M'mmm lookig at it I'd say its similar but not the same as, another suggestion would be a larger cover something like a fake log modified to take your airpump or a real one hollowed out to take one .

Dave

 

[Lisak1]

You always get my brain percolating early in the morning TM - always thinking!

I don't know that I would have any great ideas for modifying this - my air pump is protected by a plastic storage tote flipped upside down with lots of holes drilled in the sides. (Feel free to steal that idea BTW - patent NOT pending!) But I did want to say that it frustrates me to no end when products are MANUFACTURED with flaws in the design! Couldn't someone take 30 seconds and say "you know what - a vent on the BACK of this thing would sure improve the circulation!". Oy!

Hey, maybe I did give you a great idea - just drill a bunch of holes in it! I drilled mine about 2 inches up all the way around the sides of my tote. And I have the cover underneath the pump, upside down, so that creates a gap around the side (unintended, or I wouldn't have bothered with the drill!) allowing more airflow. Complete the look with a lovely rock plopped on top! (Rock not included.) My pump is concealed behind some bushes, so I didn't really care how it looked. Function over form in this case!

 

[HARO]

Those HD plugs come in sizes from about 1" to 5 or 6". The smaller ones should do nicely, since they would fit the bumpy surface better. Glue them in with 5-minute Epoxy, and Bob's yer uncle!
John

 

[cas]

needs more ventilation

I was also struggling with how to provide more ventilation for my aerator. What I ended up doing was placing the aerator on a large stone, then placing the cover for aerator also on stones, just not as tall. This allows for air circulation from below. Then since my aerator was much more powerful than I needed, I leave some of the extra ports open to provide air circulation within the cover.

 

[SteveW]

I agree with Cas; Place the air pump on a suitable surface and also place bricks (or similar) on the this surface and stand the cover on these bricks thus allowing air to flow into the bottom. Place the intake of the pump nearer to one of the gaps and the air exchange will take place naturally - as the pump draws air in it also forces the heat out through the other gaps. I have mine working like this with no problems in 110F - 113F heat, and in full sun.
If you really wanted to place the 'grill' on as well, then find a piece pf plastic tubing about the same diameter (4", I believe) and cut a thin strip at an angle - like a lemon wedge - and glue that over the top portion of the grill thus making a sort of rain shade/drip for it to stop water entering. (glue the end with the angle cut onto the grill, that way you will have a perfect fit with a natural downwards facing shade)

 

[addy1]

my air pump is protected by a plastic storage tote flipped upside down with lots of holes drilled in the sides. (Feel free to steal that idea BTW - patent NOT pending!)

Same with mine, i did spray it with some plastic paint to blend in the gray color with the surrounding.............. Been using the same tote for 5 years now. Also on some bricks which keeps it a little off the ground for bottom air intake

TM I would just drill some holes, nothing critter wise, gets in my non screened tote. No rain gets in the holes either.

 

[Mmathis]

I'll be working on this today. I was under the assumtion that "hot air" still rises* which is why I was thinking of adding ventilation higher up, but the bottom, flow-through [via raising the cover] does make sense, as well. Is there an advantage of one over the other -- high vs low?

When I was at Home Depot yesterday, I found these little snap-ins in the plumbing section [ @HARO, thank you!].

I got 2, 2" ones, but now wondering if I even need them. The idea of drilling a few smaller ventilation holes sounds so much less complicated than trying to fit the drain plugs in.

I also found a plastic ventilated patio table at WallyWorld a few weeks ago that is the perfect size for the air pump Can't tell that it's ventilated from my drawing, though. And instead of propping the cover to raise it up, I'm going to attach a set of "legs" at each corner as well as come up with a way to keep it in place instead of depending on a heavy object. It may be a little more work to do this, but whenever I try to jury-rig something [IOW, propping or weighting with heavy object....], it doesn't always end well....... That's just me!

*-- oh, I guess that explains HARO, huh?

 

[HARO]

No,no my dear lady..... HARO does NOT stand for HOT AIR!
But just the same, I will continue to dole out my sage advice. The idea of the ventilated table is a good one, as long as you don't mind the look. I would place one or two more vents near the TOP of the unit, so that air can enter from the bottom and out the top. Drilling holes athe bottom is unnecessary. If the cover shows a tendency to blow away, try two electrical ties on the windward side bottom. That way you can still flip it over to access the pump.
John

 

[Mmathis]

No,no my dear lady..... HARO does NOT stand for HOT AIR!
But just the same, I will continue to dole out my sage advice.

Actually, I was referring to "up north," Canada..... You know, "hot air rises" -- all the hot air is up north, duh!

Here are pictures of what I did this morning (I still have to clean up my mess in the kitchen -- it was and is tooooo hot to do anything outside!!!). I added "legs" that double as tie-supports. Instead of using the vents, I drilled 2, 1-1/4" [I think that's the size] holes across from each other, then put some goop around the holes and stuck screening down from the inside. It doesn't look too bad.

Can you see the screened holes?

Looking through the holes......

 

[tbendl]

HARO does NOT stand for HOT AIR!

Methinks he doth protest too much... Hehe

 

[HARO]

Actually, I was referring to "up north," Canada..... You know, "hot air rises" -- all the hot air is up north, duh!

Here are pictures of what I did this morning (I still have to clean up my mess in the kitchen -- it was and is tooooo hot to do anything outside!!!). I added "legs" that double as tie-supports. Instead of using the vents, I drilled 2, 1-1/4" [I think that's the size] holes across from each other, then put some goop around the holes and stuck screening down from the inside. It doesn't look too bad.

Can you see the screened holes?
View attachment 84267

Looking through the holes......
View attachment 84268

Oh, so now you're not just insulting ME, you're insulting ALL Canadians! Besides, I'm willing to wager that it's hotter in Louisiana than it is up here. And that goes for Mississippi as well, Tara!
Windy

 

[SteveW]

Boy! From the photos, it looks like you put more thought into this than went into the making of the Hoover Dam
Great job.

 

[Mmathis]

Methinks he doth protest too much... Hehe

Same here! Hey, T, what say we send some of our hot air his way! We have plenty to spare.

 

[mgmine]

Put a small 115 volt computer cooling fan in and you're good to go.
http://www.amazon.com/115V-AC-Cooli...8690404&sr=8-1&keywords=120+volt+computer+fan