Need pump advice -- tips? Does this pump exist in any form?

[Chromatic]

Hi,

I have struggled to find any forums/message boards that would discuss such topics so I hope this is the right place.

Basically, I have a stone (several hundred pound) 4 foot high fountain.

The pump goes inside the top part of the fountain (a piece that weighs 60lbs or so) so it is very hard to get running.

I am having to start from scratch here.. with a new pump, tubing etc.

The pump that was in it says it is rated at 80-300 GPH (Gallons per hour).

The biggest hassle with this fountain is getting the flow rate proper. Since you have to lift this heavy rock on the top that the tubing goes through to get to the pump.. you end up setting the pump at X rate -- and then putting it back together and the water flow will be too high (squirting too high) or too low..

I've looked around, but can't seem to find anything like this, but maybe you guys can help.

It would really be helpful to find a pump that had the flow adjuster NOT built onto the pump. Where it had a knob or some other device that was wired into the pump that I could feed out of the hole into the water or otherwise outside of the main piece where the pump resides. So I could adjust the pump flow rate when it is all together.

Do any such pumps exist with a flow adjuster that isn't built onto the pump (or is there someway to adjust the flow rate in the manner I'm speaking.. ) --

All the pumps I see have the typical turn dial adjuster on the pump which just doesn't work for this heavy fountain.

Thanks for any links, advice, tips, or help.

Sincerely,

Jared

 

[sissy]

how about a ball valve inline to turn water up and down .I have them in both of my filters

 

[sissy]

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:46719]I don't have a good pic but this is the one i have leaving extra water from pump into the pond

 

[dieselplower]

Can you not have the pump lower and run a hose up? Pushing is always better than pulling. Well, almost always.

 

[sissy]

usually fountains like that have a basin under them to store water and the pump and have rocks covering it up

 

[dieselplower]

Nevermind...

 

[Chromatic]

how about a ball valve inline to turn water up and down .I have them in both of my filters

Hrmm... mind explaining this a little better?

This is a pump that sits in a basin in the center of the bowl of the fountain.

They designed it so you lift the top off (which is this 60+lb) pineapple shape that has a 1/2" to 3/4" hole in it directly to the pump in the basin. -- So you are supposed to set the flow rate on the pump , then ease this top back over the plastic flexi tube that you've run inside it.. and then you just have to see how high or low the water is shooting out. Then you have to pick it up (really way to heavy to easily do it, not to mention each time you lift this up it pulls the tube back down through the piece your lifting..) and make another adjustment on the flow valve on the pump.. and keep doing this -- But it always ends up that you end up having it shoot a little too high, or not enough.. Or if you get it close to where you want it.. any little shift of the tubing or coming out the next day and the water coming out won't be where you had it the day before..

Which really makes it something that I'd like to be able to rig up to where I can setup the pump in.. have the tubing connected .. which just goes straight up,.. and be able to adjust this flow rate from outside the pump. Then just put whatever I am using to adjust this rate into the bowl of water the fountain flows into.. (as you couldn't really see it).

Can you not have the pump lower and run a hose up? Pushing is always better than pulling. Well, almost always.

I guess without pictures I didn't explain it correctly. It is a very simple setup. Just a pump in a basin, that is connected to plastic flexible tubing that pushes water upwards. The pump is of course pulling the surrounding water it is submerged in.. as a pump will do.

usually fountains like that have a basin under them to store water and the pump and have rocks covering it up

This fountain top looks a bit like this:
http://rengarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Williamsburg-Grand-Pineapple-230x230.jpg

Just a bit larger -- and just trickles down the sides into the a huge 400lb rock bowl below it on a rock pedestal.

So the pineapple top just sits on top of the bowl, which has a recess and stand in the middle for the pump and the pineapple to sit upon. The pineapple top is hollowed out about 1" in diameter (give or take) for the tubing to fit snuggly in it.

If this was a lighter weight fountain I wouldn't be even considering this.. I am just looking for options as I have had it inoperational for a year or so just because it was such a pain to keep the flow right -- having to dismantle it constantly, using multiple pumps.

Perhaps, I'm asking too much.

I appreciate the advice nonetheless.

Thanks,

 

[gardengimp]

I have this Henri Studios fountain. There is one spot on the stand the top sits upon which is notched out for access to the pump. Granted, the access is not really very practical, but there is that one spot where the top part of the fountain is not sitting squash against the stand on the basin. Do you have such a place anywhere around the perimeter of your stand? If so, run the flex tubing out that spot, onto a barb-1/2"MPT fitting that is screwed into a FPT ball valve, then back into a barb-1/2"MPT fitting onto the tubing that runs up inside the top. So long as you have a cut-away on the stand, you can run the tubing and ball valve into the outer basin portion.

 

[Chromatic]

I have this Henri Studios fountain. There is one spot on the stand the top sits upon which is notched out for access to the pump. Granted, the access is not really very practical, but there is that one spot where the top part of the fountain is not sitting squash against the stand on the basin. Do you have such a place anywhere around the perimeter of your stand? If so, run the flex tubing out that spot, onto a barb-1/2"MPT fitting that is screwed into a FPT ball valve, then back into a barb-1/2"MPT fitting onto the tubing that runs up inside the top. So long as you have a cut-away on the stand, you can run the tubing and ball valve into the outer basin portion.

There is a hole towards the center base where the pineapple sits.. where wiring for lighting inside the water in the main bowl goes.. I could route small tubing through it.

Could I route from the pump (which is shooting straight upwards) -- and make a sharp bend with smaller tubing to fit out this 'access hole" if you will.. to essentially a valve that would allow X amount of water out into the bowl of water and the other end routes back inside (again a sharp bend) to an adapter to a larger tubing to go up the pineapple to the top?

The valve would essentially act as a pressure regulator that I could adjust as it sits in the bowl.. making the pump itself push a little more water than is necessary.. and back the flow down with this valve.

Or will the smaller tubing going to larger tubing -- the sharp bends in the confined space -- or other such issues make this a problem?

Thanks

 

[sissy]

I put my ball valve or at least one of them inline .I used hose clamps to connect it .I wish I could get to it as it is under the water fall and have not had to adjust it since I installed it .All you have to look for at the hardware store is an inline ball valve .It reminds me of how you turn on your faucets under the sink when you need to turn off the water to the sink .But it is plastic and you can get them all sizes from 1/4 inch up .It has a handle that turns the water up and down

 

[sissy]

ball valve

 

[Chromatic]

I'm going to try to place the pump outside the normal spot,and route the tube through a side hole underwater.. .. If that works then I can adjust the pump without touching anything.

Will update.

 

[Chromatic]

Worked well.. re-installed it from scratch. New light kit, transformers, pump, tubing, etc.

I ended up placing the pump in the bowl, out of sight,.. and routed a short piece of tube through an access hole -- then used an L barbed connector at 90 degree's.. and attached a vertical tube upwards through the top.

So have full control of the pump. Just dissapointed with the pump I purchased -- the flow adjustment is not very dynamic. The max and min on the adjustment only change the water height 1/2 an inch.. But the flow works well.

If I need further adjustment I can easily add a ball valve with a T adapter in the tubing in the bowl from the pump itself.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[gardengimp]

Oh, most excellent. Glad it worked well for you. And yes, I've noticed those flow adjustable pump adjustments are kinda silly.