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DIY Misting Pump Ideas?

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by jai, Nov 6, 2016.

  1. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    Can anyone help me with some cheap day misting pumps. Preferably budget friendly. I'm getting into a orchidarium/vivarium build and need a cheap misting creation. I know that a small aquarium pump/mini pond pump does not produce enough pressure to work as a misting pump but can be used for a drip system. I not going for drip though. Could gravity come into play hear and be used to help create more pressure? Perhaps use a couple small pumps jointed together into one line would create enough pressure? Anyone with knowledge and or experience with this please share. Thank you in advance happy growing :)

    Also what is the perferred choice of size for hosing? (1/2",1/4" ect)
     
  2. carl

    carl Active Member

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    You might be able to feed the output of one pump to the inlet of another, but you need to be mindful of capacities. If I was to do that, I'd want a slightly higher capacity pump feeding the lower capacity pump.

    For gravity to be effective, you'd need a really high water column. Remember, it's the height of the column that counts, not the overall volume.
     
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  3. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    How about if i feed several pumps(lets say three pumps) outputs into a single tube? Would their pressures combine?
     
  4. carl

    carl Active Member

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    Probably not. A pump can only add so much pressure to a line, so to speak. If you run them one after another, each may only be adding 20 psi to the line, but the total is 40. Two pumps side-by-side will still only boost pressure by 20 psi.

    Think of it this way: Each pump is like a battery, say a AA alkaline. If you put one battery after another, you get 1.5v increase for each battery - that's a series connection. If you connect them in parallel, you still only have 1.5v, but you can get more current (that's the equivalent of the water in this example) flowing.

    For misting, you need pressure, not flow, at least not unless you have too many nozzles in your loop.
     
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  5. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    Is there a cheap high psi pump on the market? Or is there a cheap and or easy way to add pressure? With an air pump or something?
     
  6. carl

    carl Active Member

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    Cheap, easy, reliable - choose any two.

    I use a misting pump that puts out 150psi, and some matching nozzles. Cost was around $300. You can get a shallow well pump, which has a pump and reservoir connected to it, that'll put out enough for misting, you hook the pump inlet to your water reservoir, and let gravity feed it. Expect to spend around $150 at Harbor Freight.

    For a small volume, you can try an ultrasonic humidifier. I had one that I hooked up to a 2x8x2 cabinet, filled it with fog. Use DI or R/O water if you don't want white leaves. Just shop the sales, because under continuous use, they don't last that long. For a smaller space, a Reptifogger from Zoomed might work for you. Comes with a flexible outlet tube, so you can duct the mist into your environment. For bigger spaces, there was some discussion about the ultrasonics from House of Hydro. You might want to consider that.
     
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  7. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    Carl,
    Thank you for your all help :). I do have a few more questions. For a pump what does cc mean example 1200cc? Also is there away to calculate psi of a pump from how much water(quanity) that is pumped per sec/minute/hour?
    Also the size of the build is 4ftx4ft cube.
     
  8. Gregg Zollinger

    Gregg Zollinger Active Member

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    Here is how you go cheap...
    Pump
    Power Supply (or just find a 12 volt at least 3 amp power supply from an old laptop or something)
    Mister Heads - You can find these at a hydroponics store if you have one locally.

    Then just plumb it up. Won't be everything a mistking is, but will work great, and for under $40 your best option in my opinion. You can get cheaper pumps, but they usually aren't self priming which means your water needs to sit above your pump which makes things a pain. You want at least 45psi to run the drip irrigation mister heads. Anything will low pressure won't work for you. Don't hesitate to ask any questions.
     
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  9. carl

    carl Active Member

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    PSI of a pump is given in it's specs - it's usually listed as the pump's "head" - i.e. 10ft of head, meaning it can pump against a 10 foot column of water. You calculate pressure from there. A 1 sq. inch column of water 10 feet high weights so much, so those pounds/square foot tells you psi. A 1 sq. inch column of water 231 (about a gallon) inches tall (almost 20 feet of head) corresponds to about 8 psi.

    For fluid flow, just like electronics, pressure, flow, and resistance are all proportional - just like Ohm's law relates voltage, current and resistance - V = IR. So, you need more pressure to move a given quantity of water through a smaller pipe network. To calculate that, you need some data about flow rates through your networks. But anyway, a pump's specs generally tell you flow rate per foot of head, and will often give you a graph.

    So as Gregg Z says, you want at least 45psi, so that's a 45lb column of water, or about 6 gallons, so about 120 feet of head.

    (I'm an electrical engineering student, not mechanical or chemical engineering, although I did play one 40 years ago, so I may not have everything right.)
     
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  10. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    I was thinking of that doing a diy pump. I watch many YouTube videos and ground one that show how to make one from a CD mod that shoots water 8ft with 30 liters a minute(1800liters/hour)...that I believe is way to strong for a small contained box.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2016
  11. Gregg Zollinger

    Gregg Zollinger Active Member

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    Jai, I don't know what a "day pump" is. Can you provide a link? The key is pressure. A low pressure pump can move A TON of water, but may only drip out of a misting head. I think what you are wanting to do is spray a mist to water your plants. if that is the case, the volume of water the pump can move, how far it can move it, or CC's, doesn't matter.

    For a 4' by 4' cube, you are probably going to want maybe 6-10 misting heads.
     
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  12. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    Sorry I meant diy typo. I will find the link and post it.
     
  13. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    And yes I do want a spray of mist not drip watering.
     
  14. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    Here is the link: Watch "How to Make a Powerful WATER PUMP at Home" on YouTube -

    Not literally what I'm going for but maybe something along the lines. And feed the output water in 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch tubing.
     
  15. Gregg Zollinger

    Gregg Zollinger Active Member

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    Very cool, thanks for sharing the video. I may have to try that one day. I don't think that would get you what you want. I doubt that would produce much pressure. And I am not sure it would be much cheaper.

    You can also use a car window washer pump and save a few more dollars, but they are much noisier and you need to run them in shorter bursts. It isn't a good idea to run one for a minute at a time. So you need a timer that runs in seconds not minutes, and those are a little more expensive.
     
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  16. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    This project will be very fun. I will try as many cheap alternatives as I can think of and keep a list of what does not work...eventually posting it hear for everyone to know :)
    The diy route will be very interesting to see the variety. But i do need to figure out how to get more pressure created.
     
  17. Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    You had better come up with the spec for the nozzles first.
     
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  18. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    I was planing to use 6-360 Degree Aeroponic Spray Nozzle or something similar.
     
  19. Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    Which require "x psi" to. Work.
     
  20. jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    I can only find this Flow Rates: 31.4 GPH at 20 PSI