@@markozagar The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
My grandad used to call me and my sister urchins and I had forgotten about it, him saying that brought back a really nice memory for me and made me giggle ❤️
Hi Mike, The battery probably can run just fine without continuous charging. Fundamentally, all the pump is doing is moving 4 litres of water from one elevation to another - it's very simple to calculate how much energy this would take. We know the volume of water used is about 4 L and I'll say the height change is about 2 metres. The work done by the pump is given by the change in pressure multiplied with the volume of water moved. Since the pump is only fighting gravity (I'll neglect any pump inefficiencies for now), the change in pressure is given by water density * acceleration due to gravity * height change, so 1000 kg/m^3 * 9.8 m/s^2 * 2m, giving a pressure difference of 19,600 Pa. Thus, 19600 Pa * 0.004 m^3 = 78 J of work is done. The capacity of an 18650 battery varies, but according to a website called Fogstar, they have a nominal voltage of 3.6 V and capacity between 1800 and 3600 mAh. This gives a total energy capacity of 3.6 V * (1.8 * 3600 As) = 23,000 J. That's a lifetime of 297 days! Obviously, the pump isn't perfectly efficient, but it's unlikely to be so inefficient that it would use up the battery's capacity in a few days. All of this being said, there's nothing wrong with your setup with the solar panel - peace of mind is just as important as any other consideration here.
Just felt the need to say that the result can be reached in a single step without involving pressure. The final potential energy of the water is simply m*g*h= 4kg*9.8m/(sec^2)*2m=78.4J and that's the final result since it all was due to the work of the pump.
I got some tiny 12V pond fountain pumps from eBay, and a 12V on/off timer switch. In the winter I use the timer switch to turn lights on and off, and in Summer it is used to turn on the pump for a set time each day to water our potted plants. Total cost was about £15, although you do need a 12 volt battery to run it too, I happened to have an old one to hand. Quite simple to do, the most complex part was working out how the timer switch was programmed!
-Actually, I'd forget the on/off timer and just make an overflow pipe that leads back down to the lower water tank.- Ah, I see, he isn't using any form of timing after the header tank. I found one locally that has a brushless DC motor that doesn't need a battery (though you could always toss in a SLA battery and diode in line with it).
Shrimp, this type of video reminds me of being in the garage with my dad while he worked on stuff and would talk through it. He was a Boeing engineer and very mechanically inclined. Thanks for the nice memories.
I suspect you could cobble together a little 12V DC aquarium pump, a separate programmable 12V timer, and a car battery or other 12V battery. There is also a fair amount of inexpensive 12V solar equipment that you could use to top off the battery as well, but a car battery would likely last for a while. These sorts of all-in-one solutions tend to me to be much less hardy and less repairable than something with discrete components. It would certainly be more expensive, which might defeat the purpose of this project, but it wouldn't be nearly as DIY as a Raspberry Pi or Arduino-based solution.
Cheers from America! In the Aquarium hobby world we use float switches. It works much like the floaty thing in the water closet above a toilet bowl. This could be done either passive/siphon style or hooked up to an electric pump as you have done. I love the fact you chose not to throw all this stuff away but made the best of it! If you were a Yankee we would call this Yankee Ingenuity. Great vid as always !!
Well, you've convinced me to buy one of those pumps (Not the watering unit - just the pump) to easily drain my portable air conditioner! Happy to say - it's working surprisingly well!
Hello Mr. Shrimp! I usually don't comment, but we have succesfully operated a greenhouse for several years from a similar but better quality pump system. One thing to look out for is algee groth in the clear silicon tubes. This can mes up the pump. Thank you for being you!
I wonder if Big Clive would be interested in doing a semi collaberation on building a circuit that could do regular watering in the same way without computerised brains? Maybe you could have it so a photocell or something turned a pump on and off once a day
whatever system you end up with, I think a back-up urchin to check in every couple of days could give you enough added peace of mind to be worth the cost.
If your water tank can be elevated then you can use very clever watering system named Tropf-Blumat. I am using it for several years and if work perfectly. You only need 1m elevation for 10m feeding tube. The system work without electricity (even no batteries) and without mains water. Just gravity and clay sensors which measures the moisture and control the water flow.
I have a very nice indoors growing kit that's a complete hydroponic system with a table that floods with water and drains at set intervals, and the one item that took the longest to find a very good one was the water pump and oxygenator kit. I bought 4 of them before finding one I really like, and I do have everything setup on a Raspberry Pi 4 Pro with Bluetooth so I can control things remotely, and check on things like the temperature in the tent and of the water, what the lights are doing, and even what the pH and nutrient-density of the water.
As a student from a small town renting an apartment in a big city, a big thing I got into is gardening in my balcony, it helps a lot with my mental health. I have some small crops (italian peppers, aubergines and lettuces) and flowers. This summer as always I'll be back home for long periods of time so I was searching for "life support" Kind thingies so my plants dont die too. This small project of yours has given me quite the batch of ideas! Thanks for that!
Wondering if youve heard of ollas? From 2000bc North Africa, buried unglazed terracotta pots, made into almost sealed vessels using a pot and TC saucer or 2 x pots sealed together with water tight seal and buried in ground, they leech the water into soil through pourous walls of pot, could help with watering while away if you made a big enough one + if you havent id like to see you make one maybe
I was given a water-damaged Dremel (left in a shed in its case) with a very rusty motor that was as dead as a proverbial. Took it apart, cleaned every cubic millimetre and now it works like a charm. Did wonder if you would be buying a valve doodad from your header tank (like hospitals use for drips). Love watching and hearing your process and progress to ingenious solutions and just sad for the poor urchins who will need to find other work. Anyhoo, wishing you luck and hope you (and your plants) have a lovely holiday.
i'm not so mechanically inclined but i do work in a hospital, and roller clamps alone with no pump were what made the most sense in my head. you would just need to figure out making the gravity work, but i can't imagine that would be half as complicated as what shrimp went through here. still, the experience of problem solving is part of the reward.
@@blockhead391 I’m so glad you replied because now, instead of “valve doodads…for drips”, I can say “roller clamps” and people won’t think I’m a complete idiot (well, at least not for that reason). 😉👍🏼
I'm so glad someone else backs up and listens / feels for the click... The amount of times colleagues have looked at me stupidly and said your tightening it the wrong way 🙄 my answer is always it may look wrong *but* at least I'm not breaking the customers stuff - then I'll look at stuff they have worked on and ask why the screw is at an 80 degree angle and not sitting flush, only to get an answer of I don't know - it's as tight as it will go and it was really hard to get in 🤦🤦🤦
Steve Mould did a video a the other week with a solution for your watering. Get a Wirtz Pump that is powered via a windmill. This will bring water up from a barrel. You could have water collecting into the barrel via guttering and then a barrel above where you wish to water, a Wirtz pump taking water from lower barrel to higher one. The higher barrel could have a "tap" that has a pipe connected that then just takes water to where needed using gravity. All you need is a windmill (DIY ONE or get a cheap garden one), 2 barrels 1 with a tap, and some tubing. If you have a pond you could also just use the ponds pump and a siphon system. I think the windmill idea is kinda cool though you can always have an overflow also and a system where the water is recycled. Loads you can do with that system really.
Lots on ebay so for £13.99 delivered in the UK, I'm getting one to do some experimenting in my greenhouse ready for when i go away Thank you for another new hobby
I like this series of videos. Please keep it going! You could even get it to where you don't need to water your plants manually, only to bring a new jug of water from time to time.
I do toy restoration, and I promise you there is very little to that motor. It doesn't have "brushes" per se. Usually just springly wires that contact the rotor. I would just pull the motor off, take off the back cover that holds the rotor in, clean it up as best you can, polish the rotor a bit, lube everything up, and stick it back together. There's really nothing that CAN go wrong. It just sounds like it's got mild corrosion preventing good contact with the energy source. I usually just run an exacto blade across the wire "brushes", to reveal shiny copper and clean the rotor with a q tip, maybe some deoxit, in rare cases I'll use mothers mag and aluminum polish the shine it up, and then clean that off with 99% isopropyl. It's pretty easy and for a guy with your skill level, it'll be a piece of cake. Some models like Mabuchi style even have a holes in the bottom so you can push the wire brushes back, then reinsert the rotor, then push a small tool through the hole to get the brushes to snap back against the rotor if you're have a problem with reassembly.
Somehow this should be named: Engineeringshrimp - In the next step the pump will get WiFi and can be integrated into Homeassistant. :D I really hope that his system will do what you aimed for or that someone in the comments will let you know of one. Really enjoyed this video, hope there is more from "that category".
interesting video thanks. i especially like the idea of pumping to a bottle that then has lines going where you want + the use of wire to hold bottle was very nice
It might be worth considering a simple drip irrigation system in the future. If you can suspend/make a pile of stuff to hold the larger reservoir high enough, you can run a pipe from it straight to your plants, and mediate the flow by stuffing the tube with a wad of wool held in by a bit of wire, or a simple valve if you want to get fancy. Probably less precise than the pump, but if you want something simple and future proof it might be better suited for your needs. Looking like a lovely garden!
This video really hit home; I don't know how many times I've bought stuff for a project of similar scope and it hasn't been up to scratch, or, equally as often, I've made a silly mistake and killed the thing...
ceramic spikes drawing from a big water container hung high will do the trick if all you want is to keep soil moist while your gone. theyre cheap and work on a simple and reliable concept.
I believe this device from Parkside simply has a soilenoid inside that gets opened, so it needs to be connected to a pressurized water line. He mentioned at 15:17 that he has neither mains power, nor an actual water line at the greenhouse where he tries to water.
@@growtocycle6992 Depending on the greenhouse, he might not have a place to put 30 Liters or so of water on it, or rather, it might not handle the weight of it.
I ran a small fountain on a small usb aquarium pump and a 20.000 battery pack for your phone before. Lasted a few days before charging. Plus can also add a small solar panel for charging the batter pack, if needed and feeling fancy
I was about to say you could ask someone local to nip around to water the plants.... And then you suggested the same. Sometimes low tech solutions are the best.
This maybe above your skillset but since you have a two tier garden it would be great to have a water feature/art sculpture/ watering device like the hanging gardens of Babylon, an archimedes screw pump to take the water up thru a series of channels.
Have you looked into the Blumat system? It works with hollow clay cones that press on a tube forming a valve. When the soil humidity drops, the valve opens and water drips. No electricity required. and it works off a water tank.
Have you thought about putting the big reservoir a the highest point and just restricting the flow so that there is a constant drip to each plant? Purely gravity fed. The water might run out, but hopefully the equivalent of the battery and pump (gravity) doesn't! Might need to control the watering at the drip heads. You can get adjustable ones from your garden centre. If you trust the pump then you could still use it to fill the reservoir, but just to top up a slow drain. In the past, I've had good results from Gardena and Hozelock for automatic watering, but it's expensive, and it does require a hose from the mains water.
The main question would be if your pressure downstairs is strong enough to fill something upstairs (with a standard toilet bottle to stop it entering once filled). Fact is that it would need rather massive solar panel to produce enough power for a pump. That panel would require heat amount which isn't safe for LiIon battery. so if you can do as much ass possible by gradualy slowly filling high position tank, then it would be easy to power just opening by something like msp430.
One thing that might be worth doing is replacing the transparent tubing for an opaque one, to stop algae building from all the sunlight exposure and clogging it up
Personally I'd have gone for a micropump, generally sourced from an aquarium shop. They are very reliable and flow regulated. Timers are available too or use a smart plug.
If you have the storage tank above the distribution tank, you could use a garden hose timer. Those don't care if the water pressure is from the tap or from gravity.
Brilliant job in making that pump work. I personally don't think it was your fault that the new pump blew. The entire unit from China probably only costs a few cents anyways.
Oh Atomic!! 😱 You need to tidy up those Toms, take off all lower leaves off and snap off the suckers 😱 please do a follow up if you use the system. Good luck.
Getting more when the pump is close to the water is not strange since you can only suck water up to just below 10 meters no matter what kind or size/power. But a pump can push water or any other liquid up much higher because its on the pressure side.
Assuming that the output current of that circuit is 5V, what you can do is remove that low quality motor, and just solder a decent submergeble DC pump in it's place. That way you dont need to tinker with relays or mosfets.
After homebrewing various solutions I broke down a few years ago and bought a set from Irrigatia that charges via a solar cell. Costs a bit more, but I have hade no problems with it (which I had with the homebrew setup)
I know you said you don't want pay for mains at the greenhouse but I just wanted to mention a (relatively) cheap option Ive seen people use where I'm from. I'm from the US, so the material available may be different, but I often see small outdoor buildings and equipment supplied by mains power using direct-buried cable ("UF" cable, which stands for underground feeder). All it requires usually is a shallow trench with red warning tape laid a few inches above it and PVC pipe to cover where it penetrates above ground and a cast-metal outlet box with a GFCI receptacle. This option is often cheaper than a full conduit run. Awesome video either way
Bit of a struggle to get it working but you got there in the end, I can only make two observations Sir, One Don't hang your pump (electronics) under where your triple joint pipework is in case it leaks and soaks the pump and put your pump and water reservoir higher up, make a stand or something then you don't need the header tank and you can lower the weight of water you are pulling from the supply to put less stress on the pump motor. Thank you for sharing :)
Can't but help feel that the first seller had acquired a number of returns which were mostly due to the motor failure, possibly from the pipe kink issue, possibly just down to poor quality motors, tested the units to see which ones the motor still ran but without actually testing pump function and repackaged them. This would explain not only how you ended up with a wet one (had been in use before failure and return) which corroded while in transit to you but also how they had extra pipe sets that they were effectively just giving away.
I had exactly the same issue with one of these diaphragm pumps, in that case the commutator was scored and after slicing between the interruption points, it was working happily again! Complete pain to have to do though!
Raspberry Pi Pico might be the right thing though. Pimoroni actually have plenty of plant watering home brew type stuff that’s almost done all the work for you!
The pump the hospital used to feed me via a PEG tube detected kinks in the tube and sounded an alarm. As a medical device it was far more expensive and better engineered.
I think that a more continuous and consistent flow could be achieved by preventing sucking of the air with water as the case with stopping the flow to fill the bottle and letting the full bottle empty. To do so, a simple siphon setup should be enough. Just a single loop of the rubber hose whose top is above the lowest point of the bottle reservoir should be enough.
Maybe look for pumps made for aquarium top off. They seem to do basically what you are trying to accomplish, but you can find very good quality ones. More expensive than this pump, but less expensive than running a water line.
You could just buy a timer and a pump. Theres lots of hydroponic grow equipment for sale at decent prices (aquarium type pumps start around £15) now and basic plug in wall timers are about £8 iirc and the digital ones about £12. Good luck with it all. Editing this in. 'Wilm' system is a version of what ur tring to achieve, this uses the same type tubing to feed individual pots off one (aquarium) pump. Any 'aqua pot' type system will also work though the pump for them is different though its been so long since i used them i cant remember specifics.
all you really need is an aquarium pump, a battery and a timer (not a kitchen timer but so called industrial type) all of witch is in a great variety on the internet, you just need to correctly match voltage and current of all three to avoid malfunctions.
Now, this may be a very overcomplicated solution, but one that doesn't require any power. What if you had a drip fed reservior that had a bell siphon on it? that way, once the drip feed reaches a high enough level, it will suck it up until it depletes to whatever height you set the intake to, and repeat the cycle. I'm not sure if a product like this exists on the market, since the only similar use I've seen is in Quint BUILDS rain gutter power generator (#5) where he used a 3d printed part. I just wanted to share my thoughts
Search for - Marksman electronic watering they £12.. elevate a waterbutt with a tap 🚰 on the bottom on three rows of bricks..it opens a solenoid on a timer from AAA batteries, the pressure from the height is enough for a greenhouse.. I have two and never missed a beat HTH ✌️
Pro tip: if you need reliable stuff that you want to take apart and repair if something happens - don't buy an "all-in-one" or a "smart" device. Get a regular good pump from a reputable manufacturer and an electronic timer and put them together. That will be only slightly more expensive but much more reliable and durable and much more repairable.
A possible solution for a more robust setup would be to run an extension cord out to the green house to operate an outlet timer with a pond pump plugged into it. Power outlet timers are very popular in my local area for automating the activation of fairy lights for Christmas. There are digital models that allow for setting minute length periods of activation or deactivation.
I have the same issue of a greenhouse without easy access to water or power. I've a "Irrigatia SOL-C12" which cost a fair bit more but has been reliable. However, I want to have micro sprinklers for seed trays (which are hard to water with drip feed lines) and found it can't provide enough pressure so started looking at a home brew solution with a solar power water feature and solenoid value (to control how many sprinklers are driven at once to reduce the pressure requirements on the pump). If you could put your main reservoir high enough to water the plants you could just use a solenoid value and the controller from one of your units to open the solenoid value for a short period and do away with the pump completely.
I saw a solar powered watering system at the garden centre last weekend. I took a photo for friends, the brand name was "Irrigatia Flopro" "Eco Smart Watering". It cost £115 for a 24 nozzle set, and because of the solar panel it says it waters more in the sun.
Please employ a local urchin. They need to start saving now for retirement as by the time they retire, the retirement age will probably have reached 90 and it will cost £10 for a loaf of bread.
@@eadweard. Weed doesn't pay for itself... Mind you, an enterprising urchin could plant a little _side crop_ for educational purposes / personal enrichment.
you could wire up the other battery in parallel so that you have twice the capacity, probably not necessary given the efficacy of the solar panel but i thought it worth mentioning.
You could buy another pump and have another and have another big bucket of water going from that into your main water water pump so that as one so that as 1 empties it refills the 1st 1 that is feeding your plants
At this point your best bet is to set up a resivoir of water with a siphon controlled by a solonoid. You could also just buy a clock and use one of the hands with some foil as a timing mechanism (they run off of batteries for a long time, and easily bought). Ive used this before and it works surprisingly well.
“You get what you pay for” & “Buy cheap, buy twice” are phrases that instantly spring to mind!
Even if something costs 1 cent/penny/yen, it should still do what it's advertised to do.
in all fairness, the electronics part seems fine. The hoses and attachments are cheap.
Yes, the classic "Sam Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness"
@@markozagar The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
@@markozagar I still to this day think of this before buying work boots
“Some local Urchin” made me laugh and also took me back to my plant watering, dog walking, cat feeding Urchin days ❤
It made me laugh too. Always a risk with local Urchins nowadays, for example, that bottle of cider could've been his. ha ha.
My grandad used to call me and my sister urchins and I had forgotten about it, him saying that brought back a really nice memory for me and made me giggle ❤️
This episode is yet another illustration of why we are so inordinately fond of Atomic Shrimp. Good job, Mike.
Hi Mike,
The battery probably can run just fine without continuous charging. Fundamentally, all the pump is doing is moving 4 litres of water from one elevation to another - it's very simple to calculate how much energy this would take. We know the volume of water used is about 4 L and I'll say the height change is about 2 metres.
The work done by the pump is given by the change in pressure multiplied with the volume of water moved. Since the pump is only fighting gravity (I'll neglect any pump inefficiencies for now), the change in pressure is given by water density * acceleration due to gravity * height change, so 1000 kg/m^3 * 9.8 m/s^2 * 2m, giving a pressure difference of 19,600 Pa. Thus, 19600 Pa * 0.004 m^3 = 78 J of work is done.
The capacity of an 18650 battery varies, but according to a website called Fogstar, they have a nominal voltage of 3.6 V and capacity between 1800 and 3600 mAh. This gives a total energy capacity of 3.6 V * (1.8 * 3600 As) = 23,000 J. That's a lifetime of 297 days!
Obviously, the pump isn't perfectly efficient, but it's unlikely to be so inefficient that it would use up the battery's capacity in a few days.
All of this being said, there's nothing wrong with your setup with the solar panel - peace of mind is just as important as any other consideration here.
Always love these math comments
"very simple" to calculate indeed 😂
Just felt the need to say that the result can be reached in a single step without involving pressure.
The final potential energy of the water is simply m*g*h= 4kg*9.8m/(sec^2)*2m=78.4J and that's the final result since it all was due to the work of the pump.
I got some tiny 12V pond fountain pumps from eBay, and a 12V on/off timer switch. In the winter I use the timer switch to turn lights on and off, and in Summer it is used to turn on the pump for a set time each day to water our potted plants. Total cost was about £15, although you do need a 12 volt battery to run it too, I happened to have an old one to hand. Quite simple to do, the most complex part was working out how the timer switch was programmed!
-Actually, I'd forget the on/off timer and just make an overflow pipe that leads back down to the lower water tank.-
Ah, I see, he isn't using any form of timing after the header tank.
I found one locally that has a brushless DC motor that doesn't need a battery (though you could always toss in a SLA battery and diode in line with it).
Shrimp, this type of video reminds me of being in the garage with my dad while he worked on stuff and would talk through it. He was a Boeing engineer and very mechanically inclined. Thanks for the nice memories.
Touching!
How appropriate! I am watching this on Fathers Day here in the US. And I am also reminded of my dad and his projects. Wonderful memories!
@@ununuh Sweet
I suspect you could cobble together a little 12V DC aquarium pump, a separate programmable 12V timer, and a car battery or other 12V battery. There is also a fair amount of inexpensive 12V solar equipment that you could use to top off the battery as well, but a car battery would likely last for a while. These sorts of all-in-one solutions tend to me to be much less hardy and less repairable than something with discrete components. It would certainly be more expensive, which might defeat the purpose of this project, but it wouldn't be nearly as DIY as a Raspberry Pi or Arduino-based solution.
Using Tasmota on an ESP32 would largely avoid DIYing the scheduling/coding side.
if its going to be exposed to the elements you'd want a pond one not aquarium
just buy a 3v relay, connect to new pump
@@rama3njoy 5v reed relay would be a good shout
@@TomOConnor-BlobOpera single 18650 max 4.2v, and i think that circuit without step-up
Amazing well done 👏 never been so invested in a watering system 😂🥰
Cheers from America! In the Aquarium hobby world we use float switches. It works much like the floaty thing in the water closet above a toilet bowl. This could be done either passive/siphon style or hooked up to an electric pump as you have done. I love the fact you chose not to throw all this stuff away but made the best of it! If you were a Yankee we would call this Yankee Ingenuity. Great vid as always !!
You might need to just ask a neighbour to water your garden for you. That or maybe the universe is telling you not to go on holiday
Great. Now I want to get utterly sozzled on 2.5 litres of cheap cider through a vimto spout 😂
Excellent video as always Mr Shrimp!
It always makes me smile when you upload! Its nice to see you doing what you want to do.
Well, you've convinced me to buy one of those pumps (Not the watering unit - just the pump) to easily drain my portable air conditioner! Happy to say - it's working surprisingly well!
Hello Mr. Shrimp! I usually don't comment, but we have succesfully operated a greenhouse for several years from a similar but better quality pump system. One thing to look out for is algee groth in the clear silicon tubes. This can mes up the pump.
Thank you for being you!
I wonder if Big Clive would be interested in doing a semi collaberation on building a circuit that could do regular watering in the same way without computerised brains? Maybe you could have it so a photocell or something turned a pump on and off once a day
Who is clive!
How about using the output of an alarm clock to trigger a pump twice a day?
@@az55544 Big Clive He's got a channel that's about electronics.
@@KellyS_77and alcohol don't forget the alcohol haha😅
I think if Big Clive engineered a solution, he would probably want to include flames 😀
whatever system you end up with, I think a back-up urchin to check in every couple of days could give you enough added peace of mind to be worth the cost.
If your water tank can be elevated then you can use very clever watering system named Tropf-Blumat.
I am using it for several years and if work perfectly. You only need 1m elevation for 10m feeding tube.
The system work without electricity (even no batteries) and without mains water. Just gravity and clay sensors which measures the moisture and control the water flow.
I have a very nice indoors growing kit that's a complete hydroponic system with a table that floods with water and drains at set intervals, and the one item that took the longest to find a very good one was the water pump and oxygenator kit. I bought 4 of them before finding one I really like, and I do have everything setup on a Raspberry Pi 4 Pro with Bluetooth so I can control things remotely, and check on things like the temperature in the tent and of the water, what the lights are doing, and even what the pH and nutrient-density of the water.
As a student from a small town renting an apartment in a big city, a big thing I got into is gardening in my balcony, it helps a lot with my mental health. I have some small crops (italian peppers, aubergines and lettuces) and flowers. This summer as always I'll be back home for long periods of time so I was searching for "life support" Kind thingies so my plants dont die too. This small project of yours has given me quite the batch of ideas! Thanks for that!
Goodness, I'm so into watching immediately I didn't realize you have almost a million. Congratulations and let's make this happen shrimp everywhere.
Wondering if youve heard of ollas? From 2000bc North Africa, buried unglazed terracotta pots, made into almost sealed vessels using a pot and TC saucer or 2 x pots sealed together with water tight seal and buried in ground, they leech the water into soil through pourous walls of pot, could help with watering while away if you made a big enough one + if you havent id like to see you make one maybe
im honestly surpised he hasnt got one yet, i'd also like to see him make one:)
I was given a water-damaged Dremel (left in a shed in its case) with a very rusty motor that was as dead as a proverbial. Took it apart, cleaned every cubic millimetre and now it works like a charm.
Did wonder if you would be buying a valve doodad from your header tank (like hospitals use for drips). Love watching and hearing your process and progress to ingenious solutions and just sad for the poor urchins who will need to find other work.
Anyhoo, wishing you luck and hope you (and your plants) have a lovely holiday.
i'm not so mechanically inclined but i do work in a hospital, and roller clamps alone with no pump were what made the most sense in my head. you would just need to figure out making the gravity work, but i can't imagine that would be half as complicated as what shrimp went through here. still, the experience of problem solving is part of the reward.
@@blockhead391 I’m so glad you replied because now, instead of “valve doodads…for drips”, I can say “roller clamps” and people won’t think I’m a complete idiot (well, at least not for that reason). 😉👍🏼
Necessity is the mother of a new waterpump design… you could be the man x
Cultivate your neighbours, watering your garden whilst you're away is what they're for. Thanks for the content.
I'm so glad someone else backs up and listens / feels for the click... The amount of times colleagues have looked at me stupidly and said your tightening it the wrong way 🙄 my answer is always it may look wrong *but* at least I'm not breaking the customers stuff - then I'll look at stuff they have worked on and ask why the screw is at an 80 degree angle and not sitting flush, only to get an answer of I don't know - it's as tight as it will go and it was really hard to get in 🤦🤦🤦
Steve Mould did a video a the other week with a solution for your watering. Get a Wirtz Pump that is powered via a windmill. This will bring water up from a barrel. You could have water collecting into the barrel via guttering and then a barrel above where you wish to water, a Wirtz pump taking water from lower barrel to higher one. The higher barrel could have a "tap" that has a pipe connected that then just takes water to where needed using gravity. All you need is a windmill (DIY ONE or get a cheap garden one), 2 barrels 1 with a tap, and some tubing. If you have a pond you could also just use the ponds pump and a siphon system. I think the windmill idea is kinda cool though you can always have an overflow also and a system where the water is recycled. Loads you can do with that system really.
An empty bottle of Frosty Jacks in a ditch is just so quintessentially British
Sad but true
Lots on ebay so for £13.99 delivered in the UK, I'm getting one to do some experimenting in my greenhouse ready for when i go away Thank you for another new hobby
Watching your videos feels like seeing a glimpse of myself in 25 years.
Ahhh that old trick I found this bottle of Frostie Jack in a ditch 😂😂...
Love theys Garden videos very relaxing to watch
your channel is like spending time with a really neat grandfather figure
"It's not so prone to kinking, just because it's bent" - me and that tubing are not the same 😅
I like this series of videos. Please keep it going! You could even get it to where you don't need to water your plants manually, only to bring a new jug of water from time to time.
I do toy restoration, and I promise you there is very little to that motor. It doesn't have "brushes" per se. Usually just springly wires that contact the rotor.
I would just pull the motor off, take off the back cover that holds the rotor in, clean it up as best you can, polish the rotor a bit, lube everything up, and stick it back together. There's really nothing that CAN go wrong. It just sounds like it's got mild corrosion preventing good contact with the energy source.
I usually just run an exacto blade across the wire "brushes", to reveal shiny copper and clean the rotor with a q tip, maybe some deoxit, in rare cases I'll use mothers mag and aluminum polish the shine it up, and then clean that off with 99% isopropyl. It's pretty easy and for a guy with your skill level, it'll be a piece of cake.
Some models like Mabuchi style even have a holes in the bottom so you can push the wire brushes back, then reinsert the rotor, then push a small tool through the hole to get the brushes to snap back against the rotor if you're have a problem with reassembly.
probably the most useful to society a bottle of frosty jack's has ever been
This is not only incredibly interesting to watch, but makes me want to do this kind of domestic engineering on my own. Great video!
Somehow this should be named: Engineeringshrimp - In the next step the pump will get WiFi and can be integrated into Homeassistant. :D
I really hope that his system will do what you aimed for or that someone in the comments will let you know of one.
Really enjoyed this video, hope there is more from "that category".
interesting video thanks. i especially like the idea of pumping to a bottle that then has lines going where you want + the use of wire to hold bottle was very nice
It might be worth considering a simple drip irrigation system in the future. If you can suspend/make a pile of stuff to hold the larger reservoir high enough, you can run a pipe from it straight to your plants, and mediate the flow by stuffing the tube with a wad of wool held in by a bit of wire, or a simple valve if you want to get fancy.
Probably less precise than the pump, but if you want something simple and future proof it might be better suited for your needs.
Looking like a lovely garden!
This video really hit home; I don't know how many times I've bought stuff for a project of similar scope and it hasn't been up to scratch, or, equally as often, I've made a silly mistake and killed the thing...
ceramic spikes drawing from a big water container hung high will do the trick if all you want is to keep soil moist while your gone. theyre cheap and work on a simple and reliable concept.
Wow..... well done! love the way you show us all how to!!!
Parkside in lidl has an automatic plant watering thingy! For £30 If you're still looking for one. I've got one and it seems pretty good
I believe this device from Parkside simply has a soilenoid inside that gets opened, so it needs to be connected to a pressurized water line. He mentioned at 15:17 that he has neither mains power, nor an actual water line at the greenhouse where he tries to water.
@@graealex just need to hang a bag of water at the top of the greenhouse? Gravitational pressure would suffice
@@growtocycle6992 Depending on the greenhouse, he might not have a place to put 30 Liters or so of water on it, or rather, it might not handle the weight of it.
This remains the only channel I automatically click and watch and enjoy. Why isn’t all RUclips like this channel?
I ran a small fountain on a small usb aquarium pump and a 20.000 battery pack for your phone before. Lasted a few days before charging. Plus can also add a small solar panel for charging the batter pack, if needed and feeling fancy
I was about to say you could ask someone local to nip around to water the plants.... And then you suggested the same. Sometimes low tech solutions are the best.
Your ingenuity always astounds me! Thank you for the wonders you think of :3
This maybe above your skillset but since you have a two tier garden it would be great to have a water feature/art sculpture/ watering device like the hanging gardens of Babylon, an archimedes screw pump to take the water up thru a series of channels.
I can tell you're a bit annoyed about breaking it but don't worry we've all been there! You've fixed more than you've broken I'm sure :)
Have you looked into the Blumat system?
It works with hollow clay cones that press on a tube forming a valve.
When the soil humidity drops, the valve opens and water drips. No electricity required. and it works off a water tank.
Have you thought about putting the big reservoir a the highest point and just restricting the flow so that there is a constant drip to each plant? Purely gravity fed. The water might run out, but hopefully the equivalent of the battery and pump (gravity) doesn't!
Might need to control the watering at the drip heads. You can get adjustable ones from your garden centre. If you trust the pump then you could still use it to fill the reservoir, but just to top up a slow drain.
In the past, I've had good results from Gardena and Hozelock for automatic watering, but it's expensive, and it does require a hose from the mains water.
The main question would be if your pressure downstairs is strong enough to fill something upstairs (with a standard toilet bottle to stop it entering once filled).
Fact is that it would need rather massive solar panel to produce enough power for a pump. That panel would require heat amount which isn't safe for LiIon battery. so if you can do as much ass possible by gradualy slowly filling high position tank, then it would be easy to power just opening by something like msp430.
You're amazing Mr Shrimp
One thing that might be worth doing is replacing the transparent tubing for an opaque one, to stop algae building from all the sunlight exposure and clogging it up
I'm glad you've found a solution to avoid finding a local urchin..... (made me laugh)
Personally I'd have gone for a micropump, generally sourced from an aquarium shop. They are very reliable and flow regulated. Timers are available too or use a smart plug.
Interesting engineering problem, looking forward to see the final setup.
If you have the storage tank above the distribution tank, you could use a garden hose timer. Those don't care if the water pressure is from the tap or from gravity.
Brilliant job in making that pump work. I personally don't think it was your fault that the new pump blew. The entire unit from China probably only costs a few cents anyways.
Oh Atomic!! 😱 You need to tidy up those Toms, take off all lower leaves off and snap off the suckers 😱 please do a follow up if you use the system. Good luck.
Getting more when the pump is close to the water is not strange since you can only suck water up to just below 10 meters no matter what kind or size/power. But a pump can push water or any other liquid up much higher because its on the pressure side.
Assuming that the output current of that circuit is 5V, what you can do is remove that low quality motor, and just solder a decent submergeble DC pump in it's place. That way you dont need to tinker with relays or mosfets.
After homebrewing various solutions I broke down a few years ago and bought a set from Irrigatia that charges via a solar cell. Costs a bit more, but I have hade no problems with it (which I had with the homebrew setup)
Loved this video! I'd really like to see how that works out, and how you modify the system.
Paying a local “urchin” sounds like a much better option. Builds up your networks in the area and gives a local kid some pocket money.
I know you said you don't want pay for mains at the greenhouse but I just wanted to mention a (relatively) cheap option Ive seen people use where I'm from. I'm from the US, so the material available may be different, but I often see small outdoor buildings and equipment supplied by mains power using direct-buried cable ("UF" cable, which stands for underground feeder). All it requires usually is a shallow trench with red warning tape laid a few inches above it and PVC pipe to cover where it penetrates above ground and a cast-metal outlet box with a GFCI receptacle. This option is often cheaper than a full conduit run. Awesome video either way
Bit of a struggle to get it working but you got there in the end, I can only make two observations Sir, One Don't hang your pump (electronics) under where your triple joint pipework is in case it leaks and soaks the pump and put your pump and water reservoir higher up, make a stand or something then you don't need the header tank and you can lower the weight of water you are pulling from the supply to put less stress on the pump motor. Thank you for sharing :)
Can't but help feel that the first seller had acquired a number of returns which were mostly due to the motor failure, possibly from the pipe kink issue, possibly just down to poor quality motors, tested the units to see which ones the motor still ran but without actually testing pump function and repackaged them. This would explain not only how you ended up with a wet one (had been in use before failure and return) which corroded while in transit to you but also how they had extra pipe sets that they were effectively just giving away.
I had exactly the same issue with one of these diaphragm pumps, in that case the commutator was scored and after slicing between the interruption points, it was working happily again! Complete pain to have to do though!
Can't catch a break on these motors!
Lovin the new outro music, very vibey, can't wait for a homegrown tomato dish fried in the mini cast iron skillet!
Raspberry Pi Pico might be the right thing though. Pimoroni actually have plenty of plant watering home brew type stuff that’s almost done all the work for you!
Fun fact: this pump is what CoinSquirt uses for transaction handling
The pump the hospital used to feed me via a PEG tube detected kinks in the tube and sounded an alarm.
As a medical device it was far more expensive and better engineered.
@@Couscous77 lol
@@Couscous77 an alarming kink detector
@@Couscous77it's the machine that goes Bing!
Frosty Jack's with a drinking spout! What a disturbing idea!
I think that a more continuous and consistent flow could be achieved by preventing sucking of the air with water as the case with stopping the flow to fill the bottle and letting the full bottle empty. To do so, a simple siphon setup should be enough. Just a single loop of the rubber hose whose top is above the lowest point of the bottle reservoir should be enough.
Some true "through the magic of buying two of them!" energy in this experience.
You can reuse the electronics. Remove motor, connect suitable relay. Let relay turn on/off external pump
Maybe look for pumps made for aquarium top off. They seem to do basically what you are trying to accomplish, but you can find very good quality ones. More expensive than this pump, but less expensive than running a water line.
You could just buy a timer and a pump. Theres lots of hydroponic grow equipment for sale at decent prices (aquarium type pumps start around £15) now and basic plug in wall timers are about £8 iirc and the digital ones about £12. Good luck with it all.
Editing this in.
'Wilm' system is a version of what ur tring to achieve, this uses the same type tubing to feed individual pots off one (aquarium) pump. Any 'aqua pot' type system will also work though the pump for them is different though its been so long since i used them i cant remember specifics.
all you really need is an aquarium pump, a battery and a timer (not a kitchen timer but so called industrial type) all of witch is in a great variety on the internet, you just need to correctly match voltage and current of all three to avoid malfunctions.
Fantastic. I've been thinking about this for a while. Glad to see someone actually do it.
A sports cap on your Frosty Jack's, why didn't I think of that in my university days!
Now, this may be a very overcomplicated solution, but one that doesn't require any power. What if you had a drip fed reservior that had a bell siphon on it? that way, once the drip feed reaches a high enough level, it will suck it up until it depletes to whatever height you set the intake to, and repeat the cycle. I'm not sure if a product like this exists on the market, since the only similar use I've seen is in Quint BUILDS rain gutter power generator (#5) where he used a 3d printed part. I just wanted to share my thoughts
Mine work fine after month using this things..btw nice green house n love your explaination about this self watering
Search for - Marksman electronic watering they £12.. elevate a waterbutt with a tap 🚰 on the bottom on three rows of bricks..it opens a solenoid on a timer from AAA batteries, the pressure from the height is enough for a greenhouse.. I have two and never missed a beat HTH ✌️
Pro tip: if you need reliable stuff that you want to take apart and repair if something happens - don't buy an "all-in-one" or a "smart" device. Get a regular good pump from a reputable manufacturer and an electronic timer and put them together. That will be only slightly more expensive but much more reliable and durable and much more repairable.
A possible solution for a more robust setup would be to run an extension cord out to the green house to operate an outlet timer with a pond pump plugged into it. Power outlet timers are very popular in my local area for automating the activation of fairy lights for Christmas. There are digital models that allow for setting minute length periods of activation or deactivation.
Just bought some self watering pots for seedlings and then hempy buckets for my outdoor plants
Id also love to see Shrimpski take on/making hempy buckets. Theyre a passive hydro system. Google hempy vs soil tomatoes .
I have the same issue of a greenhouse without easy access to water or power. I've a "Irrigatia SOL-C12" which cost a fair bit more but has been reliable.
However, I want to have micro sprinklers for seed trays (which are hard to water with drip feed lines) and found it can't provide enough pressure so started looking at a home brew solution with a solar power water feature and solenoid value (to control how many sprinklers are driven at once to reduce the pressure requirements on the pump).
If you could put your main reservoir high enough to water the plants you could just use a solenoid value and the controller from one of your units to open the solenoid value for a short period and do away with the pump completely.
I saw a solar powered watering system at the garden centre last weekend. I took a photo for friends, the brand name was "Irrigatia Flopro" "Eco Smart Watering". It cost £115 for a 24 nozzle set, and because of the solar panel it says it waters more in the sun.
If the piping from China got any thinner it would be gossamer!!! I think the Chinese ‘protection mode’ is equivalent to our ‘knackered’ mode 🥸
Please employ a local urchin. They need to start saving now for retirement as by the time they retire, the retirement age will probably have reached 90 and it will cost £10 for a loaf of bread.
Like any would be interested.
@@eadweard. Weed doesn't pay for itself... Mind you, an enterprising urchin could plant a little _side crop_ for educational purposes / personal enrichment.
This video is really help to me. I’ve been in need of a system like this but had no idea of how to make it work
Used 12v car battery /pond pump / timer / worked great for me !!
you could wire up the other battery in parallel so that you have twice the capacity, probably not necessary given the efficacy of the solar panel but i thought it worth mentioning.
more Ava in video's please, love that lil doggo ❤
Bro I like atomic shrimp good content
You could buy another pump and have another and have another big bucket of water going from that into your main water water pump so that as one so that as 1 empties it refills the 1st 1 that is feeding your plants
At this point your best bet is to set up a resivoir of water with a siphon controlled by a solonoid. You could also just buy a clock and use one of the hands with some foil as a timing mechanism (they run off of batteries for a long time, and easily bought). Ive used this before and it works surprisingly well.