Pump Selection

[DarrenCattle]

This is the one I bought recently:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009X6ADCM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Submersible or non? (more power with submersible)

DC power, most of the time you want up to 12 Volts but if there are special considerations for the motherboard we end up using we can go to a lower 5 Volt power.

Outer Diameter (OD) and Inner Diameter (ID) are also issues to consider, this pump has 5/16" and 7/16" for clear plastic pipe.

If anyone has any other pumps to suggest feel free to recommend. Thank you.

[nathanielks]

The interface with the microcontroller will/should be a relay that turns power to the pump on and off, so we don't need to worry about the different voltages. TL;DR: our controller and the pump will be operating on different power lines.

My vote would be submersible. A cursory search for non-submersible pumps appear to be for de-flooding stuff (too much unneeded power) and are $$$. The one you bought looks great! I'll go look at Petsmart or something to see what common tubing sizes are ( so we can go to the store if we need things quickly ), but so far your's appears to be a common size. There are also step-down and step-up fittings we can get if we need to use different sizes.

[nathanielks]

Okie doke. 3/8" and 1/2" are the most common at Home Depot. I couldnt find much for 5/16, so I think well be best served going with one of those two, with the latter being the most common.

[DarrenCattle]

I'm hoping that I can fit 3/8" on both sides, I'll let you know once I get the pump.

[ChicagoGupta]

Whats his face that came today said he knows about IoT / hydroponics - let's get some recommendations from him.

[austinpray]

@DeftxPunk mind dropping some knowledge here?

[DeftxPunk]

I have a selection of pumps to show everyone Friday 6/19. Without knowing too much about this project, I would still want to recommend a submersible pump (it just makes things easier), and I'll be bringing in a step-up voltage converter to help power it from whatever microprocessor we end up using. The reason for that, is that arduinos only output up to 9V and msp430 only outputs up to 5V, but with the step-up converter, we can push that all the way to 12V which is ideal for most pumps we'll be looking at.

[DeftxPunk]

@austinpray can we order one of these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/251590176429?lpid=82&chn=ps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281665826642?lpid=82&chn=ps

[austinpray]

@DeftxPunk I don't have an ebay or paypal account (got banned when I was 14 lol). If you order it I can square cash you to reimburse.