Solar Pump - Technical Information
- Maximum Lift - drippers 5m above water source
- Maximum Pump Height - 3m above water source
- Maximum Pump Distance - 20m from water source
- Maximum Tube Run - 60m from water source to furthest dripper. The pump can be anywhere up to 20m from the water source within that run
- Water dispensed - 7500 ml/h running time - 625ml/dripper
- Run time - up to 1 hour in very sunny conditions. It varies considerably depending on the weather. The pump will work in a greenhouse, but will pump slightly less water due to there being less light than outside.
The first time you turn it on - The battery may be fully charged or flat. If fully charged the pump will run for hours - once it has stopped it will begin to operate normally. If the battery is flat it will not start - turn the knob to 5 and leave in the sun for 3 hours when it will start up automatically. Thereafter it will operate normally.
Control
The pump starts automatically every 3 hours and runs until the battery voltage starts to drop.
- Knob position 5 is maximum watering, 4,3,2,1 are approximately 80%, 60%, 40%, 20% respectively. The knob regulates the proportion of energy that goes from the solar panel to the battery.
- Constant LED indicates pump is running
- Flashing LED indicates unit is in charging mode
Watering with the SOL-K12
Max number of drippers 24
10 litre pots 20
25 cm baskets 12
45 cm baskets 3
Fully grown tomato plants 10
Fully grown pepper plants 20
If you double the number of drippers on a pump, you will halve the amount of water emitted by each dripper.
Dripper heights
If drippers are at different heights they will apply different amounts of water.
With the Solar Pump using 12 drippers these differences are small if drippers are within 2m of the same height.
If extra drippers are added, the tolerance of height difference reduces so that at 36 drippers (not recommended) all must be at the same height.