Attach a solar Pump to a Water Feature?
Can I attach a solar Pump to a Water Feature? is a question we get asked often
Here is a guide to explain how to connect your solar power pump to an existing water feature, this guide is specifically for the UK and covers the Powerbee range of solar fountains.
There are a large number of different water features in the UK, and after a time the pumps usually fail at some point and need to be replaced, a lot of people ask us whether they can replace their mains pump with a solar power pump, and the answer is yes you most certainly can! There are however some points that need to be considered :
The rule of thumb
As a rule of thumb if you look at the maximum jet head advertised, then divide this by two, and minus 25%, this gives you a safe maximum height our pumps will pump water through tubing of 7mm internal bore.
So for example the SE 500 has a maximum jet head advertised of 121 cm, however this is the maximum jet head based on a spray nozzle not tubing so here is the calculation :
121 cm divided by 2 = 60 cm then minus 25% so this equals : 60 cm - (60/100 * 25) =45 cm
Here is a table of the results for the Fountains :
| Product Name | Normal Spray Height on Jet Head (cms) | Spray Height using standard 8mm 'Internal' Tubing (cms) | Spray Height using standard 4mm 'Internal' Tubing (cms) | Spray Height where water feature has 3 outlets (cms) |
| Sunspray se 360 | 30.5 | 12 | 17 | 6 |
| Sunspray se 450 | 45 | 17 | 24 | 9 |
| Sunspray se 500 | 121 | 45 | 65 | 24 |
| Sunspray se 1000 | 228 | 85 | 123 | 46 |
| Sunspray se 2000 | 304 | 114 | 164 | 62 |
| Mains 360 | 26 | 10 | 14 | 5 |
| Sunspray SE 450-w without battery | 45 | 17 | 24 | 9 |
Internal Diameter of tubing used
If you wish to increase the maximum vertical lift distance, this is the vertical distancethat the pump can push water up, measured from the top of the pump to exactly where the water will flow out, you can reduce the bore of the tubing you use.
As you can see from the above table, its just like squeezing a hose and the water goes further, (this is actually Bernoulli's equation but we wont bore you with that) so for example the SE 500 will pump water to a height of 60 - 70 cm if 4 mm internal diameter tubing is used.
Don't worry this is very easy to achieve, you just need to purchase a tube converter, and some 4 mm tubing . Then you just attach the 4 mm tubing to your pump with this handy widget.
If you are also feeding cable horizontally for example from a reservoir up to the top of a waterfall, then this transit distance must be taken in to account, but it only really effects the vertical lift distance a small amount, approx 5% for every 3 meters.
Thats it you can successfully use a solar fountain in nearly any water feature you have, we obviously recommend that your panel is south Facing aspect and out of shade where possible.
If you have any questions concerning this we will be more than happy to help you, we have been selling fountains now for over 7 years and can advise on the best solar pump to suit your needs. Our telephone number is 0845 094 8821, or you can email us on admin@powerbee.co.uk.