DIY Dosing Pump plans?

[sstephen]

Has anyone built or seen any plans to build a peristaltic pump and/or controller? New ones seem to be expensive. I know OZREEF has a dosing pump plan using an air compressor and siphon, but I'm looking specifically at a DIY peristaltic pump.

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
The problem is that I can't find reasonable price for peristaltic. I guess if you put a low RPM motor with a wheel, and use it to screeze a plastic tubing, you can get a cheap peristaltic pump, but other than that, an OEM peristaltic motor is pretty expensive...

 

[sstephen]

Actually, I was looking at using a stepper motor with an OEM pump head. I found a few suppliers that offered just the pump heads for sale at a reasonable price (I saw one that would work well for about $10 - $15). I'm not sure about the cost of the motor, but I think that they can be inexpensive. It really depends on RPM and size. That's why I was looking at the stepper motors. You can get one out of an old floppy drive, but I don't think it would be fast enough. The controller is a different matter, but I've worked with those before.

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
IMO, stepper motor is an overkill for this type of project. It is more economical (for mass production) to use low speed motor than sophicated stepper motor. Stepper motor controller is also more tricky and pricey than ordinary motor.

 

[sstephen]

Well, I'm not exactly looking to mass produce it, but you're probably right. A small, slow electric motor is what's really needed. For absolute control, you can't beat a good stepper motor. But we don't really need that precision for this application. Any suggestions on where I might find an appropriate motor?

 

[sstephen]

This is just a quick update for anyone else who is interested in this type of project. Williams Pumps Ltd. in Britain makes a good, inexpensive pump head that would be perfect for a project like this. The spec sheet can be found at http://www.williamsonpumps.co.uk/100PDF.pdf. They sell them for about $10 each, although I'm not sure how much shipping to the US might add to that price. A similar product from a local supplier would be better.

Also, I'm reconsidering the use of a stepper motor taken from an old floppy drive for this project. Stepper motors are more expensive and complicated, but the ones found in an old floppy drive already come with everything needed in a fairly compact form. Check out http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~ih/doc/stepper/ for info on how to use these motors for all kinds of inexpensive automation projects.

 

[dattack]

Hey Stephen,
have you tried ebay? I bought a few nice peristaltic pumps (Cole-Palmer) for under $40.

 

[sstephen]

I have checked eBay, but I didn't notice a very big selection of pumps there. Most of them seemed to be going for around $100 or more. But I was looking at building one myself mainly for the fun of it. I still think it can be done cheaper (although $40 isn't bad). OZ REEF has a link to a pretty good source for electronic components, http://www.allcorp.com/. What I really want to do is build a central control system that can control multiple pumps similar to the LiterMeter III.

 

[csf]

The hour hand of a clock goes around twice a day. Use something based on a clock motor.

 

[mehdirah]

Hello,

I just see that you found pumps far cheaper than the "cheap" one I bought... So, I cannot hemp for that.

For the controller, I can recomment the MK111 kit from velleman (www.velleman.be) which can give an on period from 0.5 to 5 s and a pause time up to 30 s. I used it sucessfully on two aquariums now (see my post from 24 july) and it costs 7.5 euro.

 

[sstephen]

Thanks for the link to Velleman. They seem to be a good source for all sorts of components.

 

[smaug]

You could also use a servo motor with the pot mod, big in robotics. a servo with enough torque would set you back 20 buck then a simple controller.

 

[BRose]

You might look at Surplus Sales. They usually carry several permanent magnet motors that you can vary the speed with voltage as well as geared, low rpm motor units that might serve your needs.

Surplus Sales - Omaha, Nebraska
For more information send e-mail to: [email protected] or call (402) 346-4750 • fax (402) 346-2939 1502 Jones Street • Omaha, NE 68102 © 2003 Surplus Sales
Description: One of the largest selections of new and used Electronic Parts in the country, at your fingertips.
http://www.surplussales.com/