What kind of tubing do you use for the mini water pump? Based on a user comment, I bought 1/4" ID vinyl tubing--which works on the intake. But the outflow only has a small rubber nub which will fit, but not hold the 1/4" tubing. It appears that 1/8" OD tubing will fit inside the rubber--but where can I buy something that small w/o having to buy 500' online?
bmz-
Without addressing your plans, since I don't know them, I suggest a good, well-stocked hardware store. They usually sell many varieties of plastic tubing by the foot. Or, you can often find what you want at a pet store with a strong aquarium department. Some of those only sell pre-packaged tubing but in fairly small lengths.
-- D
You might find windshield washer hose the right size in an auto parts store.
Or at the hardware store, you might find weed eater fuel hose in the small size you need.
You should be able to buy either priced by the foot.
Les
Thanks guys--good suggestions. I'm hoping to power a mountain stream that flows through my model ( God willing--and my waterproofing works).
Boo Bachmann! No leaks, hookup worked; but the pump doesn't have the power to lift water up the 22" to the top of my stream. There was nothing in Bachmann 's literature to suggest that the pump was that whimpy--ripoff.
BMZ
I think the mini water pump is probable used for small fountains. Keep in mind that your 22" in the 1:1 world would be 159.5'. That would take a huge pump :D. Try a tile wet saw pump. you can get one at Home Depot or other big box store. You can control the flow by crimping the tubing with a clamp. Some come with a flow control.
Kevin
Bought this--should work (29"head): http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410HTcPUEQL._SS500_.jpg
I highly recommend that you not leave the water standing when you're not actually using the pump. Standing water can raise the humidity in the room, leading to little green stuff growing in unfortunate places. John Allen originally intended to use real water on the Gorre and Daphited. After a short time, he abandoned the idea for that reason.
If it is just humidity, I'm not too concerned; there will be less than 1/2 sq.ft. of permanent water surface in a 16,000 cu.ft. room. Were there other issues? (leaking is my greatest issue--so far so good).
You could run a small dehumidifier in the room , I suspect that they were not available at reasonable cost when John Allen was building his layout , and there are of course anti-bacterial solutions for water . Use some for my room humidifier . John II.
bmz-
Leaking is always an issue, especially when most of the materials we use aren't inherently waterproof. However, a bigger one may be the life of your pump. I assume from the small size of your exposed water surface that the total volume of water is also fairly limited. Unless you have an automatic water feed, which I suspect is not the case, your water could evaporate in a short time, leaving your pump trying to pump air.
-- D
If you happen to live in an area with an arid or semi-arid climate, you might be able to purchase a water pump for an evaporative cooler (swamp cooler) at a low price. These 110volt pumps would have plenty of power to lift your water.
Swamp coolers go through a lot of parts, and hardware stores in desert areas carry all the parts needed for rebuilding them. None of these parts are very expensive.
Les
A company called "Little Giant" makes a variety of pumps and has a lot of parts etc. Give them a shout, as they can surely lift a column of water 22 inches.
RICH
Well...I got everything working: pump, tubing, stream, and pond; but my pond appears to be leaking(it wasn't when I first ran the system). I applied this generously over a week ago: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CEMU3I/ref=oh_o05_s00_i00_details . What did I do wrong?
Well... What I did wrong was applying only a single coat (even if generously) of waterproofing epoxy. When I double coated the stream beds and triple coated the lake beds, the leaking stopped. Now everything works perfectly--and impressively, if I must say so myself--definitely worth the effort.