I have heard solar on a rocking piston pump is a problem. The frequent starting and stopping is not something this type of pump is designed for and the capacitors burn up. Your experience?
John...thank you for this question. It is a really good thing to bring up. I do believe and often state that a rocking piston pump is best run full time. That's just been a general observation over the years, but I have no hard data to back that up. As in how much of a difference is there in various operation times? This comment is usually in reference to folks who have power available, yet still want to run them part time. And generally speaking, I want to run full time whenever I am able. Direct drive solar is a concession that doesn't make this possible, but at least provides the option to aerate a pond for most of the 24 hour period in the summer. I would say the other concession is that with this daily intermittent operation, the seals on the piston could wear down more quickly. This is not to say it would lead to premature changes or problems but I think it's reasonable to say that you might get more time between rebuilds with a full time operation. In the end, the rocking piston pump still provides the best option for solar aerators when dealing with depths greater than say, 8' (a linear could be used in less than that) and maintaining good performance over a long period of time with proper maintenance. Specifically I have not had any issues with the capacitors...really on any of our systems. The few that have occurred involved our standard AC aerators. The direct drive solar line we have now doesn't use a starting capacitor so no issue there. My statement has always been in regard to the cold starting affect on the piston seals. Does it lead to an earlier wear down and replacement? The best answer I have for that is maybe...but that doesn't override the benefits you get out of this type of pump for aeration purposes. Thanks again for this great question!
@@johnbeccaccio9341 Hi John...the pumps here are very efficient. I do suggest people consider the two panel set up if they live in the north or get a lot of overcast days and such....the southern US or Southwest does fine with one panel. I'm unfortunately under the weather today so kind of starting the weekend early, but reach out to me at mark at klmsolutions.com anytime. Let me know the pond's size and depths as well and we can see what would work in it.
I have heard solar on a rocking piston pump is a problem. The frequent starting and stopping is not something this type of pump is designed for and the capacitors burn up. Your experience?
John...thank you for this question. It is a really good thing to bring up. I do believe and often state that a rocking piston pump is best run full time. That's just been a general observation over the years, but I have no hard data to back that up. As in how much of a difference is there in various operation times? This comment is usually in reference to folks who have power available, yet still want to run them part time. And generally speaking, I want to run full time whenever I am able. Direct drive solar is a concession that doesn't make this possible, but at least provides the option to aerate a pond for most of the 24 hour period in the summer. I would say the other concession is that with this daily intermittent operation, the seals on the piston could wear down more quickly. This is not to say it would lead to premature changes or problems but I think it's reasonable to say that you might get more time between rebuilds with a full time operation. In the end, the rocking piston pump still provides the best option for solar aerators when dealing with depths greater than say, 8' (a linear could be used in less than that) and maintaining good performance over a long period of time with proper maintenance. Specifically I have not had any issues with the capacitors...really on any of our systems. The few that have occurred involved our standard AC aerators. The direct drive solar line we have now doesn't use a starting capacitor so no issue there. My statement has always been in regard to the cold starting affect on the piston seals. Does it lead to an earlier wear down and replacement? The best answer I have for that is maybe...but that doesn't override the benefits you get out of this type of pump for aeration purposes. Thanks again for this great question!
@@klmponds How in the world can you start that pump with only 300 watt solar panel? Can I call you and put a custom system together?
@@johnbeccaccio9341 Hi John...the pumps here are very efficient. I do suggest people consider the two panel set up if they live in the north or get a lot of overcast days and such....the southern US or Southwest does fine with one panel. I'm unfortunately under the weather today so kind of starting the weekend early, but reach out to me at mark at klmsolutions.com anytime. Let me know the pond's size and depths as well and we can see what would work in it.