Description
Use this pump if you know you need some serious pressure. Head height divided by 10 gives you roughly the pressure in bar, so 30m is about 3 bar, or 43 PSI. FloraFlex drippers want 25 to 35, so you would run this behind a pressure regulator rather than straight into the ring.
One thing to know before you buy it for a dripper system. Clarke's own manual says this pump is for clean or slightly dirty water and not for corrosive liquids, and it is oil filled. Nutrient solution is mildly corrosive and it sits in your reservoir. Plenty of people run one anyway and get years out of it, but it is outside what the manufacturer signed up to, and if the seal ever goes you have oil in the tank. For a dedicated feed pump we would point you at the Aquaking Q800103 instead, which is the same 3 bar, built for the job and cheaper to replace. This one earns its place for reservoir transfers, emptying tanks, flood clean-ups and anywhere you want a lot of head from a proper induction motor.
Float switch. Tape it to the top of the pump if you don't want it cutting out as the tank drops. People do this to get closer to the bottom of the reservoir. You are then relying on yourself to not run it dry, so do that at your own risk.
Fittings:
- 25mm - nothing needed, the pipe goes straight over the included adaptor
- 16mm - get this aqua king coupling
- FloraFlex 16/17mm pipework - you need this floraflex coupling
For the latter two you may need to chop the barbed nozzle off the adaptor that comes with the pump. That is normal, it is how they are designed.
Be aware that tapering a pump down in size puts pressure on the impeller. Do it and don't expect the pump to last forever. Imagine restricting the opening of a leaf blower, the motor is not going to like it.
- Max flow rate 91 l/min
- Max head (lift height) 30m
- 800W, 230V induction motor with overload protection
- 1 ¼" BSP threaded pump outlet
- Integral carry handle for easy transport
Sizing a pump for drippers? The number that catches people out is the DNL in most whip kits, which needs 0.8 bar to open. An 8m head pump makes 0.78, so it gives you no water at all rather than just less of it. We wrote the whole thing up in what pump for FloraFlex drippers, and the free FloraFlex drip system builder picks the pump, the right whip kit and the right flush arrangement from your room size and plant count.
