Reddit reviews Decdeal Submersible Water Pump DC 12V 5W Ultra-quiet Pump for Pond, Aquarium, 280L/H Lift 300cm

I wrote this for an infrastructure question a few days ago:

Methods for managing your cooler.

• have a decent, well insulated cooler and keep it in the shade.
  
• have a couple of lidded containers that are wide and flat that can float on top of the ice and water in your cooler. Put your leftovers and open packages in these.
  
• have everything else in the cooler be in completely water tight containers that can be fully immersed in water (ie vacuum sealed or with water tight lids). Let the melt water completely cover everything that isn't floating on top.
  
  In this manner there are no warm spots and you are keeping things colder than you would a normal refrigerator (ie right at the edge of being able to freeze but not quite) and food lasts longer (milk and meat stay fresh for two weeks or more with no problems if kept like this).
  
  When adding ice, drain only enough water that you can add your ice. Since you've taken the effort to keep everything well sealed this water is clean and can be used for showering, evap cooling, misting, etc.
  
  
  To make your life easier, when transferring water, don't try to use the cooler's drain. Use a small fountain pump (and tubing). Depending on your electric systems at your camp, you can get 5V fountain pumps that plug into a USB port, 12V pumps that will run off of 12V battery systems or 120V pumps that will run off a generator. This in and of itself was a huge deal for me and saved me from making muddy messes in my camp.

You're may be paying many times more sourcing "locally" if you can't wait until chinese new year is over next month. On amazon anything that is 'prime' should be warehoused stateside


Search for water solenoid example
Compatible diameter tube for above example
and any relay board example.

Moisture sensors are literality just wires shoved into the soil. But beware of electrolyses degrading the metal, you can used galvanized nails or even pencil lead (carbon rods) instead

You shouldn't need a pump unless using a reservoir, but just in case 12V water pump example--note this has a bigger diameter hose connector you may be able to just shove a 1/4" inside and glue around for seal but look around at the different search results for matching hose diameters all around or possible legit adaptors


And don't forget the 12V power adaptor capable of powerint all that. ~2+A should be fine example

Sure! For starters I spent months researching eplaya and elsewhere on the web. There are some companies that sell turn-key systems, like Goal Zero, that seem crazy over-priced. I told myself I would’t charge anything to my CC and I’m pretty good at figuring shit out, so I wanted to take a cheaper route. I wanted avoid soldering a bunch of Chinese stuff together if I could. Once I figured out what I needed, I had to look for components…

Panel - I looked at everything from 5 watt panels for fountain pumps to big ass 100 watt panels. I am flying from the East Coast so I needed something portable. I was thinking I need 20 watts to be comfortable, so I looked for 30+ watt folding panels. A cherry-on-top feature would be both AC and DC power. I committed to a DC cooler system but it would be nice to charge phones and power banks too. If I am going to spend some cash, I don't want a single purpose device. I came across SunKingdom early on but the panels were mad expensive. Almost like Goal Zero expensive. Then one day out of the blue this guy popped up on sale! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MTAFEJ6/ref=s9_hps_bw_g107_i4

I got it for $79! Very happy with it so far. I’ve used it several times already.

Charge Controller - This was pretty simple. I found one that could handle the load, was easy to use AND had two USB outs for good measure. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018ICLC3K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I must confess I don’t know how to “use” it. I plugged it in and it does what I need it to do for now. It has some really shitty instructions (none) so I hope I don’t need to figure out how to do something else with it.

Battery - I am going to buy a 100+ ah battery in Reno but I needed something to test with. I found this 12 v 12 ah battery on sale at Radio Shack for like $12. She told me it was for a discontinued Verizon cable box.

Bucket - I have a few Home Depot buckets around the house as a matter of course. I cut two rows the first time and decided I’d rather have one row of squared off holes instead of two rows of round holes. This way I get a lot of airflow and maximize the water holding capabilities of the bucket. I can probably fit another .75 gallons in my bucket with one row of holes.

Padding in the bucket - Went with FIGJAM’s suggestion for $22. It comes with two in case you fuck one up. Cut to FIGJAM’s spec and adjust as needed but give yourself an extra inch in all measures and fine tune from there. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UTNFPW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pump - I was told 60 gallons per hour (GPH) was good enough so I bought this for $10: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JWJIC0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

At first I didn’t think it was powerful enough but I had a dead ass battery. After I charged it up, this little guy acted like a freshman going to prom with the homecoming queen. It squirts quite well. I bought 2 more as back up.

Tubes - I bought some tubbing at Home Depot and experimented. It’s took a few rounds of $5 tubes to figure out the spacing of the holes. I heated up a nail on my stove to poke holes in the tubes. Ended up with nice, clean holes.

Fan - VERY IMPORTANT PART - IF YOU CAN’T MOVE AIR, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS My smaller 4 person tent does’t need much so I thought a 150 cubic foot per minute (CFM) fan would be fine. I wasn’t crazy about the horsepower of my first fan that was $8: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099TTAIG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So I ordered a 200 CFM fan for $18: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054S92FW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Again, I charged the battery and got MUCH better performance from the 150. However the 200 makes me feel like I ate a York Peppermint Patty so I am using it and taking the 150 as back up.

Connectors

• All “raw” cables get connected via these $5.55 things that are very easy to hook up. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015OCV5XO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  My pump and fan need to go to one line so I got this for $4.38: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Q8IKRE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  The “watch this” moment comes by the way of this $6 switch: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G6GNREI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  I think that is everything. Now I need to figure out how to get a big ass battery from Reno to the Playa on Saturday, pre-gate. I can probably use my camps local asset or ask someone driving in.
  

I use this little guy for my ATO.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JWJIC0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Nice and cheap plus low draw, should work well for your need.

Thanks! I'm using [one of these DC timers] (http://www.altronics.com.au/p/s0049-8-program-12v-dc-alternate-digital-timer/) temporarily, with a plan to replace it with a raspberry PI and a python program to control the pump and a light if I add one.

And this is the little magnetic submersible pump I used.

I left the original water dispenser spigot in place to make water cycling easier.

OMG excellent tips. Thank you so much. I really feel a lot more comfortable about my ability for success on this project with your tips. I do have a few questions.

1. I ordered two pumps (1 as theoretical back up arriving from China sometime between August 17 and Sept 2). Both seem comparable from a L/Hr standpoint they used but presumably too weak per your rec. Since you are speaking from experience I may return the solar powered one since I realize a battery will be necessary and get the one you suggested..and it will be too weak.
   http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-powered-fountain-pump-66093.html and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JWJIC0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   Have you used the one you recommended in a similar cooler? Or just did a quick Amazon search? Do you think the 170GPH would be the best option? Or would the 60GPH or 140GPH be sufficient?
   
   

2. Thanks for confirming.
   
   
3. Makes sense. Did you use any specific sealer on the section above the fan?
   
   
4. Makes sense.
   
   Originally I was thinking of calculating out the amps of fan/pump and hoping it lasts for the week. Then recharging with the battery with my car if there was a miscalculation. What are your thoughts on this? Think i should just get a panel to top it off on a regular basis?
   Any recommendations on a panel or battery? I've read quite a few posts/blogs with recommendations but curious about what you think.

Mostly the day hours, at night it should be breezy enough : thanks btw!The pump https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JWJIC0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cool device. Here's an idea for a mod that would automate it. Find yourself an inexpensive PC Heat Exchanger, some tubing, an inexpensive DC Pump and a 12v STC-1000.

You could pump cold water (or colder glycol) from your kegerator through the heat exchanger and back. Couple of fans hooked to the STC-1000 (along with the pump) to regulate and control the temperature. If you pumped the glycol from a regular freezer, you could probably get the temperature inside the unit low enough for serving temperature.

Yeah that was my first thought but I'd rather conserve space if possible, [here] (https://www.amazon.com/Docooler-Ultra-quiet-DC12V-Brushless-Submersible/dp/B00JWJIC0K/ref=pd_nav_hcs_bia_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YSKNJPEGXGP15Q1N1XJM) is the pump I am using and here is the light. Do you have a converter in mind I could look into?

Pump is a cheap, dc submersible water cooling pump similar to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JWJIC0K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Se6KAb4CR4W6H

And yep, STC1000 with sensor in thermowell switching the pump on and off, but I’ve also used an inkbird and it worked fine as well.