I ordered a cable to connect a series of batteries so I could run my pumps at night. On two occasions the wrong wiring was sent, so at this time I still do not have this wiring and have given up. Additionally, the downloadable instructions have not been updated with the products purchased and so had to view YouTube videos and call support a several occasions. Overall, I am pleased with the operation of the solar-powered aerator in my pond.("+" and "-" battery-to-battery and battery-to-controller jumpers included in every purchase) This what I thought i was ordering but never received. RPS AIR400 Solar Aerator is the product I purchased.
Got the RPS 400 to air rate my 1/4 acre pond.not only was it easy to assemble it was truly plug and play.
The install was very easy with the turnkey package. Instructions very simple. I bought the pump to help keep a pond full and figured it wouldn’t keep it full but would help maintain it till rains helped. As it turned out I had to slow the pump down so the pond wouldn’t fill too much.
We purchased our RPS pump way back in February and we have finally had warm enough weather to do the installation. I’ve attached a few photos of our system and here are a few notes:
- The biggest part of this project was pulling the existing 90' + 2" steel drop pipe from the well. Heavy and needed to be cut into 7' sections to get it out from under the windmill tower.
- It is only about 40' from our existing solar array which has a nominal output of ~35 volts so that part went well.
- We installed a check valve above the pump and drilled a weep hole about 3' below the seal.
- Above the seal we installed a stainless gate valve for watering our nearby garden, and a SS union between that and the poly pipe that goes to our 1200 gallon storage tank. The house water supply from the tank is by gravity, a 25' drop in about 400'.
- We re-used the old Monitor hand/windmill pump as a solid base for the controller box.
- Also in that box is a DIY meter that shows how much water is in the tank.
The installation, from removing the old system to water flowing into the tank took us a little over a week. The whole process went smoothly and was actually a series of fun days in the sun.
The system is working great. We have a flow rate of just under 4 GPM and the controller and sensors are functioning as they should. It will take us a while to get used to not having to manage the windmill - it served us well for nearly 50 years. We built the tower and installed the windmill new in 1978. When I turned 80 last summer I decided that we needed to be looking for a way to continue getting lots of fresh water without my having to climb that 60' tower to service the windmill. I’ll probably still climb up there but only when I feel like it, not to fix something. Your pump system has made that possible.
