DaveB
03-07-2014, 09:40 AM
Does anyone use solar to charge a 12v battery for use with a sap puller/diaphragm pump? I'm trying to weigh the costs of different vacuum options in a section of my woods that currently does not have vacuum. I could go with a traditional vacuum pump/realeaser combination along with a series of sap ladders or I could go with a pair of ShurFlo 2088 12v diaphragm pumps (http://www.shurflo.com/files/RV-Product-Data-Sheets/Classic-Series-Pumps/Classic%20Pump%20-%20pds-2088-422-144_444_.pdf). One pump would be used to create the vacuum and the other would be used to return the sap to the sugar house as discussed in this thread (http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?22567-Transferring-sap-uphill).
If I understand the chart in the pump data sheet, it looks like there would be about a constant 4 amp draw for the pump creating the vacuum and a periodic 4 amp draw for about 5-10 minutes while the pump returns sap back to the sugar house. Does that mean that if the vacuum pump ran for 16 hours it would be drawing 64 amp hours from the battery? I'm thinking that the pump battery would run for a total of about an hour a day for an additional 4 amp draw each day.
Given that, what size solar panel would I need to re-charge the battery each day or are my assumptions incorrect?
If I understand the chart in the pump data sheet, it looks like there would be about a constant 4 amp draw for the pump creating the vacuum and a periodic 4 amp draw for about 5-10 minutes while the pump returns sap back to the sugar house. Does that mean that if the vacuum pump ran for 16 hours it would be drawing 64 amp hours from the battery? I'm thinking that the pump battery would run for a total of about an hour a day for an additional 4 amp draw each day.
Given that, what size solar panel would I need to re-charge the battery each day or are my assumptions incorrect?