Perfecting The Ram Pump And Then Abandoning It

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[jayham]

Let me give you some advice that I found by accident. Years ago, I was hand digging a well for garden use. I got down to around 7 feet, it came a strong rain storm, and it filled my well with rain water. I needed to drain my hole in order to start digging again, I hooked up a pump, lost power, and the siphon kept on happening…with a hole that was 7’ deep and an over all fall that was 4’ (with a 3’ differential that most people would think a siphon would be impossible. If the amount of water that you want to siphon (when the downhill is less than the uphill, as long as you can create more downhill weight in water, you can siphon water uphill. You could probably take a transit, zigzag your pipe down to the pond, and as long as all of that zig-zagged pipe is going down hill, you can create suction. The more water weight that you can create going downhill, the more suction that you will create at the spring source. The more suction that you create at the spring source, the more water that you will have coming out at your pond. I hypothesize that if you were able to use a transit, have all of your pipe going down hill, and increase the length of your downhill pipe by twice, you could increase the amount of water that you are siphoning by twice the amount. Maybe ten or more gallons per minute. I, though have been able to siphon water uphill.

[winsurfer]

Have you considered putting a Schraeder valve on the top of the cylinder? A quick blast of air and reopen the inlet valve. No need to disassemble. Might be worth a try.

[heavydutie]

Lol. My rule of thumb has become hurry up and do it wrong so you can get on to doing it right. Thank you for the knowledge brother. Strong work.

[LandtoHouse]

Thank you for the shout out! Your pump looks nice. Only change would be to move the unions in between the ball valves to keep the poly pipe full while you work.

A siphon will be great to fill your pond! Remember a basic shopvac can pull the siphon over the hill.

[johnwayne]

Great to see someone who knows what he doesn't know and admits it. That's a definite strength in man. We can all learn from eachother. Thanks for the video.

[steenfraosterbro]

Adam it is pretty clear you're pumped about this project. I'll just let myself out.

[mikewatson]

Getting your siphon started with that long of a pipe can be a challenge. Best way I have found is to pump water from the outlet to fill the entire line. Have the inlet submurged. When air bubbles stop coming out the inlet, the line is full of water, disconnect the pump at the outlet and gravity will take over.

Congratulations on the 100K subscibers.

I really enjoy your channel because you are always trying something new and different, not just the same thing over and over. Also, you aren't afraid to show the things that don't work out as hoped and how you go about learning to do it a differnt way.

Good job!!

[kevinlee]

Not a waste of time at all. As you said, you learned about the ram pump and so did many of us. Keep up the good work.

[Adam.Rushing]

Just found you....Awesome name by the way! Subbed :)
I appreciate the Ram Pump Videos. I know you're going away from it, but if you decide to come back to them (or for anyone else reading this), here's a couple of thoughts...

First: Under normal operation, the pressure tank doesn't suddenly get water logged and stop working. It is a slow, incremental process that, over time, causes the pump to stop working. What happens is basically with every cycle, the pump is becoming less and less efficient, pumping less and less volume, until eventually it just can't overcome the head and just stops.

Draining it on a regular basis, instead of waiting for it to quit pumping, will keep the pump moving the most fluid it can. This can be done weekly or whatever schedule works for one's personal setup...With a setup like yours, where it can go for several months before stopping, then monthly service should work. I would suggest measuring it weekly to find out the best maintenance cycle. You can use any bucket you wish, if you have a scale. Water weighs approx 8.33 lbs (3780 grams) per gal.

Second: Installing a bladder in the pressure tank will prevent this. These can be built (YT videos or google it) into the pressure tank you design, or you can go to your local well driller and purchase a small one from him...odds are, if he's been in business for any length of time, he has a used one someone upgraded from, or an old one from a past project that was too small. You can adjust the air pressure on it to what your system needs. These stay upright a lot easier and are pretty weather resistant...so long as they're drained every year, you can't really hurt them.

Third: Not sure where you live, but if you get snow, your ground freezes. If your ground freezes and thaws, the gravel in a driveway will move around, and the more moisture there is in the ground, the more it will move during those cycles. It also moves around as it is driven on. These movements will cause the rocks/sand to apply friction to the water line. I would HIGHLY suggest running your water line through a piece of ABS, or at least PVC, where it goes under the drive way.

Fourth and Final: Siphoning will flow more, and more consistently, so certainly do that if you can. But since it flows more, it can drain the creek much quicker too, and it didn't look like you had a ton of water in that one. If possible, I would suggest digging out a pool at least 3-4' deep in that creek so you can have a little bit of a buffer as the water's flow rate through the creek ebbs and gains.

Thank you again, and God Bless!

[OneEyeCustoms]

I still like that ram pump stuff! Now on to more learning with a siphon! Let the games begin.

[ronaldcamp]

40-50 years or more in some cases and all different areas. It is smart to take advantage of that knowledge.

[rickcoona]

Ram pumps are a great way to fill tanks to water gardens with!
Ram pumps are another piece of "forgotten" tech that was around before electricity and they can work day in, day out 24/7/365.

[cfrankfly]

Drone elevation check, Awesome!
I was thinking use a long tube for water level check.
You method uses less tube lol

[NomadTomas]

Great video, thank you for it. For those who wonder about the waterlog - there is definitely something you can do to avoid that. The water in pressure tank builds up based on how high you want the water delivered. The higher the delivery point, the higher pressure it needs. And that means more water in pressure tank (=more pressured air). However, if the water level rises over time, it only means the pressure tank is not air tight and you've got a tiny leak. So what can you do about it? Use proper pressure tank (1 piece metal) instead of PVC tube with cup glued together. No leaks, no waterlog.

[leveraction]

hey I'm 60 years old never even heard of one I appreciate both videos but, but I do understand plumbing real well and when you made the first one I said ought to put unions in there to be able to disconnect it a lot easier and I also would have put a drain for that head pressure cuz I built a lot of pumps of different kinds back in my younger days

[edwardsullivan]

Honest dude about his skill level and learning. Admirable.

[rishabhnatholia]

Not a waste at all. You learned new stuff and me also. I learned a lot stuff watching your YouTube channel from last 3 years. I do a lot of my house stuff by my own. Got a lot electric tools.

[danielneeley]

All of the experience and education you learn can be used to help someone else besides yourself, so I got to learn how to make a ram pump even if you didn't need it.😊

[Pat]

I like the trick of getting an elevation with the drone. That’s a good idea! I would’ve never thought of that lol

[geraldchaplin]

great idea on the siphon just watch that you don't pull more water than the creek can supply