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Thread: Pump speed controllers....
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09-07-2020, 02:58 PM #1
Pump speed controllers....
Has anyone tried to install an electrical controller on a pump to see if they can vary the speed of a normal 1speed pump?
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09-07-2020, 05:57 PM #2
You'd have to be careful as some controllers use different voltages and types of voltage. Some use 12 volts not 240 volts and some may use DC volts and not AC volts. So you'd need to make sure your pump will work off the same supply the controller is giving out. Also the electrics in the pump may have to be compatible with being controlled. As in if you put an LED light bulb on a dimmer switch, it has to be a dimmable LED light bulb and some will only work properly off an LED compatible dimmer switch. Same principle applies to motors or pumps I think you might find?
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09-07-2020, 09:52 PM #3
not sure that would work with an aquaforte pump,
though 240V (i think) the connecton between the pump and controller is 4 cable iirc...?
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10-07-2020, 12:26 PM #4
I looked into this for my AC bioforce 6000 pump and for air pumps (most are AC mains phase).
A brushed one speed motor then it gets complex. If it's a brushless motor then you need to know if it's AC mains phased or DC multi-phased.
You want a variable frequency power supply rather than varying the amplitude. There's back-emf and other issues caused by varying amplitude.
Most of the new variable pump controllers use DC Phase, typically 24V and a variable frequency supply (power comes in - is converted to DC then multiple phases are run as a sine wave, providing the multi-core output to the pump. The pump brushless motor then follows the phasing. The controller varies the rate of movement of the phases.
The nice thing is the motor starts one way - there's no startup clatter as there's no impeller slip needed as with AC one phase.
For diaphragm air pumps the same varying can be done as they're just AC phase driven linear motors.14000l, my mutts: Chargoi (2010), Doitsu (2022), Tancho (2022), Kujaku (2022), Hi Utusri (2022)
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