Hi all -

I'm looking for a recommendation of an inexpensive hand pump for collecting WVO out of outside containers... Twice now I found myself in a situation where I could get some oil but have no way of reaching it - it's way down there beyond my reach... tonight was yet another opportunity I had to walk away from - I struggle to get oil so it hurts.

Was thinking about a simple rotary pump - like the one from HF - will this thing last more than just a couple of trips?!

Don't want an expensive gas-powered trash pump... can't afford one right now.

James

I've pumped many a barrel with a hand cranked rotary barrel pump. I bought mine at Tractor Supply for cheap. Works great!

For well under $100 you should be able to build yourself a 12/24V powered Pump that will do better than 20 gal a min and is about as quiet as a hand pump, only a heck of a lot faster and more convinent to use. I haven't tested the Lift height but being a gear pump I would think you could pull oil from underground tanks if you had to and with the output pressure being over 100PSI, You could pump it awfully high as well.



I have been using mine almost 18 months now and pumped well over 20,000L with it with no problem. I am yet to find a better/ faster pump for oil collection at even 5 times the price.

quote:

Originally posted by DCS:
For well under $100 you should be able to build yourself a 12/24V powered Pump ...

DCS - well, I have a motor like that already, where could I get a gear pump like that?!

James

quote:

where could I get a gear pump like that?!

I dont know where you live but in Canada Princess Auto has cheap brass gear pumps and the love joy couplers.
I would suggest looking for a cheap vacuum pump and making a sucker tank as eventually that is likely what you will want anyways.
Jon

That's great, DCS. Simple, inexpensive, and effective - nice!

quote:

Originally posted by RAMSKI:

quote:

Originally posted by DCS:
For well under $100 you should be able to build yourself a 12/24V powered Pump ...

DCS - well, I have a motor like that already, where could I get a gear pump like that?!

James

That is a Small Block Chev Oil pump, M55. I believe they are available in the US from most autoparts stores for $25 or so.
You need to modify it by cutting holes in the sides of the housing ( Start with a large drill then open them out with a rotarty file, very easy on the soft cast) then just weld on the elbows. Cut off the " ear" mounting and fill the pickup and return ports with weld or epoxy glue and that is it. Cheap, easy and a ripper pump on oil.

Some people use the existing ports but this makes them way slower than they are capable of for our purposes and I prefer to Mod them this way to get maximum flow rate from them. I have picked up warm oil with mine and got a fraction under 100l/ min from it.

I prefer these pumps to Vac suckers as I can pump from oil barrels into cubies in the back of my merc and don't need a trailer (Or ute) or to load heavy tanks in and out of the vehicle. I can also use the pump to transfer oil around at home. A friend and I go out about once a month and put a 1100L IBC in the back of his ute and use the same pump to fill it.
Unlike a sucker, If you are being careful of the oil you pick up and get a gulp of air, you don't instantly loose a lot of capacity or pickup speed.

I have found these pumps to be very fast on oil as well as being very compact, quiet, portable, cheap and need nothing more than a battery either from the vehicle or separately to power them.

There are other gear pumps around but the ones I have tried all seem to have a lot more drag than the Chev pumps which makes driving them with the scooter motors quite difficult. They also tend to be much more expensive.

Can you post a pic of the motor nameplate so we can get the specs?

I too would like some info on that motor. I've been using a 1/2'' drill to run mine for the last year.

The motors are available on Ebay for around $30.00 (search for "scooter motor"), they are used on electric sidewalk scooters. They are available rated at 250 watts (1/3 HP) or 350 watts (just under 1/2 hp), these ratings are for MAX power under continuous operation, turning my flash evaporator feed pump only takes around 75 watts (12 volts X 6 amps). These are really stout little motors about the size of a slightly flattened softball. They are powered with 24 volts through a solid state pulse width modulated speed control on the scooters (make nice pump speed controls also), when powering these with 12 volts they should last about forever and turn about 1600 to 1700 RPM under load, powering them with 24 volts gets you around 3200 rpm (12 volts works nice for this pump, 24 volts works the motor harder and from what I have read only moves maybe half again more oil), on 12 volts they hardly get warm even under heavy loads, on 24 volts they will get HOT over time. These have heavy duty sealed ball bearings and 4 oversized brushes. The only problem I have had with only one of these (I uses several) is that the 4 internal permanent field magnets are held in place using there magnetic attraction to the case plus a bit of glue, I had to re-glue one magnet.

DCS - How do you have the pump mounted to the base plate, There are no mounting points built into the pump that would allow it to be bolted to the plate. I intend to replace the original cast iron cover plate (contains the pressure regulator) with a flat steel plate extended well past one side of the pump to allow mounting.

The nameplate is a sticker which has long since had the ink dissolved by oil and gunk but as Timsays, they are known as " Scooter Motors" and are not hard to find on Flea Babe or through electronics disposal type stores.

The ones I use now are 300W and work fine. Mine are rated at 2750 RPM @24V.
They come up to 1 HP although in a different shape and they are either 72 or 48V for the larger sizes. There were some 500W versions in 24V and 36V versions for sale here recently. Here is a link to a local place that has them with info.
The same place also has 500 and 750W versions.

I run mine at either 24 or 12V and find the same as Tim describes. At 12V they barely raise a sweat and do I guess about 65% of flow as they do on 24V. I have pumped full IBC's with mine in one go at 12V after which it was getting pretty hot and needed a rest to cool down.

As Tim says, they are very Rugged motors and also have Massive Torque for their size.

I'd actually been looking at that site, but it seems the right motor is out of stock. The 750 watt motor is only 450 RPM

Thanks guys... I see a couple good potentials. I'm very curious how this compares to my existing 1/2'' drill. HF claims it's over 2,000RPM (don't remember the exact). It's worked well (a little loud), but i've always questioned the speed rating.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim c cook:

DCS - How do you have the pump mounted to the base plate, There are no mounting points built into the pump that would allow it to be bolted to the plate. I intend to replace the original cast iron cover plate (contains the pressure regulator) with a flat steel plate extended well past one side of the pump to allow mounting.

I simply welded the pump to the Piece of steel tube on the main housing so the cover plate can be taken off. I was also thinking of making another cover plate but decided that was too much trouble when blocking off the bypass and original port was easy enough to do. Welding the cast isn't real hard but Put a good hot puddle on it and don't be light with the Mig wire.

I used a small blob of weld I ground flat as a spacer to get the pump the right height for the motor ( The alignment is the hardest part of the entire job) and oce I worked that out just filled in the gap between the steel and the pump housing.

I went to a LOT of trouble to get a precise alignment of the pump and motor and when I finally got it, discovered it was a mistake. The pump howled like mad and after discovering I had been too light with the weld and it tore off during pumping, I noticed it went a lot quieter when it was OUT of alignment. I guess it must be the thrust of the motor pulls the gears too hard together if they are properly aligned where offsetting them some what made the pump drag much less when loaded and a heap quieter. The misalignment seems well within the couplings margins and has caused no problems.

I also welded the motor in place on its footings so I won't have any problems with anything moving or Vibrating loose. I love sticking things together with Metal! It stays stuck!
I can always cut or break the weld If I have to but I see no reason this would be necessary for a very long time.

The Coupling is good as new and the pump works maybe better now that everything has bedded in so the permanent weld solution was a good one.

Most diesel cars and trucks have an engine driven vacuum pump for brakes and such. A super sucker tank, a check valve and some hose is all that's needed for a quick and dirty super sucker.

My step-brother collects WVO with a water heater tank, and vacuum from the A/C compressor on his VW bus.