Roller pumps

poking around reasearching pumps just now - and i was wondering if anyone had tried or thought of using roller pumps?

it seems that they would be more expensive than your standard fishtank pump for sure, but allso may in some cases provide better performance than just a pump with a hard impeller.

this one can be run dry, and allso has some pretty wicked pressure/suction.

http://www.tatpumps.com/Pages/110.html

note that its a pretty substantial piece of hardware, and might be better suited for multible box setups/farms with a central cooling loop.
allso more info here (vendor) : http://www.zycon.com/Pumps/Peristaltic_Pumps.html
and here (animation) : http://www.animatedsoftware.com/pumpglos/peristal.htm
these of any use to the watercooling world?

looks interesting, but the only way to really find out is to try it.
how much do they cost? from a quick look I didn't see a price anywhere.

As I can see the pump has quite high pressure, but for the flow I dont know how many liters is a galon but I think that is really high flow rate. But on the downsize this is industrial product so it is probably not cheap and I think that nobody will give 500+$ for a pump.

Dang, thats a cool pump, I've never seen them built like that, but my guess is that if it's too high of a pressure clamps would come undone and stuff, I say go for it though.

orionlion82 said:

poking around reasearching pumps just now - and i was wondering if anyone had tried or thought of using roller pumps?

it seems that they would be more expensive than your standard fishtank pump for sure, but allso may in some cases provide better performance than just a pump with a hard impeller.

this one can be run dry, and allso has some pretty wicked pressure/suction.

Click to expand...

I have done some poking around in the same direction, and was looking in this area: http://www.clarksol.com/html/prodspecsK12Pump.htm

14 lpm is about = to 3.6 gpm.

If you can live with an AC powered pump and the joys of setting it up so it will start with the PC, the only drawback would be relative short tubing life.

See more on that here:
http://www.clarksol.com/html/tubing.htm
and here: http://www.tygon.com/Data/Element/N...asp?ele_ch_id=L0000000000000003899#TubingLife

For certain types of tubing, it claims a 1000 hour lifespan when the pump head is turning at 600rpm, with 10psi back pressure. (Longer, with lower back pressure.) This pump, however produces 14lpm @ 140 rpm. All pressure will be determined by the other loop components because this is a positive displacement pump. One would have to replace the 1" or so section where the rollers hit every 6 months or so, assuming they even run the PC 24/7.

For some reason, I remember these being around $200. I can't find where I saw this right now.

i would imagine that type of pump being a little loud as low rpm as compared to a traditional propeler.

That, and i wouldn't want to get a bad batch of tubing and having the shearing accelerated by the pinching action.


i'm sure there's a reason they aren't as popular.

My first thought is, reliability? How long can your average tubing stand getting squeezed like that before breaking? In the medical field I can see the tubing being single use. But in a PC watercooling rig you don't want to be changing your entire tubing, or any part of it, daily.

something else i wonder about now that ive had a look at it
- noise-
i would bet that you might find a quiet one of this type somewhere, but with so many moving parts - as it ages, it would rattle, squeak and buzz - i would put money on it.
considering all the dust we have out here (it gets into everything) that it might get loud and wear out after a few years.

Eh, I probably wouldn't go with one of these, it'd be pretty rough on the tubing, maybe abusive actually. Also, wouldn't it have sort of a spaztic flow pattern, like bursts of water, not a constant flow like other pumps? Because that would be annoying with a resevior or something.

Bad Maniac said:

My first thought is, reliability? How long can your average tubing stand getting squeezed like that before breaking? In the medical field I can see the tubing being single use. But in a PC watercooling rig you don't want to be changing your entire tubing, or any part of it, daily.

Click to expand...

Already answered.

orionlion82 said:

something else i wonder about now that ive had a look at it
- noise-
i would bet that you might find a quiet one of this type somewhere, but with so many moving parts - as it ages, it would rattle, squeak and buzz - i would put money on it.
considering all the dust we have out here (it gets into everything) that it might get loud and wear out after a few years.

Click to expand...

I never even considered dust. Good point, man. I wouldn't be too suprised if dust accumulation on silicone tubing would accelerate tubing failure. These pumps are designed for clean environments, and I doubt there are many of us who can keep the inside of their cases as dust-free as a hospital ward.

My uncle actually uses one of these for an indoor pond/fountain, and it works well, since it needs to push the water up 20 feet. The one he has is more industrial than the ones posted, but it's built with the same technology. It is loud, but it's buried under 2 feet of rock, so it doesn't really matter. The tubing he has with it is I *think* a heavy rubber, but like I said, the pump is more industrial, so it was probably made for a really heavy tubing. This kind of pump doesn't seem to really make sense for a single computer (mounting the tubing would be near impossible), but as was stated before, for a folding-farm etc. etc. it might work well.

Arca_ex said:

wouldn't it have sort of a spaztic flow pattern, like bursts of water, not a constant flow like other pumps?

Click to expand...

Not if the pump is operating properly. The second roller makes contact before the first one leaves the tubing.

Also, if tubing strength was a worry, theres no reason you couldn't use a run of a higher strength tubing through the device and couple either end with your preferred tubing. I think if this pump could be used at all in a wc, the power of it would over come any resistance the fittings would add.

Dice said:

Already answered.

Click to expand...

Eh, no it wasn't.
It stated 1000hours, but that's with purpose made tubing that'll most likely cost more than the rest of a W/C rig put together times a zillion. My question is how long would it last with regular tubing that most of us use like clearflex, masterkleer or regular non-zillion dollar tygon?

Bad Maniac said:

Eh, no it wasn't.
It stated 1000hours, but that's with purpose made tubing that'll most likely cost more than the rest of a W/C rig put together times a zillion. My question is how long would it last with regular tubing that most of us use like clearflex, masterkleer or regular non-zillion dollar tygon?

Click to expand...

There are no figures for clearflex or masterkleer as far as I can find. The "Non-zillion dollar tygon" (R-3603) seems to not be designed for the abuse a peristaltic pump can give to tubing and therefore has quite shameful tubing life in that application. Clearflex and masterkleer, being generally believed to be substandard to Tygon, would most likely prove to be as inadequate as tygon, if not worse. I wouldn't recommend it as the tubing "in the pump". Also, I doubt the home depot stuff would fare any better, if price is that big of an issue.

I don't honestly know what a zillion is, but in the link I already provided, repeated here for you, it shows how long some different tubings are estimated to last under certain conditions. Pharmed BPT(R) tubing is rated at 1000+ hours at 600 RPMs with under 10PSI back pressure. Pharmed BPT can be had at SmallParts.com for under $5 a foot. If you visualize how this setup would work, with couplings and such like citronym pointed put, you'd need only a foot or so for the first half year, considering you would be running the pump I linked to and had it at its highest output setting (read 140 RPMs). That equates to about $23 before shipping for a 5" length of 3/8 id-$36 for 1/2' ID 5". Hardly a high price when compared to vidcards, cpus, memory, mobos and other hardware that this 5" length would outlast in the normal upgrade cycle of 18 months.


As a complete side note, it's good to see that the new spellchecker doesn't suggest "ignoramus" as the first correction to "www.ocforums.com"