Rope pumps are an incredibly easy and cost effective way of raising water to the surface. The main hindrance is the valves that go on the rope. the previous versions were made from tire sidewalls and metal washers or small scale injection molded pieces that produce a part of with many complicated tools and a large energy consumption. This open scad design fixes this dilemma. It was designed for 1 inch PVC pipe because the pipe is 38 cents per foot and is freely available and water safe will keeping power required to the the pump low enough to be operated by hand.
Bill of Materials[edit | edit source]
Utility blades can be ordered in bulk for little cost. TEKTON supplies 100 utility blades for $9.26. This is available here
The STL file for the part and openSCAD file can be found here:
Tools needed[edit | edit source]
- MOST Delta RepRap or similar RepRap 3-D printer
- Nylon rope 100lbs tensile strength or greater or other suitable plastic rope. Avoid twine and loose ropes the disperse fibers into water.
Skills and knowledge needed[edit | edit source]
- MY4777/MY5777/EE4777/EE5777: Open-source 3-D printing.
- OpenSCAD
- Slic3r
Technical Specifications and Assembly Instructions[edit | edit source]
- The part takes about 5 minutes to print.
- Once printed simply thread rope through valves at 6 to 12 inch spacing.
- Thread rope through pipe and submerge end of pipe 18 inches into water making sure that their is clearance beneath the end of the pipe to allow the rope to travel freely through the water without pulling up debris.
- Pull rope up out of pipe to pump water to surface. Repeat as needed.
Common Problems and Solutions[edit | edit source]
- none to be found at this time.
Cost savings[edit | edit source]
- No commercial equivalent but each valve costs less that a penny.