Simple, Inline Hosepipe Pump?

[Schmill]

I've tried searching for this and can't find it anywhere, but surely something must exist?

Basically all I want is a small electric pump that will sit inline on my hosepipe. At the moment I have a gravel vac with it's pipe, on the end of there I have a hoselock type connector to connect it to my hose which then runs through the house and out into the garden.
The problem is, even though I have cut the hose as short as possible, and the water level in my tank is a good 5ft above the drainage point, the lenth of hose means that the flow rate is quite low. Not trickling, but bearly enough to make the gravel vac 'sift' the gravel effectively.
I realise this is due to the losses in the hose length, and want to overcome this with a simple pump, but I can't seem to find anything.
I can find loads of waterbutt pumps, but they are of the submersible type, and I obviously don't want to be submersing it in my tank!

Anyone know where I can get one, or an alternative idea?

I had been hoping to be able to syphon the water from my tank into a waterbutt in the garden, but with the flowrate so low just syphoning out onto the ground I think with the lift back up into the waterbutt I'll be lucky to get any flow at all...

 

[Rooster]

Try removing the connectors... even at a mile long, a drop will produce the same syphon rate... my drop is around 3 feet, and it sucks up gravel, sand, fish and plants with little effort !

Failing that, I have seen drill powered pumps in the pound shops.... I wouldnt pay much more as they will probably soon clog ! But I would look for an alternative... you cant beat a plain pipe !

 

[Schmill]

Interesting, I must admit I did have this thought myself... not so much about the connectors, but about the gravel vac. It's one that has a one way valve in the top so you basically wiggle the whole contraption in the water to start the syphon effect, rather than sucking the pipe etc. However I'm wondering if it's the valve assembly that is slowing down the flow... I'll have to try it just to a bucket I think. When I tried it to a bucket before I used my 'other' vac, which has the same diameter pipe, but doesn't have this valve
I'll give it another check over and see what I get, if not I guess I'll be trauling for a pump

 

[limerickbandit]

rather than sucking the pipe

rather than sucking the pipe put the full gravel hover under the water including the hose, cover the end of the hose with your finger, take the hose out of the tank and take off your finger, instant siphon

LB

 

[Tolak]

http/www.jehmco.com/html/water_pumps___powerheads.html

Scroll down for inline pumps. I wouldn't go too big, you will remove gravel, if not more.

 

[Rooster]

Ive tried a few of these "helpful" gadgets in the past, and always returned to the good old pipe ! In fact, the pipe I use is a 2m length of clear 1/2" I pulled off a gravel vac, the big bit hasnt been seen for years

I use a pair of hoses... the one off the gravel vac with 15" or so of rigid tube (from LFS) so I can guide it in the tanks... Then I have a 3-4foot bit of old hose pipe, with a tap connector to get water into a bucket... by a happy accident, the rigid pipe on the tank hose fits into the tap hose, so I simply fill the tank hose with tap water to start the syphon, no more sucking !

 

[Schmill]

rather than sucking the pipe

rather than sucking the pipe put the full gravel hover under the water including the hose, cover the end of the hose with your finger, take the hose out of the tank and take off your finger, instant siphon

LB

This is how I used to do it when I used a syphon and buckets on my 60L tank, but now I'm doing my 300L tank I thought it would be easier to drain straight to a waterbutt outside, rather than sloshing buckets through the enitre house, problem is it means there is now a good 40-50ft of hose between the tank and the 'exit' point; a bit too much to coil up in the tank and fill using that method - lol. I think it's this length thats reducing the flow rate.

 

[Schmill]

Just incase anyone is interested, I decided to use the gravel-vac / syphon in question to do my 60 litre tank at the weekend. Flowing into a bucket the flowrate is fine, and nice and speedy, making the gravelvac work the way it's supposed to, so it must be the length of the 'waste' hose that is making it so slow. As i'd eventually like to be putting my waste water into a waterbutt, that means that the 'low end' of the syphon won't be as low as it is at the moment, so a pump seems the only way to go

 

[Eclecticoldsod]

The science [as I understand it] says that if your outlet is five feet below your inlet, you will get a very good gravity flow, no matter how long the tube is – as long as the whole tube is full of water at all times...
The rate of flow will depend on the the diameter of the tube you are using: the bigger the internal diameter of the tube, the better the flow rate will be. You do not have to go mad over this – a 3/4 inch tube will suck like a gay rent boy on a Saturday night – believe me!
Do not vary the diameter of the tubing at ANY point – the flow must remain consistent from start to finish. No hoselock-type connectors constricting the flow, no air pockets forming in the tubing, and no massive gravel-excluding plastic inlet at the 'suck' end – just use one the same size as the tube end to exclude the fish and gravel that might become stuck in the tube, and dig it deep into your substrate...