I have a Pressure Pump Ballast System with a surprisingly strong gear water pump that rapidly fills and empties my ballast tank.
It is so strong that in a test filling a soda bottle with water, it blew the lid right off.
I do not use a valve. As a safety mechanism, I allow the built-up pressure in the ballast tank to force out the water passively. So yes, my sub stays submerged for only as long as I run the pump.
When I actively operate the pump to blow the ballast tank, the pump will pump all the water out and then start pumping the air out! The problem that this creates indirectly is that once I stop operating the pump, the vacuum created sucks water back into the ballast tank and we don't want that. The only way I have to tell that I should stop operating the pump is either when the sub emerges or when I see bubbles of air indicating that a vacuum is being created.
How can I detect full and empty in order to stop the pump? I've read some things referring to probes in the ballast tank but what are they? Where can you find them? How do you make them? Is there a better way?
Even if I switch to a peristaltic pump I would still need to detect when the tank was full or empty.
I would very much appreciate any help or advice in solving this problem.
It is so strong that in a test filling a soda bottle with water, it blew the lid right off.
I do not use a valve. As a safety mechanism, I allow the built-up pressure in the ballast tank to force out the water passively. So yes, my sub stays submerged for only as long as I run the pump.
When I actively operate the pump to blow the ballast tank, the pump will pump all the water out and then start pumping the air out! The problem that this creates indirectly is that once I stop operating the pump, the vacuum created sucks water back into the ballast tank and we don't want that. The only way I have to tell that I should stop operating the pump is either when the sub emerges or when I see bubbles of air indicating that a vacuum is being created.
How can I detect full and empty in order to stop the pump? I've read some things referring to probes in the ballast tank but what are they? Where can you find them? How do you make them? Is there a better way?
Even if I switch to a peristaltic pump I would still need to detect when the tank was full or empty.
I would very much appreciate any help or advice in solving this problem.
Comment