2 Pack DC12V Mini Submersible Water Pump for Aquarium, Pond, Fountains

I bought two of these (so I would have a spare) for a garden water feature that I refurbished. That pump ran off AC and I wanted to power it with a solar panel so I could move it out into a flower bed away from the house without running a long extension cord. I am using a 10 watt solar panel (a spare from another project) that puts out about 20 volts/.5 amp when it is in full sun. Wasn't sure these pumps would run at 20 volts so I also bought an inexpensive step down transformer to drop the voltage to 12 volts. (If you want one of those, it's available here, search for DROK DC-DC Stabilizer). This little pump works just fine in this application. As you can see in the video it's pushing the water up at least 3 feet. When I took this video it was early morning and the sun angle was low for the panel to get full exposure so the water flow looks weak but when the panel is in full sun the water really gushes out. One caution, these are not self priming pumps and if you attempt to run them dry they will fry themselves in an instant. I accidentally did this with one pump so I installed an inline switch to make double sure the pump was in water when I connected the panel. I've had this pump in the fountain for about a month now and it's been very reliable! UPDATE: August 2024 The pump worked for about 4 months and then just quit. No complaints, really, for the money I spent (averages out to about $1.50/month lol). I have purchased a more expensive pump ($35) that I hope will be more durable.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: Cost. You get what you pay for. Just about all other products in this category were rated 4 stars, with low proportion 5 star top end. Mine stopped working after a couple hours. Took advice of another reviewer. Checked in the propeller chamber and found something jammed in there. After removing debris the motor ran fine.

Conclusion: Great pump, but has its limitations. As long as air pockets are not introduced into the pump, then it will work quietly and perform. Pros: - Quiet - Continuous, regular flow - Mountable - Sturdy Cons (reasons I deducted 1 star): - Unit is unable to "suck" water. Pump itself must hold water already for water to flow. (Small air bubbles do not affect performance.) - Due to above con, the pump makes a large whirring noise when it's on but water is not flowing (pump is unable to get water to flow if pump holds an air pocket) I've had to manually suck water through the input/output so that water gets to the pump, and only then the pump starts working. The pump is only 1in above my reservoir, and I'm only pumping regular water.

Excellent

The pump in my water feature finally went out. I love my water feature...it's so relaxing, so when it went out I jumped on Amazon of course and chose this. Great purchase. My water feature is working again, but even better now, and I purchased a 2 pack so I'll have a backup. Works great.

Instructions don't mention that it requires priming. Tested in a bowl of water, worked great. Tempted to use with 2 inch length tube on inlet and 12 inch tube at outlet. By the time I realized I had to prime it (maybe 20 seconds) of it running dry it was dead.

When it does not start, noise, suction and log ivory are the least of my worries.

I’ve been using one of these pumps to circulate water in a ~1 gal desktop fish tank. The pump is located in a reservoir on the floor about 3ft below the fish tank and pumps water up to the fish tank. The water fills the tank and excess water from the fish tank back down to the bottom reservoir through a homemade overflow siphon..and it just cycles like that. So I can have a unique display tank with all the equipment in the bottom reservoir. I use a water level pressure sensor in the overflow coupled with an arduino and an h-bridge dc motor driver on these pumps to keep the water flowing at just the right rate for my setup...as the water level in the overflow increases, the pump slows down and vice-versa. It runs at ~1.5 liters per minute. This pump has been running like that for 6 months or so. I’ve done my best to keep the water filtered but have not been able to keep all the trash out of them, so far no problems at all. Once it got a little noisy, but I cleaned it and it quietened down.

Works fine. Will order again, if needed.