[Rob@Blast off]

Used mine for the first time today, well impressed with it
didn't go for a volt meter as i wanted to keep it simple like me
Should save me alot of water as i used to control the flow from the tap but ever time i was moving the tap was dragging on the floor and increasing the flow.Just need to find an easier way to turn the water on and on instead of looking round for the tap.
might try cable tying the tap to the bottom of the pole.

[Tom White]

Used mine for the first time today, well impressed with it
didn't go for a volt meter as i wanted to keep it simple like me
Should save me alot of water as i used to control the flow from the tap but ever time i was moving the tap was dragging on the floor and increasing the flow.Just need to find an easier way to turn the water on and on instead of looking round for the tap.
might try cable tying the tap to the bottom of the pole.

Spot on, Rob, glad you like it.

As for a tap, I use my pole hose externally, and I use the kind of pole hose you can easily bend and it turns off the water straight away.

There's loads of advantages to using external pole hose:

1.  It's easier to extend or contract the pole (you can rest the butt on your foot too).
2.  You don't get dirt inside the pole.
3.  You can easily remove the brush head (I sometimes - if there's a lot of ground floor work - swap the brush head onto a short aluminium pole - it's just easier).
4.  And the BIGGIE - when you want to stop your flow, you just nip a handy piece of pole hose.

I've tried taps and aquadapters, but I find this the best method.

Job jobbed.

[koopmaster]

I bought one fully made on ebay for £40.  kicking myself now....!!""!!""

and its didnt work and I now suspect its because I need to calebrate it...

bugger I nearly threw it away cause it would not work. 

[Tom White]

and its didnt work and I now suspect its because I need to calebrate it...

You will need to wire up your pump's pressure switch (if it's not already done); it's this that needs calibrating.

If you need more info, give me a shout.

[Rob@Blast off]

You no what i've never try'd the hose on the outside and im always standing/tripping over the hose around my feet, i'll give it a whirl on monday.

I tried adjusting my pressure switch but it didn't seem to make much difference so just left if 

[CleanClear]

Tosh, i'm just about to order a voltmeter for mine. Did you get a two wire one or a three wire one ? Either way could you say how you wired yours up ?

[Tom White]

Tosh, i'm just about to order a voltmeter for mine. Did you get a two wire one or a three wire one ? Either way could you say how you wired yours up ?

It was two wire, and it was dead easy to solder to the switch. 

1.  The negative to the negative post (which will be the same one the negative from the power supply goes to).

2.  The positive to the positive post; the one that takes the power to the circuit board - not the post that the positive power lead goes to.

If you wire the positive to the other post, the one from the battery, your voltage regulator will just stay on, all of the time, even when the controller is switched off.

It's simple; though you may have to just look at it for a while.

[CleanClear]

Tosh, i'm just about to order a voltmeter for mine. Did you get a two wire one or a three wire one ? Either way could you say how you wired yours up ?

It was two wire, and it was dead easy to solder to the switch. 

1.  The negative to the negative post (which will be the same one the negative from the power supply goes to).

2.  The positive to the positive post; the one that takes the power to the circuit board - not the post that the positive power lead goes to.

If you wire the positive to the other post, the one from the battery, your voltage regulator will just stay on, all of the time, even when the controller is switched off.

It's simple; though you may have to just look at it for a while.

Ok got that. There's some three wire ones advertised. I'll steer clear and get the two wire. Voltmeter essential for me as i'm lazy and hate charging them untill i have to. So that'll give me the heads up when it needs charging. I carry a spare battery too. Cheers.

[jk999]

Tosh any chance of a  pic off the wiring off the volt meter , and also the red and black wire that goes outside the box are they going to pump or battery

[Tom White]

Tosh any chance of a  pic off the wiring off the volt meter , and also the red and black wire that goes outside the box are they going to pump or battery

Will do, mate; tomorrow.

[Spruce]

(I think) you'd get the same reading mate
The controller you've made controls the volts to adjust the flow so (again, i think) the draw from the battery would vary, and so the output would be the same as the input...

So that screen you have put in the controller should show the varying voltage differences without the need for another voltmetre...
(I'm assuming in the pic, your battery is on charge?)

(Spruce or ian sheppard may be able to tell you for definite!)


It looks good mate, you've done a good job
I was going to do one of these myself after your post, but i managed to get a varistream for £25, but definitley one for the future!

Yes you will. You are exactly right Don.

The controller Tosh has put in is a PWM controller (Pulse Width Modulator.)

It will send pulses of your current battery voltage to the motor. (Pulses = on and then off.) The slower you run your motor the longer the off section of the pulse.

Flat out     = on -----------------------------------------------------

Not so fast = on --- off --- on --- off --- on.

Slow         = on -- off ------------ on -- off ------------ on.

(Hope that makes sense).  

The guage will be on if you 'splice' or join it between your switch and modulator. It will be off when you switch the pump off as Tosh says.

If you 'splice' it after your modulator the display will flicker when the pump is running, but I wouldn't know if your eye would see it or not as those pulses are very quick.

[Tom White]

Tosh any chance of a  pic off the wiring off the volt meter , and also the red and black wire that goes outside the box are they going to pump or battery

Here you go.  I think it looks a bit confusing, but it's pretty straightforward.  The meter wires are the thinner ones bottom right of the picture as you see it.  You see the black one goes to the post on the far right (with the other negatives) and the red one goes to the middle post. 

The red wire on the far left is power in post (from the battery) and if you attached it to this one, the meter would be on all the time, even when the pump was switched off.



It's a bit of a bodge job, 'cos that's the kind of person I am, I'm afraid. 

I can think of a few improvements for my next one though.

[Tom White]

Oh, it's installed and works just like it should; no problems at all.

[jk999]

Cheers for that tosh  think ive got it now 

[CleanClear]

I was waiting on the voltmeters for mine. They came this morning. Just knocked one up.



I'll wire them up later and test them at the weekend. Well, i'll be making them up as complete spare pump boards.

[Tom White]

Hey, that looks nearly as good as the one I made! 

[CleanClear]

Hey, that looks nearly as good as the one I made! 

 

[PoleKing]

Is it just a flow regulator or a split charger too?
What did it cost you to make one?

[CleanClear]

Is it just a flow regulator or a split charger too?
What did it cost you to make one?

Mine cost me £37 for two. The volt meters where almost £4 each. Whats that, £18.50 for each controller? I never fitted a split charger, although i did look at the ones someone linked to back in this thread, they look good.

[PoleKing]

Nice work