Your intrepid reporter/inventor, CancunTom, has just published a "how to" article on how to free yourself from the task of lugging home those half melted, heavy bags of ice, you use to chill out your drinks. Click here: http://www.cancuntom.com/?p=1162 :urgh:
Looks good Tom, but don't you have to drill holes in each new water jug (garrafon) when you change it out for a new one? That done, I guess you just lose the deposit you'd normally get for an empty jug. OK, so purified water costs a little more. One more question: Since your pump is from an R/V, I assume it runs on 12 volts. What did you use to convert it with? (From 120 to 12 volts) And where did you find the pump? What was its original function, in order to have an automatic pressure sensor? Water tank in the R/V?
Automatic Ice System Windknot, The water bottles are inverted into the holder so I just remove the cap and tip it over into the dispenser, nothing to drill or prevent getting the deposit back. The RV pumps come both in 12V and 115V types. I used the 115V model so no conversion was needed, just plugged it into the outlet. I bought it at an RV dealer in Florida and a friend brought it in his carry on. In some RV's they plug into 115V in campgrounds so this model is available for that reason. Then you don't have to run it's power through an inverter/converter like you would if it were 12V. In a water tank system I would use a float control to turn the pump on and off. Since this is a miniature system this was just the most simple way to do it. The accumulator is just a pvc pipe with a cap on one end and threaded adaptor and a hose fitting on the other end. I thought about doing it with gravity but didn't think I could get enough head pressure to make it work and also I didn't want to lift a big bottle of water up off the floor. Getting too lazy for that nonsense! The little Shurflo pump puts out 45 P.S.I. and 3.3GPM max. If you go back over to my blog I added some additional photographs of the pump name and spec plate plus others.
Flo-Jet makes a system just for this purpose. It has a tube with a check valve that that goes into the jug. There is a hose attached going to the sealed pump unit, about 6x6x3. The outlet uses push on connectors and I think 1/4 inch tube. I paid about $125 for one in the US. I hooked it to a separate small faucet on the sink and to the refrig. ice maker and water dispenser. Works great and you don't have to be a plumber.
This seems like a really neat solution for folks not as handy as CancunTom. http://www.flojet.com/products/beverage/bottled_water_dispensing_system_bw_series/iid_131/index.htm One bottle http://www.flojet.com/products/beve...sing_system_copy_bw_series/iid_4781/index.htm Two bottle The units are available in Mexico: LANCER DE MEXICO,SA DE CV AV.BALCONES ANAHUAC#346-A PAR IND.STIVA BARRRAGAN SAN NICOLAS LOS GARZA N.L Mexico Tel: 81 885 0600 Fax: 81 8332 5410 and SETA REFACCIONES LEANDRO MARTINEZ 1604 COLONIA FABRILES Monterrey Mexico Tel: 01800-832 6002 Fax: 01800-832 6002 Email: refacciones@setarefacciones.com.mx Web Site: http://www.setarefacciones.com.mx We went the hard way with industrial strength filtration for the ice water dispenser and the ice maker. While we also have a garrafon, you cannot distinguish by taste or clarity between the Electro-Pura we buy and the filtered water from the house supply. The downside is a 750 peso external filter and a 300 peso internal filter every 8 months or so. We keep a calendar to remind us about the external filter and the built-in filter that came with the fridge and we change both at the same time.
