# Mechanical solar thermal water pump



## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

Many *many* years ago I saw plans for a water pump which which used the heat from the sun and freon. IIRC, it used the freon in a sealed cylinder or cylinders like a hydraulic cylinder as opposed to a see-saw using the weight of the moving freon.

Anyone here ever seen/heard/read about such a thing?

Also anyone know what kind of working pressures you'd be dealing with using the new refrigerant?


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Wally Minto's Wonder Wheel?

WWW


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

wy_white_wolf said:


> Wally Minto's Wonder Wheel?
> 
> WWW


No that uses the weight of the freon to make the wheel turn. What I remember was a see-saw action, think of an old fashion railroad handcar.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

It would be using a variation of a sterling cycle, I suspect. Ericsson played around with the idea, but used air instead of refrigerant.

Unless freon or other expensive refrigerant is in a COMPLETELY enclosed system, there will be seals that fail and almost guaranteed disaster. Once you understand the limitations of any and all carnot cycle engines, a lot of the mysticism of magic fluids gets stripped away. Phase change doesn't change the underlying physics. It is just a way of storing or releasing energy that allows a smaller engine.

You might also be thinking of the "drinking bird" cycle, which is incredibly weak as an engine.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

watcher said:


> No that uses the weight of the freon to make the wheel turn. What I remember was a see-saw action, think of an old fashion railroad handcar.


 A Minto's Wheel uses Freon. In the example I posted they use solar hot water to evaporate the Freon out of the balls on the bottom and it condenses on the top one making them heavier and turning the wheel until they are on the bottom. Same can be done with shading 1/2 the wheel. You can do it in a rocking fashion by having them on a seasaw and the heavier one dropping in the hot water or out of the shade. WWW


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

wy_white_wolf said:


> A Minto's Wheel uses Freon. In the example I posted they use solar hot water to evaporate the Freon out of the balls on the bottom and it condenses on the top one making them heavier and turning the wheel until they are on the bottom. Same can be done with shading 1/2 the wheel. You can do it in a rocking fashion by having them on a seasaw and the heavier one dropping in the hot water or out of the shade. WWW


I know that and have looked into them but that's not how this worked. It had cylinders connected to a rod much like hydraulic cylinders. When the sun heated one side the gas expanded and the other side contracted using the working pressure of the gas to move the cylinders. I'm thinking using the pressure would give much more 'power' to lift water. After all one pound of condensed gas can only lift, in a prefect system, one pound of water.


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

I remember the same 'Walking Beam' deal,
The part I remember was it being debunked.
And that was MANY years ago, like OPEC oil embargo old,
'73 or '74.

It resurfaced again when gas hit $5, some place in Canada was selling plans for it and a Hydrogen generator that also didnt work...

After spending perfectly good money on a windmill that wouldn't pull water from a deep well,
I went solar electrical and a common electric pump...
Virtually maintinance free, and reasonably priced.


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