fbpx

Technical Assistant

01
Pipeline Design
Pipeline design and selection – incorrect pipeline design can lead to unacceptable
02
Check Valve
Pump check valve requirements – very important for long pipelines
03
Solar Array
Incorrect Solar Array Orientation – face array North and elevate about 25 °C
04
Dirty Solar Panels
Keep solar panels clean – solar panels do get dirty, especially during winter months
05
Single Phase Motor Wiring
Incorrect single phase motor wiring leads to motor and/or control box damage
06
Borehole Motor Information
Helpful motor specifications and information
07
Cable Sizing Guide
Selecting the correct cable for a borehole installation is important
08
Troubleshooting Apricus-Aqua
Controllers are fully automated. For unexpected operation, consult troubleshooting guide

1 Incorrect Pipe Selection

The inner diameter of the piping used is of utmost importance. Similarly, the pressure capacity, determined by the duty required of the selected pipe is determined by wall thickness and also plays a very important role. Advise offered here should serve as a guide only and is based on using HDPE piping. The table below is an example of selecting the correct pipe diameter for acceptable performance and reasonable cost.

Select pipe size to allow for no more than 10% head loss, compared to total pipe line length. Also bear in mind that HDPE pipe is classified according to nominal outer diameter – OD, while the inner diameter of any pipe line determines the friction loss as a function of flow rate and not the OD. Pay attention to the flow rate units – it can be confusing.

incorrect-pipe-selection

2 Importance Of Correct Check Valve Choices

In order to ensure maximum system reliability and water delivery in any borehole pumping system, check valves must be installed in the drop pipe. The first check valve should be installed at the pump. Check the pump manual. Lower flow (less than 4000 litres/ hour) pumps normally have a built in check valve in the pump discharge. Additional check valves should be installed every (50m) of vertical pipe after the pump. (See the pump owner’s manual for additional information.).

3 Incorrect Solar Array Orientation

The solar array should face due north in the southern hemisphere (not magnetic/- compass north) and be elevated from the horizontal by the same degrees as the latitude of the site location. The graph below shows the effect of being off the optimum setting. Ideally the solar array should always be perpendicular to the incident sun. This is not practical and therefore average settings are used for fixed array installations. A good rule of thumb is to not exceed midday ± an hour and be more than 15 degrees from the correct elevation above the horizontal.

incorrect-solar-array-graph

4 Keep Solar Panels Clean

Pollution, dust, leaves and even bird droppings contribute to preventing sunlight from reaching the solar cells in your solar panels. The more dirt – the lower the amount of electricity it will produce. While many factors affect how much electricity solar panels will produce – dirty solar panels can be one of the worst, and easiest to fix. Experts agree that dirty solar panels don’t produce as much power as clean panels. That loss may range from 5% to as high as 25% in some areas according to the USA National Renewable Energy laboratory (NREL). Individual dealers have reported losses as high as 30% for some customers who failed to ever clean their panels. Staining of solar panels caused by ferrous oxide rich water may cause permanent damage to the surface, thereby reducing panel output permanently. Avoid spraying or dripping borehole water on solar panels.

5 Single Phase Motor Wiring Identification

It is important to make sure that the windings of a single phase motor, requiring an external START/RUN are identified correctly. Incorrect wiring will cause permanent damage to the motor. Follow the 3 steps in the tables below to avoid motor damage.

single-phase-motor-wiring-table
  • • Incorrect cable selection may damage equipment.

    • When selecting the motor drop cable diameter make sure that the correct cable size is selected. Cable that is too thin will result in incorrect or no operation.

    • Cable should be four core, making provision for three phases and Earth/Ground for three phase motors and Common, Main, Run and Earth/Ground for single phase motors.

    • Cable splice under water must be water tight. Any leakage to earth will result in damage or nonoperation.

    • Tighten screws of connector with 1.5 N-m torque • Ensure that the wire ends are stripped clean to avoid bad connections by clamping down on insulation material rather than copper conductor.

    • Avoid frayed wire ends when inserting copper into terminals.

6 Borehole Motor Information

apricus-aqua-borehole-information-table
  • • Incorrect cable selection may damage equipment.

    • When selecting the motor drop cable diameter make sure that the correct cable size is selected. Cable that is too thin will result in incorrect or no operation.

    • Cable should be four core, making provision for three phases and Earth/Ground for three phase motors and Common, Main, Run and Earth/Ground for single phase motors.

    • Cable splice under water must be water tight. Any leakage to earth will result in damage or nonoperation.

    • Tighten screws of connector with 1.5 N-m torque • Ensure that the wire ends are stripped clean to avoid bad connections by clamping down on insulation material rather than copper conductor.

    • Avoid frayed wire ends when inserting copper into terminals.

7 Selecting Correct Cable For Borehole Installation

borehole-cable-sizing-guide

8 Fault Codes And Troubleshooting

The APRICUS-Aqua® Drive will attempt to operate the pump to deliver water even under adverse or low sunlight conditions. To ensure years of reliable service, it must also protect the system components from conditions that might result in equipment damage. When adverse conditions arise, the controller will continue to deliver as much water as possible at a reduced output if necessary, and will shut down only in extreme cases. Full operation will resume automatically whenever abnormal conditions subside. Error conditions may suspend certain features, reduce output, or shut down operation of the system for varying amounts of time depending on the nature and severity of the error. Problems that merely reduce features or performance generally restore full operation when the trouble condition subsides without stopping the pump or flashing an error code. An error code is displayed by the mnemonics on the APRICUS-Aqua® Drive If the drive stopped to indicate a fault condition, the associated time-out delay will vary depending on the nature of the fault.

Normal Operation

normal-operation

Troubleshooting

Scroll to Top