THE HYDRAULIC RAM PUMP: PERPETUAL MOTION FOR THE HOMESTEAD

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As I've already suggested, the same system could just as easily be used to solve more sophisticated problems pertaining to the delivery of drinking water or to the supply of storage tanks, irrigation networks, dairy barn needs or livestock troughs. The higher and further water must be pumped, of course, the larger the ram required. All the same, we feel that the hydraulic ram offers a homesteader the most pollution-free and least expensive method of getting water from Point X to Point Y next to hauling it by hand in buckets ... and it's a helluva lot easier. Happy swimming and fishing!

HOW THE RAM WORKS

DON MARIER (Reprinted from Alternative Sources of Energy No. 1, July 1971.)

Adiagram of a typical ram is shown in Figure 1. Here's how it works: Water rushes down the drive pipe and escapes out the waste valve until enough pressure is built up to close that outlet. (The amount of this pressure increases with the "fall" or vertical distance from the source to the ram.)

The shutting of the waste valve forces water through the check valve and into the air chamber. The rushing liquid compresses the air enclosed in the compartment so that it ushes back like a piston. This action closes the check valve And forces water up the delivery pipe to a storage tank.

When the check valve closes, the water in the drive pipe rebounds for a moment and creates a partial vacuum that allows the waste valve to drop open again. The excess fluid which was not pushed up the delivery pipe thus flows out of the opening. At the same time, the vacuum draws a small amount of air into the ram through the air valve or "snifter" just below the air chamber. This gas—which is needed to replace the enclosed air because some is mixed with the water during each cycle—will be forced into the compartment when the incoming stream starts flowing down the drive pipe again. A small amount of water is lost through the air valve during each stroke of the pump, but the leakage is minute and serves to keep the opening clean.

The cycle just described is repeated about 25 to 100 times per minute ... the exact rate depends on how much tension is put on the waste valve spring by adjustment of the screws. The slower the ram works, the more water it will pump. The ideal setting is for the minimum number of strokes per minute at which the pump will still operate. I had to rework the waste valve spring on my ram a couple of times until it lined up properly and had the correct tension; otherwise, the pressure failed to build properly and the machine wouldn't work.

How much water the ram will pump can be calculated from the following formula:

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