Introduction: Pocket-sized Water Pump

In day-to-day situations, available water is often contaminated, unhealthy, or even poisonous. Therefore, it is often necessary to transport potable water from lower levels to higher levels where it can be used. A water pump is often a viable option for transporting water and requires less manual work than using your hands or a bucket. In this project, I decided to create a pocket-sized water pump in the event that you need to transport water. The motor may be small, but give it enough time and it can relocate a large amount of water. Not to mention, it's pretty cool redirecting the flow of the water and shooting it into the air.

This project is pretty cheap and requires materials that you can easily find around the house or in your school.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Parts:

Tools:

  • Soldering Iron
  • Solder
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Scissors
  • Wire
  • Hammer
  • Screw Driver

Step 2: Bottle Cap Design

For the first part of this project, you will need to take one of your medium sized bottle caps and create a hole in the center of the cap (you can use the soldering iron or a drill). The hole should be about the size of one of your plastic pens, but you can go back and make adjustments to the hole later. Create a hole of the exact size on the side of the same bottle cap. Next, take your other medium sized bottle cap and create a hole in the center. This hole should be slightly larger so that it can rest on the base of your mini DC motor and not rotate (pic) when the motor is on. Place double-sided tape onto the bottom of the cap and attach it to the top of the motor.

Next, take your hot glue gun stick and attach it to the axile of the DC motor. This part will require some force to keep the stick on the axile and you make sure that it is placed in the center of the stick.

At this point, you should have a bottle cap taped to the top of the motor and a hot glue gun stick placed on the DC motor axile. The other bottle cap (with two holes) should be off to the side. You can then trim down the hot glue gun stick

Step 3: Propeller Design

Next, you are going to take the milk carton cap and the plastic ring. Cut out the sides of the milk cap so that it is flat and not curved on the sides. After, create a hole in the center of the milk cap using a soldering iron or drill. The hole should be the size of the glue gun stick and should easily slide into it.

Take the plastic wrapping of the milk carton and a knife. Start cutting the plastic wrapping into smaller pieces; they should extend from the center of the milk cap to the outer edge. Create four of these pieces and glue gun them down around the cap using the hot glue gun.

Once you are finished with gluing, slide the entire cap onto the hot glue gun stick. At this point, you should have the medium-sized cap resting on the top of the motor, glue gun stick on the DC motor axile, and the propeller in the center of the glue stick and resting on the medium-sized cap.

Step 4: Top Cap and Straws

Using a cutting knife, trim the hot glue gun stick so that it is the same height as the propeller. Take the cap you made earlier (with two holes) and glue it over the propeller so that is completely enclosed (Note: Make sure that the motor is running seamlessly with the propeller on it before gluing the top cap).

For this part of the project, I chose to use the body of pens because they are sturdy. However, any type of straw will work fine. If you choose to use pens, use plastic ones and start out by taking out the ink. Use a knife to cut the pen, and it should be a little less than the length of the Altoids box. Do this twice, and then place the straws inside the two holes. of the cap. These straws will be used to transport the water.

Step 5: Wiring

The wiring of this project is pretty standard. The easiest way to complete this part is by looking at the attached picture. The wires that extend from the mini DC motor must be on the same side of the switch (it does not matter which side, but they must be located on the same side).

Step 6: Altoids Box Construction

For this project, the Altoids box is used to keep the wiring organized and make the entire device easy to transport. You will start out by outlining the shape of the mini DC motor on the lid. The outline should be located near one of the corners of the Altoids box. Do the same for the toggle on the adjacent corner of the box. Next, cut out outlines you made on the Altoids box. For the cutting, it is helpful to take off the lid of the box and cut on the side that does not have the text on it. You can use a dremel, drill gun, or a hammer and screwdriver to create the holes. While cutting the holes of the Altoids Box, the shape of the lid may become deformed, so use a hammer to fix it.

At this point, the propeller and toggle should be on the outside of the Altoids Box. The inside should include the battery and the wiring. The two straws can easily be packed in the Altoids Box and then placed on the holes of the bottle cap (this allows you to easily put the entire device in your pocket).

Step 7: Testing

Finally, you can test out your water pump by attaching the top straw inside a cup or bucket water. The motor, along with the help of gravity will transport the water to another location.

Enjoy!