Recycled Fountain

This article shows you how to make a fountain from recycled parts. I used a small packaging foam tub and an old 12 V water pump from car windscreens.

You might need a high current power supply. However, the pump that I used worked well at 4 V. When I raised the voltage to even 6 V (not even the 12 V that the motor was designed for) the flow of water became so powerful that the water spilled on the table. There could be low voltage and low power pumps that do not need high power/high current power source. This includes pumps for fish tanks.

Parts: Water pump, small tub from packing foam or clay, 2 mm or 1.5 mm metal or insulated wire, hose piece (30 cm long and width depends on pump output pipe diameter), insulating wires, power source (3 D batteries or high current power supply).

Tools: pliers, permanent marker

Optional parts: solder, masking tape, wire stripper.

Optional tools: soldering iron.

I attached the motor pump with a 2 mm metal wire. The wire piece that I used was long and bit were sticking out of the tub surface. I bend the wire bits that were sticking out by 90 degrees to tighten the pump attached to the tub.

Note the polarity for the wires in the photo. I used two yellow cables because I did not multiple colours and used a permanent marker to mark the negative wire.

I soldered the wires to motor because I have devices that I made many years ago with rusty wires poor contacts.

I attached the hose to the tub with 2 mm metal wire. The wire piece that I used was long and bit were sticking out of the tub surface. I bend the wire bits that were sticking out by 90 degrees to tighten the hose attached to the tub.

I poured warm water inside the tub. You might be able to see the steam in the video. Car windscreen water pumps should be designed for hot water because in humid weather the water tanks in the car can become very hot. However, hot water can damage the water pump, especially if you leave it on for a long time.

I filled the tub half full and the water fountain was not working, even though the pump input was completely submerged in water. I added a few more millilitres of water and then the pump started working.

At first, I tried reversing the polarity of the water pump. Surprisingly the direction flow of the flow of water did not change and the pump did not fail. However, the flow was a lot slower for reverse polarity.

Warning: Do not submerge the motor electrical contacts in water. This can cause a spark if you are using a 12 V battery or any other high current/high power sources because water is a good conductor of electricity.