kim@m44.unm.edu (04/16/91)
Dear Group:
I was looking at the EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CATALOG ("Nerds 'R' Us) :), and I
noticed a small impeller-driven pump for less than $3.00. I forget the actual
price, but *cheap*. This pump is advertised to run for about a day on a
"D"-cell battery. I was thinking that peristaltic pumps often cost quite a
lot, and even the cheapie stripped-down ones that you have to splice in a piece
of extension cord cost over $20.00, so I was wondering if this little pump
would be a good, inexpensive alternative for non-critical pumping tasks such as
recirculating gels. They can push water up to a foot in a small fountain, so I
imagine they can rcirculate quite a large volume of buffer through a gel box.
The shaft of the impeller seems to be stainless steel, with a plastic impeller.
The outlet of the pump is designed to take a 1/4 inch diameter tygon-style
tube. Would there be any real problems to using such a pump to recirculate
gels? At such a low price, I could use up batteries and still be ahead.
Daniel Kim