Pump Shops In Chiangmai...

[extexthai]

Does anyone know of a pump shop that specializes in pumps in CM area? I am looking for an aerator pump and the only thing I can get in Chiangrai (shop near bus station) is an aquarium pump made in china (read piece of sh*t) that lasted two months. I need an industrial type aerator pump and definitely not one from china...it that is indeed possible. Any info would be greatly appreciated. ett

[jaideeguy]

The biggest and best pump shop in CM is the shop just over the bridge near the us consulate, turn right and a few doors down.....you'll see alot of water tanks. Don't know if they deal with aireator pumps, but they are the biggest pump repair shop in CM.

[WatersEdge]

Finest Pump Man that I know in Thailand.

If he doesn't know it, then neither should you.

Speaks fine English

A real joy to work with.

No Nonsense All Business.

I suppose you catch the idea that I recommend him.

Chiang Mai

GPS Coordinates

18.765657°

98.975449°

HangDong Road southbound lane,

short distance south of Airport Plaza

Next door beyond TyrePlus

[extexthai]

Thanks to all. I was just there yesterday (in CM), actually for the last three days. My dear wife failed to tell me our present (past?) aerator pump went out while I was there, so.....yet another CM trip will be planned real soon. Living in Phayao, one has to go to either CM or CR to get anything out of the ordinary. Again thanks to all.....ett

[drtreelove]

Those are interesting options. I have another. I highly recommend Sriyont CM, on the Faham Road (east side of the river), north of Wat Gate area, between Kaewnawarat and Ratanakosin. Row of blue farm trailers in front are hard to miss. See Khun Surasak (Neng), fluent English, knowledgeable and helpful and no pressure. His pump and motor mechanics are the best I've seen. If you want his mobile number PM me and I'll dig it up. I've used them for years for purchase and repairs and recommended to friends who were also satisfied with the excellent customer service and selection. They carry Chinese stuff because local people mostly want cheap, but he has Thai, Taiwan, Japanese, and Italian pumps and always gives me the straight scoop on which is best for the particular purpose. Ask for a discount off the list price.

If you know what you want you may be able to get them to send to you. Let me know if I can help. But are you sure you can't find what you want in Chiang Rai? If you want I will contact my friend, a professor at Mae Fa Luang University ag department for a reference. don

[teletiger]

There's not really much to go wrong with an aerator pump. If it's the electro magnetic type (most are) it's normally the rubber diaphram that gets holed or weakens. A 5 minute job to fix. Also, depending on what the pump is used for, the diffuser stones can get gunged up. I use mine to make compost soup and have to dip the stones in vinegar every few weeks, to keep them clear.

The stones can also be different in the pressure it takes to blow through them.

I started off with a small pump, but found the pressure of 3 x 120 litre tanks too much. ( once the stones go past 1 metre in depth, they struggle) I bought a 2000 Baht job and now all 3 tanks are rocking.

Regards.

[IsaanAussie]

There's not really much to go wrong with an aerator pump. If it's the electro magnetic type (most are) it's normally the rubber diaphram that gets holed or weakens. A 5 minute job to fix. Also, depending on what the pump is used for, the diffuser stones can get gunged up. I use mine to make compost soup and have to dip the stones in vinegar every few weeks, to keep them clear.

The stones can also be different in the pressure it takes to blow through them.

I started off with a small pump, but found the pressure of 3 x 120 litre tanks too much. ( once the stones go past 1 metre in depth, they struggle) I bought a 2000 Baht job and now all 3 tanks are rocking.

Regards.

TT,

Having built a 100 litre compost tea brewer myself, I would be very interested in comparing notes. I am using my air compressor and made up PVC piping to deliver the air. How long do you brew your "soup"?

[teletiger]

IA,

I'm running 2 soup tanks and 1 nutriment tank at the moment, experimenting with hydroponics.

It takes about 2/3 days for the soup. I figure once they stop foaming, that they are done. I use c. 7 kilos of compost and 1 kilo of molassas, plus a bucketful of the previous days mix. I've just started putting in a spoonful of dolomite (calcium/magnesium carbonate)....'cause I can't be arsed to run around trying to get Epsom salts. Actually, dear old Rice has pointed out a place to me....but I'm just a farang kee nok. Maybe later I'll experiment with putting in the whole micro nutrient mix with worm castings or just a field mix. I figure the EM will eat anything you put in there.

Regards.

[WatersEdge]

A hearty second to DrTreeLove's recommendation of Sriyont

When the request was made for pump shop specifically,

Sriyont did not come to mind.

But no matter what Sriyont does,

it is good work.

The "Can Do" attitude there is refreshing.

Their location by GPS coordinates is

18.796863°

99.002403°

[drtreelove]

There's not really much to go wrong with an aerator pump. If it's the electro magnetic type (most are) it's normally the rubber diaphram that gets holed or weakens. A 5 minute job to fix. Also, depending on what the pump is used for, the diffuser stones can get gunged up. I use mine to make compost soup and have to dip the stones in vinegar every few weeks, to keep them clear.

The stones can also be different in the pressure it takes to blow through them.

I started off with a small pump, but found the pressure of 3 x 120 litre tanks too much. ( once the stones go past 1 metre in depth, they struggle) I bought a 2000 Baht job and now all 3 tanks are rocking.

Regards.

TT,

Having built a 100 litre compost tea brewer myself, I would be very interested in comparing notes. I am using my air compressor and made up PVC piping to deliver the air. How long do you brew your "soup"?

I haven't gotten into this myself, but my arborist friend/associate in California is in a big way. He just completed a certification training as a Soil Foodweb Advisor. www.treesolutions.com So I asked Jim for his input on equipment to add to your discussion. Here is his offer of tips for links. He is very enthusiastic about this and would probably welcome your direct communication. Jim at the above website.

"This is the first one I purchased. I have added a Geo T-250 extractor to increase our production capabilities and efficiency. It produces 250 gallons in 2 hrs. The bio 55 process is much longer for us as our brew and extract protocol takes 6 hrs to produce the same amount of end use. We still use it for small batches. Like I was saying, we are going to manufacture application equipment to fill that niche."

http://vitallandscaping.com/index.php/shop-now#ecwid:category=281869&mode=product&product=836927

http://biologicsystemsusa.com/compost_tea_and_soil_food_web_overview.tpl

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/sfi_approach1.html

[drtreelove]

A hearty second to DrTreeLove's recommendation of Sriyont

When the request was made for pump shop specifically,

Sriyont did not come to mind.

But no matter what Sriyont does,

it is good work.

The "Can Do" attitude there is refreshing.

Their location by GPS coordinates is

18.796863°

99.002403°

Happy to hear someone else appreciates Sriyont. It seems that many times when I recommend a shop or service, someone comes back with a negative experience. TIT

But originally I thought that Tex was talking about 1 or 2 HP pond aeration equipment; I don't know if Sriyont handles this smaller stuff. Although Khun Surasak is very helpful in ordering things that he doesn't stock, or refering to another source.

[teletiger]

Thanks for that Doc. Very informative. Also don't forget to look at the great (and exhaustive) work of our very own Jandtaa and the pinned thread over at the organic section at:

I started making the tea as food for the control plants in my hydroponic experiments. Since the feeding started some of the control plants doubled their fruit size. (Tomatoes) So now I'm thinking "could the tea be the best hydroponic mix?"

It costs next to nothing, easy to make in large quantities and the byproduct is a soil improver.

Then there's different types of compost (good old kee vuaar for me ).......

I've saved the world.....I'm gonna be a squillionaire.......except...nothing has surfaced as of yet, but there will be pathogen and possibly viral problems, if the soup isn't produced in super-hygenic....pasturized......aw, <deleted> to that. That's just multi-national speak for we want your money. Same way as terra preta is going. "We'll burn your shit and only charge you 6 baht per kilo to sell it back to you". Gee, a bargain.

When my neighbour's annual fert bill is under 5000 Baht I'll get back to you. (as in 'the world'....not you personally Doc. )

'Til then.....remember Tesla.

Regards.

[teletiger]

Hey AI, how did the aerating with the compressor go? It was one option I looked at, but the connections between compressor and tank seemed......complicated. So I plumped for the easy choice. Anything larger than 1000 litres and a compressor would be a must, I would have thought. One thing I found was that the more air you pump, the better and faster the end product.

Apologies to the OP for hijacking his thread.

Regards.

[IsaanAussie]

Hey AI, how did the aerating with the compressor go? It was one option I looked at, but the connections between compressor and tank seemed......complicated. So I plumped for the easy choice. Anything larger than 1000 litres and a compressor would be a must, I would have thought. One thing I found was that the more air you pump, the better and faster the end product.

Apologies to the OP for hijacking his thread.

Regards.

TT,

Great, I can run from about 20 psi upwards. The connections are simple, snap on to suit the air hose, air tap and a brass adaptor with a 1/2 pipe thread that screws straight into a plastic nut end fitting.

I have just made up some high fungal content compost which I will use for the brew. That I made from my compost and rice bran moistened with EM. The residual bran will feed the fungus in the brewer. 2kgs of the compost, 2 kg of worm castings and a half litre of molasses should do the trick. I will add a 1/2 litre of EMA as well to get the largest bacterial and fungal variety I can. I will give it a crack soon and let you know the outcome.

The tip on air volume is interesting, as the compressor is noisy and fairly small volume so it runs often, that limits me to 12 hours running without too much neighbour drama. The fungus grows quickly but multiplies slowly compared with bacterial microbes hence the need to start with a high population on fungus.

This system is for use in an orchard with the brew to be used as soil drench for fruit trees so with early morning late afternoon the best times to apply it about 6 hour brew time would be great.

Isaan Aussie

[drtreelove]

ExTex, I got a reply from MFLU friend with a referral for a pump engineer in Chiang Rai. I'll PM that contact info to you now. don

[IsaanAussie]

DTL,

The links you posted the other day are very informative. I will have to set aside some time to read them thoroughly. There is a lot of real information in them. By the way the appearance of the 55 brewer is much the same as the one I have just built. I have been waiting for an opportunity to brew up a soil drench for chili crops and now the guy next door is providing it so full steam ahead.

Thanks again for the links.

Isaan Aussie

[teletiger]

Just a little something to add about the diffuser stones. I normally just dip and wash them in vinagar. Yesterday they still felt "slippery" after their wash, so I went the whole hog and scrubbed them under running water. What a surprise. Their output doubled/tripled. So a problem I may have put down to a faulty pump is just a clogged stone.

Regards.

[IsaanAussie]

Just a little something to add about the diffuser stones. I normally just dip and wash them in vinagar. Yesterday they still felt "slippery" after their wash, so I went the whole hog and scrubbed them under running water. What a surprise. Their output doubled/tripled. So a problem I may have put down to a faulty pump is just a clogged stone.

Regards.

Three questions for you TT. First bubble size: You are using stones which I assume gives a mass of tiny bubbles, I am using 3mm holes and getting large bubbles. Which is better? Second biofilm in the brewer: How do you clean off the film? Or do you even bother? And the third question Foam on the surface: I thought this was due to yeast or some fungal food present. You stated that when the foam stops the brew is ready. Can you explain your thoughts on this?

IA

[teletiger]

Three questions for you TT. First bubble size: You are using stones which I assume gives a mass of tiny bubbles, I am using 3mm holes and getting large bubbles. Which is better? Second biofilm in the brewer: How do you clean off the film? Or do you even bother? And the third question Foam on the surface: I thought this was due to yeast or some fungal food present. You stated that when the foam stops the brew is ready. Can you explain your thoughts on this?

IA

Hmmm....here's where it all gets confusing and far too complicated in my book.

According to one of DTL's links, small bubbles are bad. Something about breaking up microbes. But.....the rate at which my small bubbles come out, 2 inches from the diffuser and they become big bubbles. But then for colloidal purposes, (how much the water can hold in solution) small bubbles are better. 'And what exactly is the difference in microbe count between small bubbles and big bubbles? It's enough to drive a man to drink. I weigh out the compost on a digital sca....no I don't. 2 shovelfuls. 3 "gloops" of molassas from a 20 ltr container into 120 litres of water.

All containers get hosed down between brews.....thats it. We're brewing EM.....

The foam is 99.9% gas. The same as your regular bubbles. The gas is produced by the microbes as they go through their cycle. If you want to keep a brew going past it's "sell by" date, just add more molassas and they keep blowing bubbles. (Don't tell Al Gore, but it's probably a mixture of methane and CO2. ) This being Thailand the KISS principle should hold sway.

Advice such as "get a full microbe count from the compost maker..." and whilst you're off knocking your brains out, my tomato plants are half grown and doing very nicely thank you.

This is a very simplistic view and won't suit everyone. But one thing I have learned more than anything, over the years, is not to overcomplicate things. Gardening/agriculture should be a pleasure for us all.

Regards.

[IsaanAussie]

TT,

You have hit the nail square on the head. Do we need to know the why, if it works well? No not really I suppose. I have been playing with multiplying fungal numbers to boost the active numbers in a soil drench for fruit trees. I mix compost and rice bran in equal proportions, shovel full each, and moisten it with EM, put it in a black garbage bag and sit it in a warm spot. It generates a sweet smell and you can see the fungal growth increasing each day. Leave it too long and you end up with little smell and a lot of mould. All pretty much common sense.

So I agree that the KISS principle is appropriate. Your nose is probably the best scientific instrument you can have, followed by your eyes. If it smells right and looks good, it probably is. If it produces the result you are looking for then its perfect. I will dash into town today and buy a few GLOOP calibrated measuring spoons.

Edited December 21, 2010 by IsaanAussie