Week 4 (Outside Lab) - Pump Modifications

Figure 1. Modified aquarium pump with plug to redirect water flow.

The team used this time to begin modifying the aquarium pump and better understand the relay system before wiring up the whole electrical system. The pump's original purpose is to create an artificial current by sucking up water through the bottom and pumping it back out through a tube with an output hole and a valve for oxygenating the water. The valve fits our purchased plastic tubing, which will be used to carry water to the plants, so it was necessary to block up the original output hole in order to redirect the water flow through the valve instead. This was accomplished with hot glue, as shown in Figure 1.

In addition, a reference diagram of the relay was created for the purpose of identifying its pins. This can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Reference diagram of relay's pins.