Liquid PumpEditPumps are used to collect Oil, water, and lava and transport it into Tanks or directly into Combustion Engines. They were first introduced in Buildcraft version 2.2.0. Pumps require at least 2+ Redstone Engines or better to power them properly, but it is recommended to use Steam Engines. Pumps are the only machines that can be powered by Redstone Engines efficiently. Pumps do not need Wooden Pipes to retrieve liquid from them. They will send the liquid they collect straight through any waterproof pipes connected to them. You can hook up a pump over a large 1-deep pool of water and it will never run out. Pumps actually take from more than just directly around them. When pumping oil that is surrounded by water, it is wise to have two tanks, one for oil, one for water, or the water will get stuck in the pipe and no more oil will enter.
Steam Engines will fill a single block of Stone Waterproof Pipe per revolution. Combustion Engines will fill a single block of Gold Waterproof Pipe per revolution. A pump can take up to 4 Steam Engine or 2 Combustion Engines burning oil or 1 Combustion Engine burning fuel without causing an explosion. If you want to drain/collect liquids at a fast rate, use the Energy Link supplied with EU from a BatBox.
Sometimes, a rare glitch can occur. The unsolid pipe that sucks up the liquids can sometimes get stuck in a position. To solve this, you need to break the pump and then place it again. Another way to solve this is to place a bucket of oil, water or lava just above the end of the pipe that sucks up the liquids.
Draining Oceans & RiversEditPlacing a pump above a natural ocean or river will eventually cause it to empty. This happens because a pump will draw water from a random location between 32 and 64 blocks away, and this particular water block may not replenish itself. Eventually, that entire layer of water will be drained, and the pump will go down to the next layer and begin again. However, drainage of an entire layer is not very likely, because the oceans and rivers can stretch over several chunks. In addition, oceans can be 30 blocks deep; if you're using an ocean as a water source, it'll take an extremely long time to drain, giving you lots of water blocks.
Infinite Water SourceEdit
Place a pump above a 3 x 3 x 1 deep pool of water for infinite water. The pump must go above one of the four corners of this pool, and can be powered by any set of engines you like. The pool will refill itself faster than it will drain, even at maximum pumping speed to empty Gold Waterproof Pipes. On SMP this does not always work, as the pump may draw water faster than the server allows water to refill.
A 2 x 2 x 1 deep pool will work, as long as the Pump and the water source is in the Area of Effect from a World Anchor.
Pumps will not take water from unconnected sources. Make sure two sources of water are not connected nor touching diagonally to prevent remote-drainage.
Water Supply for Combustion EnginesEdit
1 Pump with 4 Redstone Engines hooked up can provide 3 Combustion Engines burning Fuel 24/7 with water without overheating the Combustion Engines. Redstone engines don't overheat, they work more effeciently at higher temperatures. 1 Pump with 4 Redstone Engines will produce 1165 buckets of water per hour.
1 Pump with 1 Steam Engine hooked up can provide 8 Combustion Engines 24/7 with water without overheating the Combustion Engines.
1 Pump with 1 Combustion Engine hooked up can provide 16 Combustion Engines 24/7 with water without overheating the Combustion Engines.
You have to make sure water gets distributed evenly over all engines.
WARNING: Be careful when using the infinite water source on SMP. As sometimes it does not always work, and the pump may draw water faster than the server allows water to refill. This will cause the combustion engine to overheat and explode if it is not turned off. This can sometimes be fixed by using a World Anchor or a Dimensional Anchor where the water source & pump are.