Any water pump experts here? (Shurflo pump)

[hally]

Very nice. How often are you burning out pumps?

One a year on average but last year two

 

[hally]

This is the pump we use. Ant tips to improve its reliability much appreciated

 

[hoff135]

I was hoping a pump would last a sseason.mines only 45 psi max but cuts out at 36psi. I've the screw slacken off a lot not sure if that lowers the pressure. I was hoping to get away with as little pressure as possible

 

[Exfarmer]

I have over 800 and 35m of head on mine and some years its faultless but last year it was a pain.
How exactly do i pressurise this accumulator?
The manufacturer has been absolutely useless.
View attachment 1025436

there looks to be a little plastic cap on the back of the accumulator tank. this should have a Schrader valve under. check if water comes out of the valve in which case the diagphram is shot and need s a new tank.
The distance you push the water is in theory immeasurable but in practice very much depends on the volume you require at a time. so if you expect to have a high requirement at one point then you need the capacity at the trough end to accommodate this if you have several animals drinking especially cattle

 

[hally]

there looks to be a little plastic cap on the back of the accumulator tank. this should have a Schrader valve under. check if water comes out of the valve in which case the diagphram is shot and need s a new tank.
The distance you push the water is in theory immeasurable but in practice very much depends on the volume you require at a time. so if you expect to have a high requirement at one point then you need the capacity at the trough end to accommodate this if you have several animals drinking especially cattle

So I take it you just use a foot pump to put it up to the required pressure

 

[Exfarmer]

So I take it you just use a foot pump to put it up to the required pressure

I think you need to pressurie it to 5psi under the target pressure, but worth checking with others beforehand as it is now 15 years since i had anything to do with it.

 

[Kevtherev]

There is air in those pressure vessels and as mentioned there is a valve under the screw in black cover on end.
Pressure vessel manufacturers should tell you the correct pressure.

 

[Kevtherev]

One a year on average but last year two

Is there a non return valve on it to stop pump being turned over by water when stopped?

 

[Kentishfarmer]

In the process of setting up a shurflo pump to pump water to troughs.

I bought the pump with a little accumulator then realised I could have something much bigger to save the pump from cycling so often. So I bough a 60l one.

Been testing it today but what I'm finding is the pump stutters to a stop rather than a clean cut out at the desired pressure. I think over time this could wreck the pressure switch as it probably arching across.

I think the problem is the accumulator is so big it approaches cut off pressure so slowly that it doesn't switch off clean. When I tested with the small accumulator it cut out properly.

I though I could play about with the pressure of the small accumulator to make it work but it's not.

Currently pump kicks in at about 25psi and goes up to about 36 and cuts out. The system stores about a bucket full of water which is ideal.

I have set the big accumulator at about 24psi which according to YouTube videos is about where it should be, just below the cut in for the pump.

Only thing I can thing of is to fit a different pressure swith in line on the pipe and bypass the shurflo on.

Any help appreciated

View attachment 1025098

Looks a handy set up, I assume you have a 100w solar panel powering the battery?
Where did you get the pump from/what model is it?

 

[Wisconsonian]

Is there a non return valve on it to stop pump being turned over by water when stopped?

Those diaphragm pumps have check valves for each "cylinder". Not the best pump for long term use, more for small sprayers or caravan use.

Pipe friction and head can all be calculated fairly accurately and simply if you know the pipe type, length, height, diameter, and the pressure at the start.

2PSI under the cut in pressure, or lowest pressure on the switch, is good. Or turn the pump off, run the water listening for the switch to click, then watch the pressure drop on the gauge until it suddenly drops to zero. If there's no gauge, watch the water flow, as long as it flows a couple seconds, it's fine, you don't want it running ten or twenty seconds. This is for a household system so you don't get the water shutting off for an instant in the shower. For a livestock water system, it's only preventing the diaphragm in the pressure tank from "wearing out" and maximizing the usable capacity of the tank.

 

[hally]

Is there a non return valve on it to stop pump being turned over by water when stopped?

Yes the pump itself has a non return valve

 

[hally]

I think you need to pressurie it to 5psi under the target pressure, but worth checking with others beforehand as it is now 15 years since i had anything to do with it.

target pressure is max pressure ( when pump turns off) or min pressure ( when pump turns on)?

 

[hoff135]

Have it working. Couple of modifications to make plus solar panel to add and fuses etc.

 

[Wisconsonian]

target pressure is max pressure ( when pump turns off) or min pressure ( when pump turns on)?

Minimum pressure. If the switch is 20-40 PSI, then you want 18PSI in the tank.

 

[hally]

Just an update if anybody is interested. Put new pump on my troublesome set up the other day, found the pressure vessel to be at less than 1 bar when the recommendation on here was 65% of pump pressure which is 6.9bar, so pumped it up to 4 bar as advised on here. It is noticeably smoother cutting in and out and so far has supplied 600 sheep with water in a dry time no problem for over a week. Fingers crossed this was the issue?
Thanks for every bodies input.

 

[Henarar]

Interesting thread
Does anyone know where I could get a 250V pump set up like this ? Needs to pump about 150m with a rise of 15m about 2500L per day max

 

[Highland Mule]

Interesting thread
Does anyone know where I could get a 250V pump set up like this ? Needs to pump about 150m with a rise of 15m about 2500L per day max

You can’t suck water from 15m down, but assuming you can get the pump down to the water level so you’re pushing it up rather than sucking it, then pretty much any sump pump would do it.

And I’m guessing you mean 230V rather than 250? U.K. mains voltage?

 

[Henarar]

You can’t suck water from 15m down, but assuming you can get the pump down to the water level so you’re pushing it up rather than sucking it, then pretty much any sump pump would do it.

And I’m guessing you mean 230V rather than 250? U.K. mains voltage?

Yep 230 and yes the pump can be a few feet above the water or in it

 

[hoff135]

Just to update, finally got the panel installed and seems to be keeping batteries charged (115w). Had been swapping batteries every couple of days previously, seems to be working a treat.

 

[Hjcarter]

Smart set up that. Good job!!