sump pump??????

[Anonymous-0]

Hey folks,
I have a sump pump that has a 1" hose and really moves the water. Since I have a portable generator and need to be able to transfer water between tanks about 60 ft apart, I thought I'd save the expense of a motorized pump (no electricity where I need it). Didn't want to pay for 60ft of 1" hose, so used an adapter and hooked a garden hose to the sump pump. I'd get more flow with a siphon hose. If someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it, good. If not, just file this away for the case you ever have a brainstorm like this and save yourself the time.

Dave

 

[bjb in TX from Ne]

Did you check the inlet of the pump to make sure its not obstructed in the tank your trying to pump down, possibly by the tank itself?

 

[mmguy23119]

A sump pump is a high volume,low pressure pump and should not be restricted down in hose size. Sump pumps are available that have a garden hose connection but they move water a lot slower. My 2 cents. Jim

 

[Anonymous-0]

(quoted from post at 06:27:43 04/13/10) Did you check the inlet of the pump to make sure its not obstructed in the tank your trying to pump down, possibly by the tank itself?

Had it suspended in a rain barrel........... Guess it don't make enough pressure to pump thru a 1/2" hose.......

Dave

 

[CJ_1080]

The sump pump is designed to pump x ammount with x ammount of head or height of lift. I think that would be resistance. Now by reducing the hose size you increased the resistance. The pump probably is cavitating the impeller because of the resistance. The pipe/hose is probably far cheeper than constantly replacing burned out pumps. Hope this makes sense or helps. Good luck.

 

[CJ_1080]

The sump pump is designed to pump x ammount with x ammount of head or height of lift. I think that would be resistance. Now by reducing the hose size you increased the resistance. The pump probably is cavitating the impeller because of the resistance. The pipe/hose is probably far cheeper than constantly replacing burned out pumps. Hope this makes sense or helps. Good luck.

 

[showcrop]

It's called friction loss. plumbers and firefighters have to be very familiar with it. the smaller the hose the greater the loss per foot. sixty foot is a pretty long run of garden hose. 3 inch hose will flow twice what 2 1/2 will if you plan on fighting fires.

 

[Tim in OR]

How about a "T" and running a couple of hoses in parallel? It would reduce the friction factor at a reduced cost (garden hose cheaper than 1" hose)
Tim in OR

 

[Anonymous-0]

Check on sub pump hose, it is either 1 1/2 or 1 1/4, probably the same size as your pump fitting. It is cheap crap, but It will flow alot of water from that pump more than likley. I'm thinking fifty foot is around ten or fifteen dollars. It will last for years if you don't walk on it etc. It will look like shop vac hose.

Regardless if it is a pedistal type or a compact one it will probably be 1 1/2, and they sell check valves that size that has a male and female fitting. You only need that flapper valve if your pump is starting and stopping alot.

If your pump is a skimmer, it will suck down to a half inch off the floor.

A real big mistake with sub pumps, perhaps not your situation, but they are made to sit in a hole (under water) to cool them down. Siting on a flooded basment floor will smoke them. The skimmer is probably ok for that type of aplication.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Every now and then I have a good idea grenade go off in my pocket, I'm over it now I think. I have a 15 buck sump pump because I only use it to move water from a hole in the basement to a drain 6ft away and to empty rain barrels before winter. Guess I'll look at a gas powered pump or skip the idea altogether.

Dave

 

[MarkB_MI]

Do the math. Your sump pump was intended to pump through maybe 20 feet of one inch hose. If you want to triple that distance, you'll need a hose with three times the cross-sectional area. An inch and an half hose will give you 2.25 times the area, which might be enough. A two inch hose will give you four times the area of a one-inch hose, obviously overkill.

Presumably you were using 5/8 inch garden hose, or whatever the euro equivalent is. A 5/8 inch hose has .39 times the cross-sectional area of a one inch hose. By tripling the length and cutting the area to 39 percent, you reduced your flow to about 13 percent of what the pump is capable of.

 

[Anonymous-0]

(quoted from post at 03:27:57 04/14/10) Do the math. Your sump pump was intended to pump through maybe 20 feet of one inch hose. If you want to triple that distance, you'll need a hose with three times the cross-sectional area. An inch and an half hose will give you 2.25 times the area, which might be enough. A two inch hose will give you four times the area of a one-inch hose, obviously overkill.

Presumably you were using 5/8 inch garden hose, or whatever the euro equivalent is. A 5/8 inch hose has .39 times the cross-sectional area of a one inch hose. By tripling the length and cutting the area to 39 percent, you reduced your flow to about 13 percent of what the pump is capable of.

That's what happened..............