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lawn irrigation from lake

johnharkins | Posted in General Discussion on May 27, 2009 01:56am

caught the thread on pumping water from river & thought I’d get your feedback on this latest situation

pulled a Century brand Centrifugal 3 horse single phase pump from a customers shoreline & hoping the problem is it needs a new switch – it has apparently been rewound 2 or 3 times so customer is leery of doing that again as each year there seems to be some issue

expecting to hear diagnosis tomorrow morning and imagine if have to go new route this repair place will be able to replace but at very high retail
I found one through Grainger / a Dayton brand volts & amps the same but only 2 HP instead of the 3 HP the one now in the shop has

5 or 6 zones – farthest sprinkler head 220 way crow flies – ten feet elevation gain over that 220 feet

can’t find specs of olde one
think 2 HP serve their needs??

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Replies

  1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | May 27, 2009 02:45am | #1

    Sounds like the spot for a swimming pool pump.  I'm not able to compare them for you but I can say that they fit your specs nicely and are built to run continuously.  I've had years of experience with pumps made by Hayward.   They always performed well for me.

     

    1. User avater
      BillHartmann | May 27, 2009 02:52am | #3

      What kind of pressure do they develope.I suspect that they are high flow, low pressure. Not suitable for sprinklers..
      William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe

      1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | May 27, 2009 03:24am | #4

        What kind of pressure do they develop?

        I'm not sure but it's enough to lift quite a bit of water weight, ten feet straight up then send it several feet through the air.  Inch and a half pipe.  Pumps are rated at 50 gal/min, minimum.

        I suppose it would depend on how many sprinklers on each zone and what type sprinklers they are.  Also, the size of the main line pipe. 

        Clearly it would work better at lower pressure if the main line was one inch or larger, rather than the standard 3/4".

         http://www.haywardnet.com/inground/products/pumps/

    2. gfretwell | May 27, 2009 03:30am | #5

      Pool pumps and irrigation pumps are different animals. You need more head in irrigation than you usually have in a pool. You can look at the flow rate charts on the web site to see.

      1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | May 27, 2009 03:46am | #6

        You can look at the flow rate charts on the web site to see.

        Haha.  No YOU can look...and interpret them.  That's why I dug up the link.  If the figures don't add up, I withdraw my suggestion.  

    3. JHOLE | May 27, 2009 05:33am | #8

      Not looking to get too technical... I had tried some swimming pumps, in different delivery configurations, in the past and had dismal results.

      Tons of volume, no delivery capacity.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City

      1. gfretwell | May 27, 2009 06:50am | #9

        The flow/head charts for pool pumps seem to top out at 70' of head (about 30PSI) and that is barely enough to make sprinkler heads go.http://www.haywardnet.com/inground/products/displayProd.cfm?ProductID=10#one

      2. Hudson Valley Carpenter | May 27, 2009 06:58am | #10

        Thanks for adding your experience to the "flow" here.   The more I think about it, the more sense that makes.  

        1. johnharkins | May 30, 2009 02:46am | #11

          reinstalled the same pump yesterdaya rat had entered the pump through the intake 2" pipe ( de coupled in case of winter freeze ) and impinged on starter switchOwen had it there for me on the counter along w/ a few other retired parts - nicely in a clear plastic bagrunning well now
          thanks for all your feedback

  2. User avater
    BillHartmann | May 27, 2009 02:51am | #2

    You need to find out what the sprinkers need.

    The rotatory sprays use much more water than the fixedd head.

    And each kind have have different size nozzles for different flow rates.

    And those are at a give pressure.

    Systems are typically setup for 40 psi, but can be done at 30. Or at higher.

    So after you know the water flow and pressure needed then you can figure the head losses in the pipe and then you know what the pump has to deliver.

    .
    William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
  3. [email protected] | May 27, 2009 04:09am | #7

    Every pump has what is known as a pump curve, which shows where it wants to run. Anything, outside the curve is wasting energy. This is independent of the motor rating.

    You need to figure the demand on each circuit, the elevation change to the circuit, and the friction loss to that circuit.

    What you need to select a pump are the total head, and flow the pump has to deliver. With out calculating those you are just guessing.

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