Shallow well pump suggestions?

[Pirate]

Anyone have a suggestion for a decent well pump at a decent price?
The house we bought 1 1/2 years ago has a Harbor Freight
well pump. It works ok, but doesn't have the pressure of the one at our other house.
I see pumps listed by gpm, but who knows if it's accurate. (Like a "3 hp" saw running on 110 volts/15 amps)
We will be using it for lawn sprinklers.

[David G]

You did not mention the water depth, but shallow well pump selections are normally a jet pump (pump on the surface) or a submersible pump. I favor submersible pumps and recently bought a 1/2Hp Red Lion for about $400. Add power cord and 1" PVC pipe, plug it in and water flows out.

[Robert Adams]

Being that it's a harborfreight pump it's most likely 20' max as that pump won't pull much further than that then you get into the physics of not being able to pull water from much deeper.

I have a 100' well with the water at around 50' ish. I have to use a convertible jet pump which its capacitor blew up at the end of last season and I can't find one of even a similar value as its huge... But in the cast of anything over what a shallow well pump will do its best to use a submersible if your casing is over 4" which mine isnt...

Yours could possibly be a sand point well which is hammered into the ground so no other option than a jet pump. The ones that the borgs carry would be much better than the harborfreight one as its not really meant to supply water to a house.

There are no real deals etc on good quality pumps. Personally I'd get a good quality pump and a pressure tank to go with it however without knowing what the recovery rate is on your well you don't know what size pump to get.
Lots of variables to consider what size pump. As for pressure tank bigger is better.

[Pirate]

Robert Adams said:

---

Being that it's a harborfreight pump it's most likely 20' max as that pump won't pull much further than that then you get into the physics of not being able to pull water from much deeper.

I have a 100' well with the water at around 50' ish. I have to use a convertible jet pump which its capacitor blew up at the end of last season and I can't find one of even a similar value as its huge... But in the cast of anything over what a shallow well pump will do its best to use a submersible if your casing is over 4" which mine isnt...

Yours could possibly be a sand point well which is hammered into the ground so no other option than a jet pump. The ones that the borgs carry would be much better than the harborfreight one as its not really meant to supply water to a house.

There are no real deals etc on good quality pumps. Personally I'd get a good quality pump and a pressure tank to go with it however without knowing what the recovery rate is on your well you don't know what size pump to get.
Lots of variables to consider what size pump. As for pressure tank bigger is better.

---

Actually the HF pumps works good. I just want more pressure!
With faucets shut off it has 34#'s pressure. 22#'s with faucets open.
A friend has used a HF like mine for 9 years, with no problems. I was surprised!

What was the HF pump made for?
I thought it was for household or irrigation water from a shallow well.

[Robert Adams]

The little hf ones are really meant for gardens or filling stock tanks. I'm surprised it provides enough volume for the house.

Maybe you just need to look into adjusting the pressure switch but that means more strain on the pump. Also if you raise the pressure on the switch you will have to increase the pressure in whatever pressure tanks you have. This also means that you will have less volume of water in the tank. When you increase pump pressure you need bigger pressure tanks.

The other route would be to use a boost pump. HF does sell those too.

My pump was a clearance old stock deal from hardwaresales.com( a couple years ago) 1hp water ace convertible jet pump with the jet kit. Might want to check their site from time to time as mine was $110 shipped and it would work for you was well.
It is set at the stock on at 30 off at 50. It was working great until the capacitor blew up at the end of last summer. Goofy cap as it puked this grey hard plastic like substance. I had to pry it out of the case because it glued itself in there. Also very large capacity cap I can't find a replacement for yet... Any motor you have that is mission critical needs to have a good quality cap in it from day one. Most things are built with the cheapest no name ones and they fail often. Mitsubishi learned that lesson as they were building their ecms with cheap ones that would leak and ruin the computer.


Oh also keep an eye on sears as they carry a couple well pumps. Never know might find a clearance deal one day. Personally if I were using a shallow well for house water I'd have a spare pump but that's just me.

[Pirate]

As mentioned, it's for sprinkler use.

What is a "booster pump" Is it used along with another pump?
Adjusting the pressure switch will not make any difference, because with sprinklers on, the pump runs all the time.

[chips ahoy]

I have a 30' drilled well and use a jet pump inside in my basement. Fills my tank and gives plenty of pressure.

Mel

[Pirate]

I called a pump manufacturer yesterday, for a recommendation on which of their pumps to choose.
I explained to him that I want to run 200' of 3/4" pvc to get to the other side of the house.
He said to use a min of 1" for that length.
I checked the pvc coming off the pump outlet (1" outlet), and it's 1" pvc going to a manifold that has 3/4" ball valves on it. Surprise! the id of the ball in the ball valve is 5/8" or less.

Before buying a new pump, I am going to lay the 1" or 1 1/4" pvc and see how it works.

FYI. Lowes has 1" 20' sch. 40 pvc for $9.32. Local, Water Works Equipment Supplier has it for $6.95

Found a pressure loss calculator. In 200' a 3/4" pvc line has a 6.5 psi loss. A 1" line has a 2 psi loss. Size matters!

[Robert Adams]

Good to hear. The purpose p manufacturers will usually help quite a bit.

Pipe size makes a huge difference. With irrigation always go bigger than you think you need as you don't want to dig it back up.

I have 4 sprinklers (maybe 5)on a 1" line tempted in for part of the yard. With my minimal war per output I like to put it all together above ground and test it first before burying it. I really need another sprinkler there as I was intentionally spreading them too thin. But it's an easy change now.
Just wish I had more water. I think my issue has allot to do with the massive amounts of sand the pump Initially had to clear from the well since the well was unused for about 50 years. No telling how much wear the sand caused to the pump.

[MichaelMouse]

Use a pressure tank and switch like your house does, and you'll be fine.