shurflo 9300 life expectancy, duty cycle

System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
just bought a shurflo 9300

scoured the net for info, found pitifully little and conflicting stats pertaining to gph @ various voltages/depths

called shurflo got near zilch for info

my pump is set 190'. used reccomended pipe and wiring.

powered by a pair of deep cycle batts that NEVER drop below 26v.

batts charged by pair of 100 watt panels w/ charge controller.

pump is producing 84 gph which keeps my tanks full running 3 hrs per day.

i am very satisfied with the output.

my questions are:

1. what is the duty cycle of this pump ?
2. what is the life expectancy of this pump ?
3. what are the most common problems with this pump?

neither shurflo or the dealer i bought it from seems to be able to give me a straight answer to the above questions



out of the box, the plastic wire connector had both allen set screws stripped out.
being a machinist, i made a permanent repair, but for $700+ dollars i shouldn't have had to.






do any of you have any experience with the shurflo 9300?

thankyou for any info you may provide

don

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: shurflo 9300 life expectancy, duty cycle

    One website says to replace the diaphragms every 2-4 years...

    The above link also has depth vs solar panel vs amperage which seems to be more detail than is available from Surflo directly.

    Seems like a nice little pump (not sure it is still in production--website is legacy.shurflo.com).

    It looks like the classic trade off between long service life vs very high pumping efficiency.

    The next class up would probably be the Grundfos Solar Submersible Well Pumps at 3x the price...

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: shurflo 9300 life expectancy, duty cycle

    A couple of anecdotes about the Shurflo 9300.

    I have had one in service for three years without a problem. We pump from the lake in to 30-50 Psi tank. I believe the duty rating is considered continuous.

    I know of one application where it was in daily use in a deep well pump for nearly ten years without a failure.

    That said, I think the biggest issue to longevity is making sure the water coming in is free of grit as grit is hell on the diaphragms. My one complaint about the pump is the wire connection fitting lugs and the rubber boot seal. The lugs are too small to connect proper pump wire easily, and the rubber boot is very hard to use properly. They also don't routinely sell the boot by itself as a repair part, but rather they sell the whole installation kit which includes the boots and the lug plug etc, and they get close to $100 for it if memory serves. I have been able to get Shurflo to send me extra install boots gratis, but it to a bit of sweet talking.

    For those that don't know, the pump wire comes into the pump through a pair of rubber boots. The pump wire has to be very accurately cut and stripped, and then screwed to tiny little lugs. Tough to do with #10 pump wire. The risk is cutting the boots accidently. One other tip is to fill the entire boot cavity with dielectric grease to protect the entire wiring section so that even if the boot leaks it won't cause the pump to fail. In my case, if the pump fails after November first, I am back to hauling water in buckets until May.

    Tony
  • solarix
    solarix Solar Expert Posts: 713 ✭✭
    Re: shurflo 9300 life expectancy, duty cycle

    My water has very fine silt in it and I've ruined two shurflo pumps in less than 18 months each. If the diaphram fails, the motor gets wet and messed up.
  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: shurflo 9300 life expectancy, duty cycle
    solarix wrote: »
    My water has very fine silt in it and I've ruined two shurflo pumps in less than 18 months each. If the diaphram fails, the motor gets wet and messed up.

    Submersible pumps?

    Icarus
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: shurflo 9300 life expectancy, duty cycle

    Yes Tony I think he is talking about a centrifical and not your 9300. The latest 5.9 GPM "smart sensor" use to get a diaphragm failure every 5 years or so. Sometimes they would then pressurize the motor and doomsday! The newest ones have relief holes to drain somwhere else beside the motor. Nice little 24V pumps and variable speed/very quiet!
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
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