need to replace my surflo 2088

lotek
lotek Solar Expert Posts: 65 ✭✭✭✭
in Solar Water Pumping #1
Ive had problems getting my pump to pump all the time. It runs for 2 wks then looses prime or something. it cant seem to pump any air through the line without loosing pressure and running dry. sometimes its twice a day. REGARDLESS, I need to replace it with a pump with a little more pressure, and volume. My on demand hot water heater wont turn on unless It has a minimum flow through it and unless the water is all hot there's not enough to run the heater. SO. any suggestions? I need to lift at leat 12 ft. and would like around 5 gal per min. pressure switch, low power concumption. Is there a pump out there that will do this for under mucho $$$
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #2
    Re: need to replace my surflo 2088

    A 12' lift... That is a lot (are you near sea level or up in the mountains?). You probably cannot have a "fine meshed filter" on the inlet to the pump (increases inlet restrictions)--Just a low back pressure foot valve at best.

    You need to check all the joints above the water line (lots of tape/pipe dope). Pipe should be solid and not a thin wall/flexible wall plastic pipe (you don't want to pipe to "collapse" during part of the cycle). Re-torque the pump head screws (if it has any) to ensure no leaks on the inlet.

    If you can move the pump lower/closer to the water level. Or, tap the tank at the bottom of the tank and have positive pressure to the pump... Or even a siphon over the top of the tank back down to the pump below the water line... Anything you can do to reduce air leaks and increase inlet pressure will help.

    All I can think of (short of rebuilding/replacing the pump). If the pump has some age on it and has been running for a while with inlet pumping problems--The "cavitation" of the water inlet/valving could cause damage and require a rebuild even if you fix all of the other issues (if there are any).

    A submersible pump may be your only practical solution--But it certainly comes at a cost (more expensive, submersible pumps can leak internally).

    Possibly a "cheap" submersible "charging" the water line to the pressure/boost pump might "solve" the problem (perhaps a small check/weep hole near the inlet to the boost pump to help prevent air lock... You can probably put a vertical pipe (Tee) with a vent (manual or automatic) to vent air before the boost pump inlet to make repriming easier/automatic.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • vtmaps
    vtmaps Solar Expert Posts: 3,741 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: need to replace my surflo 2088
    BB. wrote: »
    A 12' lift... That is a lot (are you near sea level or up in the mountains?). You probably cannot have a "fine meshed filter" on the inlet to the pump (increases inlet restrictions)--Just a low back pressure foot valve at best.
    LOW Back Pressure foot valve. That is key when you have a 12 ft lift.

    Do you have a foot valve? Sometimes it helps to replace it with a swing check valve.

    --vtMaps
    4 X 235watt Samsung, Midnite ePanel, Outback VFX3524 FM60 & mate, 4 Interstate L16, trimetric, Honda eu2000i
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: need to replace my surflo 2088

    Shurflo shouldn't need a foot valve, unless you have a leak on the suction side.

    What are you pumping out of? You could consider the shurflo submersible,, which works well, albeit expensive.

    Tony
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  • lotek
    lotek Solar Expert Posts: 65 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: need to replace my surflo 2088

    Ive done most if not all of these things. I say 12' only to be on the safe sade. my well foot valve sits at 11' from the surface, but my pump is about 5' down the hill. By the way, when I first installed my pump it worked just great. Its only the air leakage that has me stumped. I ran a line from a 5 gal bucket to the pump, and at zero lift it works fine. Ive replaced all the joints above ground and added pipe dope to all the fittings. I have 2 PVC joints at the pump and a PVC union left unchanged. I checked and retighted the union. Im wondering if I could add joint compount to it, because it uses an O ring to seal with. I do have a foot valve and it seems to be working fine.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: need to replace my surflo 2088

    Try greasing the O rings.

    Tony
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  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: need to replace my surflo 2088
    lotek wrote: »
    Ive done most if not all of these things. I say 12' only to be on the safe sade. my well foot valve sits at 11' from the surface, but my pump is about 5' down the hill. By the way, when I first installed my pump it worked just great. Its only the air leakage that has me stumped. I ran a line from a 5 gal bucket to the pump, and at zero lift it works fine. Ive replaced all the joints above ground and added pipe dope to all the fittings. I have 2 PVC joints at the pump and a PVC union left unchanged. I checked and retighted the union. Im wondering if I could add joint compount to it, because it uses an O ring to seal with. I do have a foot valve and it seems to be working fine.

    Try closing off the foot end and putting some (low) air pressure into the output side of the pump, then look for air bubbles coming out.

    In some cases the same leak will only show up as a suction leak and not a pressure leak, but that is rare.
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
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