Hi all,

my "new" (to me, anyway, as of a month and a half ago) has two cisterns
to collect rainwater runoff from the roof of the house. They're just
sitting on concrete pads above grade. The PO's I think only used them
for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:

Hi all,

my "new" (to me, anyway, as of a month and a half ago) has two cisterns
to collect rainwater runoff from the roof of the house. They're just
sitting on concrete pads above grade. The PO's I think only used them
for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47906

Put a power cord and handle on it and you're portable. Gives you a pump
designed to produce decent pressure at lower flow rates unlike typical
portable submersibles which are designed for higher flow at lower
pressures. Pressure switch and accumulator tank so you don't have issues
with a pump overheating when you have the nozzle shut off.

Pete C.

Pete C. wrote:
Nate Nagel wrote:

Hi all,

my "new" (to me, anyway, as of a month and a half ago) has two cisterns
to collect rainwater runoff from the roof of the house. They're just
sitting on concrete pads above grade. The PO's I think only used them
for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47906

Put a power cord and handle on it and you're portable. Gives you a pump
designed to produce decent pressure at lower flow rates unlike typical
portable submersibles which are designed for higher flow at lower
pressures. Pressure switch and accumulator tank so you don't have issues
with a pump overheating when you have the nozzle shut off.

Pete C.

That looks perfect! Have you used one, or did you just DAGS? I have to
admit I'm a little skeptical of HF products that don't carry major brand
labels, but I'm willing to try it for the price.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
Nate Nagel wrote:

Hi all,

my "new" (to me, anyway, as of a month and a half ago) has two cisterns
to collect rainwater runoff from the roof of the house. They're just
sitting on concrete pads above grade. The PO's I think only used them
for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47906

Put a power cord and handle on it and you're portable. Gives you a pump
designed to produce decent pressure at lower flow rates unlike typical
portable submersibles which are designed for higher flow at lower
pressures. Pressure switch and accumulator tank so you don't have issues
with a pump overheating when you have the nozzle shut off.

Pete C.

That looks perfect! Have you used one, or did you just DAGS? I have to
admit I'm a little skeptical of HF products that don't carry major brand
labels, but I'm willing to try it for the price.


Haven't tried it, but I've looked at it in the local HF stores and it
looks decent. Certainly if you don't trust HF stuff you can assemble the
same thing from name brand parts, but the Wel-X-Trol diaphragm tank
alone will cost you the HF price for the whole thing. I'm assuming that
you won't be washing the car with rainwater daily so the HF one should
last a good amount of time. Since it seems you will be gravity feeding
the pump you shouldn't have to worry about keeping it primed either.

As for the name brand thing, contrary to popular belief, HF does carry
name brand stuff, in some cases factory refurbs in other cases regular
new product. The name brand stuff is usually a few dollars less than
most retailers have it for, the HF brand stuff is of course 1/10th of
the name brand cost.

For searches I prefer http://altavista.com I always seem to get better
search results there.

Pete C.

PS: Don't forget to put it on a GFCI outlet or cordset.

for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47906


Or, if you're serious about "inexpensive", you can get a
fitting for an electric drill that regular
garden hose attaches to. Search on "drill pump".

"Pete C." wrote in message
...
Nate Nagel wrote:

Hi all,

my "new" (to me, anyway, as of a month and a half ago) has two cisterns
to collect rainwater runoff from the roof of the house. They're just
sitting on concrete pads above grade. The PO's I think only used them
for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47906

Put a power cord and handle on it and you're portable. Gives you a pump
designed to produce decent pressure at lower flow rates unlike typical
portable submersibles which are designed for higher flow at lower
pressures. Pressure switch and accumulator tank so you don't have issues
with a pump overheating when you have the nozzle shut off.

Pete C.

Looks like a real overkill just to wash a car. Look at the other pumps at
Harbor Freight.

Al

Goedjn wrote:

for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47906

Or, if you're serious about "inexpensive", you can get a
fitting for an electric drill that regular
garden hose attaches to. Search on "drill pump".

One of those pumps won't develop the pressure that the well pump setup
will, so you won't get a good spray from the hose nozzle. It also won't
shut off when you shut off the hose nozzle which will quickly lead to
it's demise. Also while the pump is pretty cheap, you'll wear out your
drill and the pair don't cost a lot less than the well pump, possible
more if you use a good drill.

Pete C.

Big Al wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
...
Nate Nagel wrote:

Hi all,

my "new" (to me, anyway, as of a month and a half ago) has two cisterns
to collect rainwater runoff from the roof of the house. They're just
sitting on concrete pads above grade. The PO's I think only used them
for watering plants. Let's say I wanted to wash my car, is there an
inexpensive portable electric pump that I could use? (I say portable
because I'd like to be able to only buy one pump but use it at either
cistern if I so desired.) Both just have a spigot for discharge.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47906

Put a power cord and handle on it and you're portable. Gives you a pump
designed to produce decent pressure at lower flow rates unlike typical
portable submersibles which are designed for higher flow at lower
pressures. Pressure switch and accumulator tank so you don't have issues
with a pump overheating when you have the nozzle shut off.

Pete C.

Looks like a real overkill just to wash a car. Look at the other pumps at
Harbor Freight.

Al

It isn't. If you were using the pump to pump water to garden sprinklers
one of the other pumps would work ok. Since he want's to wash the car,
you have the issue of the hose nozzle shutting off while he soaps the
car and the other pumps won't handle this condition well and can
overheat. With the well pump setup the pump shuts off when it fills the
accumulator tank to pressure and will restart smoothly as the
accumulator provides the initial flow when you turn on the nozzle again.

Pete C.