Shallow well pump recommendation
 

Last year I used a Goulds JRS5 pump. I sucked up some gravel and damaged the
impellor, so I replaced it with a Flotex el-cheapo that I got from Home
Depot. I'm not a pump expert, so I judge the pump by how many impact
sprinklers I can run at once. The Goulds ran 3, the Flotex ran 2. Within the
last week, I've started to loose volume/pressure from the Flotex, and now it
won't run one single impact sprinkler. I can get a reasonable volume out of
the hose at low pressure for watering by hand, but not enough volume at
25+psi to run the sprinklers. I pulled up the intake tube from the well and
examined it, screen is clean, water level is ok, no obvious problems,
connections all tight. The pump does not loose it's prime, and I don't hear
any air being sucked in, nor is there any air bubbles coming out of the
output. For whatever reason, this pump is not longer usable, and I need
water tomorrow.

To make a long story short, I want a good quality pump and I'm thinking of
chucking the Flotex and getting something better. I haven't yet found a
repair kit for the Goulds, and I need water tomorrow. Any pump
recommendations, and any supplier recommendations? I live in Lebanon,
Oregon, about 45 minutes south of Salem Oregon.

Shallow well pump recommendation
 

On Jun 15, 7:38 pm, "Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at
zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:
Last year I used a Goulds JRS5 pump. I sucked up some gravel and damaged the
impellor, so I replaced it with a Flotex el-cheapo that I got from Home
Depot. I'm not a pump expert, so I judge the pump by how many impact
sprinklers I can run at once. The Goulds ran 3, the Flotex ran 2. Within the
last week, I've started to loose volume/pressure from the Flotex, and now it
won't run one single impact sprinkler. I can get a reasonable volume out of
the hose at low pressure for watering by hand, but not enough volume at
25+psi to run the sprinklers. I pulled up the intake tube from the well and
examined it, screen is clean, water level is ok, no obvious problems,
connections all tight. The pump does not loose it's prime, and I don't hear
any air being sucked in, nor is there any air bubbles coming out of the
output. For whatever reason, this pump is not longer usable, and I need
water tomorrow.

To make a long story short, I want a good quality pump and I'm thinking of
chucking the Flotex and getting something better. I haven't yet found a
repair kit for the Goulds, and I need water tomorrow. Any pump
recommendations, and any supplier recommendations? I live in Lebanon,
Oregon, about 45 minutes south of Salem Oregon.

Any farm supply store (Grange, TSC) will have pumps as will most
plumbing shops.

Harry K

Shallow well pump recommendation
 

snip
To make a long story short, I want a good quality pump and I'm thinking
of
chucking the Flotex and getting something better. I haven't yet found a
repair kit for the Goulds, and I need water tomorrow. Any pump
recommendations, and any supplier recommendations? I live in Lebanon,
Oregon, about 45 minutes south of Salem Oregon.

Any farm supply store (Grange, TSC) will have pumps as will most
plumbing shops.

Harry K


Hi, thanks - do you have and brand name recommendations? Pumps to avoid?

Shallow well pump recommendation
 

On Jun 16, 8:48 am, "Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at
zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:
snip

To make a long story short, I want a good quality pump and I'm thinking
of
chucking the Flotex and getting something better. I haven't yet found a
repair kit for the Goulds, and I need water tomorrow. Any pump
recommendations, and any supplier recommendations? I live in Lebanon,
Oregon, about 45 minutes south of Salem Oregon.

Any farm supply store (Grange, TSC) will have pumps as will most
plumbing shops.

Harry K

Hi, thanks - do you have and brand name recommendations? Pumps to avoid?

Goulds is good. The places you buy from can advise on brands. In
general when shopping for something like that, given choices,
eliminate the cheapest one. I usually also eliminate the most
expensive one.
When you re-install be sure the footvalve is several feet off the
bottom of the well.

Harry K

Shallow well pump recommendation
 

Hi, thanks - do you have and brand name recommendations? Pumps to avoid?

Goulds is good. The places you buy from can advise on brands. In
general when shopping for something like that, given choices,
eliminate the cheapest one. I usually also eliminate the most
expensive one.
When you re-install be sure the footvalve is several feet off the
bottom of the well.

Harry K


I ended up with a 3/4 horse Star pump. I looked up the specs, and it's of
slightly lower capacity then the Goulds, but it was almost twice the
capacity of the el-cheapo Flotec that I had. I wish now that I had looked up
the specs in advance - the Goulds 1/2 horse was adequate, the Flotec is an
overpriced piece of junk. This pump will probably drive 4 sprinklers, since
the Goulds drove 3, and with pressure to spare :)

Shallow well pump recommendation
 

Hi, thanks - do you have and brand name recommendations? Pumps to avoid?

Goulds is good. The places you buy from can advise on brands. In
general when shopping for something like that, given choices,
eliminate the cheapest one. I usually also eliminate the most
expensive one.
When you re-install be sure the footvalve is several feet off the
bottom of the well.

Harry K


I ended up with a 3/4 horse Star pump. I looked up the specs, and it's of
slightly lower capacity then the Goulds, but it was almost twice the
capacity of the el-cheapo Flotec that I had. I wish now that I had looked up
the specs in advance - the Goulds 1/2 horse was adequate, the Flotec is an
overpriced piece of junk. This pump will probably drive 4 sprinklers, since
the Goulds drove 3, and with pressure to spare :)


Please post a follow-up to this. I'd like to know how the Star pump
does, and number of sprinklers is a great real-world comparison.

Shallow well pump recommendation
 

"HomerS" wrote in message
...
Hi, thanks - do you have and brand name recommendations? Pumps to
avoid?

Goulds is good. The places you buy from can advise on brands. In
general when shopping for something like that, given choices,
eliminate the cheapest one. I usually also eliminate the most
expensive one.
When you re-install be sure the footvalve is several feet off the
bottom of the well.

Harry K


I ended up with a 3/4 horse Star pump. I looked up the specs, and it's of
slightly lower capacity then the Goulds, but it was almost twice the
capacity of the el-cheapo Flotec that I had. I wish now that I had looked
up
the specs in advance - the Goulds 1/2 horse was adequate, the Flotec is an
overpriced piece of junk. This pump will probably drive 4 sprinklers,
since
the Goulds drove 3, and with pressure to spare :)


Please post a follow-up to this. I'd like to know how the Star pump
does, and number of sprinklers is a great real-world comparison.


It's a bit hard to compare because I replaced a 1/2 horse pump with a 3/4
horse pump. Right now it's driving two sprinklers. This bad boy zooms up to
45psi and shuts off. Tank discharges down to 25psi, pump comes on, zooms up
to 45psi, shuts off. It's running at 25-35% duty cycle. I'll give it the
acid test this coming week. I have a 3/4 gate valve between the pump and the
tank, and I'll be running it through a 3/4 hose to several sprinklers, so
I'll be able to see how many it can run, and I'll post results here.

For comparison purposes, the Goulds 1/2 horse pump would run 3 sprinklers,
the Flotec would never run more then 2. I'm betting I can run 4+ with the
bigger Star pump - I'll be dissapointed if it won't drive at least 4..