Irrigation pump ideas
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Topic: Irrigation pump ideas
Posted By: bigcreek
Subject: Irrigation pump ideas
Date Posted: 22 Jul 2022 at 8:27pm
| This is a hail mary shot in the dark but here goes. I currently have a 10hp berkely pump with a 7.875 impeller diameter. Model B1.5ZPL. I have four screens the water must pass through to get to my foot valve. Small screens. As in 1/16" small holes or so. I pump out of a really dirty canal. Despite my screen setup my pump gets clogged after just a few hours of use from grass and crap from the canal. The impellers get jam packed clogged up. I have a 5' inline filter just past the pump which also catches stuff but the freaking pump itself gets clogged so it is a daily chore to go down to the pump and pull the bolts and motor off and clean the impeller out and put it all back together. It takes an hour every time and I am absolutely out of ideas. A neighbor has a 30hp pump just several feet from mine without a single filter and his has never once gotton clogged up. My brother in law a few hundred yards down the canal uses a 5hp pump without a single filter and has never once had his impellers get clogged up. My sister in law a mile down the canal uses a 3hp or so pump and pumping out of the same canal with no filter has never once had their impellers clog up. My father in law pumps out of the river a mile from me with zero screens except for a huge one to keep out sticks and he has never had the impellers clog up on his pumps. Last week I called Berkeley and talked with a trouble shooting representative about my pump model and I asked him if they knew of this particular model having a susceptability (spelling) to getting clogged up in the impellers and I described to him what was happening with it but he had no clue. I didnt know if the design, shape, and size of the impeller in this model made it more suspetible to gathering crap and clogging up for whatever reason but he hadnt heard of anything and had zero ideas. By the way this pump is about 4 years old and it has always been a pain with clogging up but this summer is by far the worst ever. I am already watching craigslist/auctions for a bigger pump. Id like to put in a 15 hp or even a 20 hp even though I dont need one that big but hopefully the bigger impeller will help. Any ideas would be appreciated! |
Replies:
Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 22 Jul 2022 at 10:02pm
|
The difference is, that they're not attempting to filter (and possibly not even foot-valve) theirs. The impeller can pass a certain amount of semi-solid, as long as there's significant liquid flow, the impeller will shred and eject, and continue to flow. When there's enough restriction on the inlet to prevent flow volume, the weeds win. If you let them flow in and get chewed up, they'll flush out the other side. ------------- Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest. |
Posted By: bigcreek
Date Posted: 22 Jul 2022 at 11:05pm
| I wish that were the case but in this instance it is not. I used to not have a screen. But I had this problem of it getting clogged up without a filter/screen. So I put in a screen, then a second, third, and fourth, but the problem persists. The screens stop alot of the crap in the water from even getting to the intake pipe but apparently not all of it. Also the water level only drops a couple inches from the ditch to the intake pipe when it is pumping, but there is still 30" from the top of the water to the bottom of the foot valve. The closest screen is about 12" away and the furthest screen is around 4' to 5' away with the other two screens in between. So hence why I am saying WTH. |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 23 Jul 2022 at 1:19pm
|
Son has a ditch pump and the "screen" is a 15 gallon size barrel with 1000 small 1/4 inch holes in it.. Keeps the sticks and logs out.. and too many holes to "plug" with weeds/ grass.. Your the one on site. Look at the other pumps... Are the more OPEN between the housing and impeller ? Are the impellers more of a Paddle wheel ? Is your impeller built for CLEAN WATER and has much smaller openings for the water to travel ? You know what works....... and apparently what does NOT work... You dont need more HP as you have seen others work.... Sure appears it is more of a "pump design" problem... Some pumps are clean water pumps... others are more of a trash pump. You pump B1.5ZPL is made for HIGH PRESSURE, where the other pumps may be made for Low Pressure, high volume ............. look at impeller design. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 23 Jul 2022 at 1:22pm
|
If you have 4 suction screens and the pump impeller is getting plugged... you got the wrong design pump/ impeller for the job...... Buy one like your buddy has. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: bigcreek
Date Posted: 23 Jul 2022 at 2:28pm
| My local pump company picked it out for my situation at this location and installed it 4 or 5 years ago. I thought they would be the ones that should know what would work best. One would think anyway. I went in last week and talked to two guys at the pump place that installed my pump and they had no ideas at all. Ill be buying a new setup. I appreciate the feedback folks. |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 23 Jul 2022 at 8:06pm
I looked up that pump with the impeller you listed... Pump will put out 92 GPM at 110 psi...... What are you doing with the water ? Do you need 110 PSI ? Are the buddiess pumps putting out that kind of pressure ? You may want a LOW PRESSURE, HIGH FLOW pump with a bigger more open impeller ?? Again, i would examine THEIR pumps a little closer.. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: JohnColo
Date Posted: 24 Jul 2022 at 11:02pm
|
I agree with the comments but in the meantime, perhaps you could mount a float on the intake hose, (if it's a hose rather then a solid pipe) to draw water just under the surface, then on the surface or at the bottom of the ditch. Another idea is to dig a small pond next to the ditch to screen water going into the pond and allowing the debris to settle. Good luck! |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2022 at 11:11pm
| I think you need to switch places with one of them down the line! |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 28 Jul 2022 at 6:39am
|
curious. was i... Had a look at the 'spec sheet' and it says 'transfer,irrigation, booster'. That to me means 'clean' water. The impeller looks like my 'jet pump' not a 'trash' pump version. So my gut says it's the wrong TYPE of pump. The inlet filter. those are mighty SMALL holes for a filter ! How big(surface area) is the filter ? The inlet is 2",do you use 2" pipe ? Someone can probably find or knows how big a filter you need so easily suck 92 GPM,but my gut's telling me some thing 1 foot round and 3 feet long,with 1/4" mesh. John's right, HAS to be floating ! ANY dirt,mud,muck coming in will destroy the impeller. I've watched enough 'Gold Rush' shows to see they go through great lengths to filter their recycled water. Yes, they use 1,000GPM(6-8" piping) but the principals are the same. As for the berkley expert..my guess...bet he only deals with papers and/or fresh tap water. A slow moving dirty ditch NEEDS a trash pump, rivers are clean water. If you have enough flow(GPM) and pressure(PSI), you don't need a bigger pump, either a far better filter or repeating myself, a trash pump. Bottom line...I'd be using a 'trash' pump. One that says 'TRASH' or 'SEWAGE' or 'EFFLUENT' use on the label. ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |