I have a 1.5hp centrifugal pump (Flotec sprinkler pump) that is probably 25 years old, though rarely used. It came with the house when I bought it. Last year I decided to drive a sand point and put the pump to use. I live along a river, and the well is in my boathouse which sits about 6 feet above normal river level. I drove two 5' sections of 1 1/4" pipe with the sand point, and hit water with that first section with the point. Main use was for washing the boat down with a hose as I pull it out of the water. It worked great, though I got tired of having to turn it on and off as it's a continuous run pump, and I didn't want to worry about accidentally leaving it running.
This spring, I added a 13 gal pressure tank/switch as my friend gave it to me. I wasn't able to set the switch to cut in and out like I thought it should. It would cut in ok, but would never cut out till I turned the flow of water off. I can set to cut out without turning water off, but that makes cut in way too low. This was by trial and error to find just the right setting, as I liked the pump running all the time at max pressure when using water instead of cycling with such a low cut in pressure. Anyway, I could tell cut in pressure seemed pretty low, so I added a gauge to see what was going on. Cut in is about 18psi, while cut out is about 35psi. I have adjusted the cut out down to try to keep the cut in as high as possible. I'm essentially using this centrifugal pump as a jet pump I realize. Also took the switch out of operation, and pump pressure and function is the same with or without.
That leads me to my question. I'm roughly 8' above water in my pipe, and I want to install an inground sprinkler system. Running two sprinklers with hoses only yields a pressure fluctuating between 25-30psi. I'm also only pumping about 11 gpm in my test out of the two hoses running together. I'm wondering if I'm expecting too much as I thought the centrifugal pump would be able to maintain 40ish psi with several sprinklers running and a much higher gpm. I'm not sure if I don't have enough water going to the pump, or the pump is a little tired as it can't build past 35psi even with no water discharging. I don't have a problem buying a jet pump, and I'm thinking the 1hp Flotec (FP4032) but I'm just afraid I might not be able to supply the water it's capable of pumping. Should I drive another section of pipe...two more sections...I want to get it right as I'm tired of my usual trial and error ways.
Thanks for any help!!!
This spring, I added a 13 gal pressure tank/switch as my friend gave it to me. I wasn't able to set the switch to cut in and out like I thought it should. It would cut in ok, but would never cut out till I turned the flow of water off. I can set to cut out without turning water off, but that makes cut in way too low. This was by trial and error to find just the right setting, as I liked the pump running all the time at max pressure when using water instead of cycling with such a low cut in pressure. Anyway, I could tell cut in pressure seemed pretty low, so I added a gauge to see what was going on. Cut in is about 18psi, while cut out is about 35psi. I have adjusted the cut out down to try to keep the cut in as high as possible. I'm essentially using this centrifugal pump as a jet pump I realize. Also took the switch out of operation, and pump pressure and function is the same with or without.
That leads me to my question. I'm roughly 8' above water in my pipe, and I want to install an inground sprinkler system. Running two sprinklers with hoses only yields a pressure fluctuating between 25-30psi. I'm also only pumping about 11 gpm in my test out of the two hoses running together. I'm wondering if I'm expecting too much as I thought the centrifugal pump would be able to maintain 40ish psi with several sprinklers running and a much higher gpm. I'm not sure if I don't have enough water going to the pump, or the pump is a little tired as it can't build past 35psi even with no water discharging. I don't have a problem buying a jet pump, and I'm thinking the 1hp Flotec (FP4032) but I'm just afraid I might not be able to supply the water it's capable of pumping. Should I drive another section of pipe...two more sections...I want to get it right as I'm tired of my usual trial and error ways.
Thanks for any help!!!