How many amps does my pump pull

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Fishyone

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I am needing to further develop my new well as it is getting alot of sand in the system. the pump is a goulds 18gs20412cl 2hp. set at 240 ft. with static at 75'. estimated tdh of 200'. My honda 5000 generator has a 240 30amp plug in, that i intend to use at the well head for power. Can't find the amps in the pump specs. (they may be there but i can't find them) So not wanting to burn up the pump or the generator, is my plan a good one.
 

Reach4

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Franklin calls for a 2 hp 3-wire pump to be powered by a generator that can do 4000 watts or 5000 va.

I understand that your Goulds pump probably does not have a Franklin motor, but the power requirements will be similar.

So I think your generator should be good for this job.

I presume that this pump is not just supplying a house. Maybe a farm, or a big house with a big fire sprinkler system.
 

Fishyone

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need the 18gmp as i have a large irrigation system on the property. 6 of the sets have a requirement of 15gmp. The other sets maybe a little less. Total of 14 sets. lots of drip lines for the plants and trees . might sound like to much pump but its not. had a 1 1/2 hp but at 240ft. with static at 100' it just struggled to much.
 

Valveman

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Amps times voltage equals watts. 5000 watts divided by 240V equals 20.8 amps. A 2HP pulls a max of 13.2 amps. It is the start up amps of about 70 that is hard on the generator. But that size generator should have a peak starting amps large enough to handle it. Pumping the well at low pressure and max flow will usually help pump out the sand, but you may need to pump for hours or days.

Now that you have a pump large enough to supply 18 GPM to the largest zone, how are you going to handle the smaller zones like the drip? If using a pressure tank and pressure switch, that pump will cycle on/off when using any less than 18 GPM. If just running direct to the irrigation, the pressure will be really high when running the small zones.

A Cycle Stop Valve with the pressure tank/pressure switch will solve the cycling problem and you can run zones down to as little as 2 GPM. Plus the CSV will greatly decrease the number of cycles and the duration of the inrush amps on start up.

A Cycle Stop Valve by itself will let you run the irrigation direct, with no pressure tank/switch, and would maintain a set pressure for the smaller zones all the way down to 2 GPM. This way the small zones would not have way too much pressure.
 
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