I have appreciated the posts on this thread as I have planned my project. I live on a rural property that has a 30 foot dug well and a convertible jet pump that does a good job. However we run the risk of the well going dry in the summer. We also live 85 feet above a river that is down a fairly steep hillside we have terraced. In order to water our vegetable garden and plants on the terraces, I have decided to experiment with a 1 HP Red Lion convertible jet pump to bring water up from the river. I placed the pump two thirds down the hill - about 35 feet above the river. That means it must still push the water another 50 feet or so up to the top terrace where I have a pressure tank (20 Gals). The long term plan is that this will feed a drip irrigation system on the terraces down hillside. In the short term I am filling a rain barrel system on the top terrace to water plants at that level.
The pump is serviced by 12 AWG wire on a 20 amp breaker (115 volts) and runs well, however after about 10-12 minutes it gets very hot. After half an hour of operating the first time around it shut itself down, but I was able to restart it after it cooled off. Now I am running it for 10 minutes and letting it take a good break before restarting it. Obviously this is not ideal given my long term plans to use it for irrigation.
The water is being pushed up the hill in 1" pipe. The horizontal distance from the river to the top of the terrace is about 110 feet.
I wonder if anyone has any comments about the pump and its capacity. Is there anything to be done to prevent it overheating? Is this just a function of the work it is being put to?
The pump is serviced by 12 AWG wire on a 20 amp breaker (115 volts) and runs well, however after about 10-12 minutes it gets very hot. After half an hour of operating the first time around it shut itself down, but I was able to restart it after it cooled off. Now I am running it for 10 minutes and letting it take a good break before restarting it. Obviously this is not ideal given my long term plans to use it for irrigation.
The water is being pushed up the hill in 1" pipe. The horizontal distance from the river to the top of the terrace is about 110 feet.
I wonder if anyone has any comments about the pump and its capacity. Is there anything to be done to prevent it overheating? Is this just a function of the work it is being put to?