Randall Grogan
New Member
I have an older pump on our property (25+ years) which has worked okay, but can no longer keep up with demand. The pressure drops fairly quickly. I believe that the impellor is worn because a year back the backflow to the tank malfunctioned and the pump ran continuously for a period of time, at least until it overheated and shut itself down a few times.
Our set up is basic (or at least I think it is). We have a submersible pump in the well, that feeds the 1000 gallon tank which sits on top of the pump house. The submersible has it's own pump control system to protect the pump from short cycling and continues to work well. It's a low flow well, so thus the tank.
The tank feeds my pump below, which sits in front of a 60 gallon bladder pressure tank. The pump is controlled by a 40/60 Square D pressure switch. The inlet to the pump sits at about 15psi, from the gravity feed of the tank.
The pump is a 1/4 or a 1/3 HP Red Jacket pump, past that I don't have more details. I could replace the impellor, but since water demand on the property is increasing, not decreasing, it would seem to make sense to just replace the pump with something that has a bit more power. I am thinking that 3/4 to 1 HP is in the right range, at least based upon the GPM ratings of the pumps.
I have heard the term "booster pump" and "jet pump" used in this context. I have also seen folks talk about "shallow well pumps". Seems like a lot of the pumps sold want to have the pressure switch and even the pressure tank integrated.
Based upon the description above, are there specific suggestions (brand/model #) you might suggest and why. No particular hurry, as this is not a primary residence, and worse case we are just taking underpowered showers. So a pump I could order from Northern Tool or similar would be fine.
Thanks in advance.
Our set up is basic (or at least I think it is). We have a submersible pump in the well, that feeds the 1000 gallon tank which sits on top of the pump house. The submersible has it's own pump control system to protect the pump from short cycling and continues to work well. It's a low flow well, so thus the tank.
The tank feeds my pump below, which sits in front of a 60 gallon bladder pressure tank. The pump is controlled by a 40/60 Square D pressure switch. The inlet to the pump sits at about 15psi, from the gravity feed of the tank.
The pump is a 1/4 or a 1/3 HP Red Jacket pump, past that I don't have more details. I could replace the impellor, but since water demand on the property is increasing, not decreasing, it would seem to make sense to just replace the pump with something that has a bit more power. I am thinking that 3/4 to 1 HP is in the right range, at least based upon the GPM ratings of the pumps.
I have heard the term "booster pump" and "jet pump" used in this context. I have also seen folks talk about "shallow well pumps". Seems like a lot of the pumps sold want to have the pressure switch and even the pressure tank integrated.
Based upon the description above, are there specific suggestions (brand/model #) you might suggest and why. No particular hurry, as this is not a primary residence, and worse case we are just taking underpowered showers. So a pump I could order from Northern Tool or similar would be fine.
Thanks in advance.
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