|
Fri, Mar 19, 10 at 10:10
| Hi all, I havent posted on here in quite some time..but I have a prob and thought you all might be able to help. My 2000gph pumped died yesterday. I ran to HD and got a new one, 3560gph Beckett. Pond is almost 2000gal, hard to tell cuz it's all dif levels in there. Anyway..the outside filter that I got with the orig pump, supports 2000gph pump. Now I have this 3560gph pump going thru it..will I kill the new pump with this if I keep it like this for awhile? I wanna do a skippy so I have a larger filter and I'm not stressing the pump, but wont be able to for about a month probably. The outflow seems to be good so far.
In a situation like this, I wouldnt normally have hooked up the larger pump to the smaller filter, but my water needs filtering badly..it's worse than pea soup. Figures this had to happen now..yesterday I took about 1/3 of the water out thinking, less water & it will filter out more quickly? I dont know it seems right in my head. So the water was reeeaally bad when the pump died on me. I couldnt leave the fishies w/out filtration. Thing is now, I just threw down $200 on a new pump, I dont have the $$ for a new filter or even the supplies for the skippy right now. So, what do you think is this ok for now? O btw, the dead pump & the filter are both Sunterra 2000gph, the new pump is Beckett. Both pumps submersible, and the filter is out of the water. Wanted a nice mag-drive pump, but all HD had was the Beckett large waterfall pump..and they only had 3! With all the flooding lately from the bad rains, people have been buying them to pump out their basements. TIA, Dani |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by sleeplessinftwayne z4-5 IND (My Page) on Fri, Mar 19, 10 at 18:35
| Hey, Dani. It always happens when you least expect it. I don't particularly like a waterfall style pump but I guess they work. If the flow is too strong you need to get a diverter to send excess flow elsewhere in the pond. It won't hurt and you will be saved the possible over flow from the filter. A diverter that would work is usually just a Tee but some have an adjustable side. Usually around $5. |
|
| Restriction on pump outflow will actually reduce the load on the pump. Should be no worries on killing the new pump with or without a diverter, just a waste of electricity. My pumps run all winter with the outflow throttled back to under half capacity. |
|
- Posted by daniellalell 7 NJ (My Page) on Fri, Mar 19, 10 at 22:33
| Thank you guys!! I feel much better now. Well, actually I am happy with the waterfall pump, my pump I had before didnt give me the effect I wanted in my falls..this seems like it should do the job once things get in full swing and the falls are going. Right now, I just have the filter on a ledge in the pond, throwin the water right back in..until the water gets cleaned up. The fish are loving the water flowing in, they have always loved the water current. They're like kids playing, lol. I gotta say tho, there is def improvement since this morning in the water..I can actually see about 3" down, I can make out my fish swimming in the depths. Can't actually see them clearly, but I see they are there, lol. Had to clean the filter out several times today..green slimy muck, muck, muck! SPring is here...let the work begin! thanks again guys! Dani :) |
|
| I don't see a problem with the smaller filter. The only difference would be that the filter would get dirty faster because of the increase water flow. The larger pump will cycle and clean water faster. I like a big waterfall pump. I've been tuning my waterfall for years to increase the quality and volume of the sound it produces. A pond is audio and visual. As much as I enjoy the fish, frogs, and turtles, the sound of the falls is the most relaxing feature of my pond |
|
| I did some testing of pumps this winter. I found that with the two manufacturers of external pumps that I tested that electrical cost went down as flow was decreased. With the one submersible pump that I tested electrical cost with decrease in flow I found that the electrical cost went up slightly as the flow was decreased and then went down as the flow was decreased more. I found that the electrical usage remained pretty flat though from 2 ft of head to shutoff head. The surprising thing that I did find is on the two brands of 2000 gph pumps that I tested compared to what the manufacturer flow rates at a low head they performed at a much lower rate. One said that 1.5 ft of head the pump would produce 1725 gph where I got 1090 gph and the other pump at 1.5 ft of head the manufacturer said it would produce 2000 gph. I got a flow rate of 1416 gph. Where with almost all other pumps tested the pumps produced more than the manufacturer said they would produce. The one other pump that produced less then the manufacturer said was an external pump the at a given head the manufacturer said it would produce 8100 gph and I got 6480 gph. These three pumps were new pumps right out of the box and broke in for 24 hours. I tested a total of 9 different models. But closing off the output isn't going to hurt the pump unless you close all the flow of the pump. |
|
| I agree, Mike, electrical usage typically drops when outflow is decreased. My comment about 'waste of electricity' related to $/GPH. Restricting the outflow of a larger pump to yield 2000 gph tends to cost you more electricity than a similar-type pump designed to yield 2000 gph without unecessary restriction. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Ponds & Aquatic Plants Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.