| Properly installed pumps should last for a decade so most failures are due to installation or mishandling.
Folks with performance Pro have received good service after purchase so I am wondering what happened that caused that employee to be so rude. When dealing with a company like Performance Pro. Don’t hesitate to send the CEO a complaint message. It may not be the employees fault but they will sort that out. Sequence needs no support from me, it and Performance Pro are the best all round that I’ve seen yet. Of course, any dealer will tell you his pump is the best but that’s because that’s the one than ….. Well, you know.
Some of the dealers out here stopped carrying Lim products because he wasn’t supporting his products. Even when he had an ongoing problem with multiple customers he still blamed the problem on the customer. I hear he got a wakeup when dealers started dropping his line so he may be getting better.
As far as efficiency, the components making up a centrifugal pump do as well as one another. Motors run 85 to 90% efficiency, mostly 85. Pump heads lower the final combination to 65 to 70%.
Don’t pay attention to nameplate readings. They have little to do with pump efficiency. Most dealers don’t understand pumps but don’t want to admit it so they talk about horsepower, current ratings and maximum flow which have nothing to do with the operation of the pump other than to tell how many horsepower the pump can handle before over heating. In a proper installation, the ratings at minimum head have no meaning at all, nor does the maximum flow rating.
Pump selection begins when the rest of the plumbing designed is finished. The first decision in the plumbing design is determining the turnover you want. Then which components you will have in the filter circuit and how much water you will want in each branch. Then you use pipe flow charts to determine the proper size pipe to use. After that you will be able to do a pretty good estimate of the head created by your system at the turnover rate you want.
That information can be placed on a graph to show what’s called a system curve. Pump design curves can be plotted on that graph to help select the pump that best compliments your specific installation. That’s what Steve Childers is talking about when he says “it’s a system!”
The pump that is chosen should be the one that operates at its Best Efficiency Point at the head and flow your design calls for. Other than that, it doesn’t matter what the pump’s other ratings are. One pump can’t be compared to another by reading its current alone.
You’re right on in checking on reliability and customer service.
As far as the size of port, it has little to do with pump operation other than in establishing NPSH. A term you will seldom need to deal with. That’s why you seldom see it on hobby related pump curves.
Don’t go to 2 ½” lines unless your design ends up calling for that. The cost jumps after 2”. There are different opinions on determining bottom drain size. Some say installing the size your design calls for and other prefer 4” period. I’m in the latter crowd because I am continuing to experiment with different configurations and changing pipe size under the pond is hard. On the other hand, someone who is building a pond to raise koi only and never change it might be just as well off operating with a line that is easier to purge.
If all the buried lines are large enough they will be able to accommodate airlift pumps in the future and cut your power consumption in half. If you really want to go for it, design the pond using airlifts now. You won’t need to worry about which pump to buy.
The impellor is shallower on the wave but that and the impellor diameter are why that pump works at a lower head. If a pump design is getting plugged by debris, install a leaf trap. There aren’t many items that will cross that barrier. (Can you say algae?)
|