Running booster pump 24/7 Questions before I make an order

[Checkthisout]

He said it broke. that's why he replaced it

Sure but did it still have residual pressure and the OP thinks that's gravity-fed and his customers will give him 1 star reviews.

 

[Zeebest001]

My ultimate point is that since it was in fact a pressure tank, did you ever lose power long enough and use enough water that you felt the pressure tank would have been totally depleted of residual pressure?

When the blue one finally broke, what changed that made you notice it?

You have a very good point and I totally understand, I would like to think that I have used just the force of the cistern many times before replacing the unit. I pressure tank finally would not turn on. I understand that your saying that it could have had pressure this entire time and I have never really ran the water just from the cistern downword pressure. The only way I will know for sure is by creating this bypass and I will find out then. I am pretty confident that this was the case before, but until then, that will confirm my theory. If the bypass has very weak pressure, well then, I will have to come up with a plan B. Really I only need the toilets to flush though and hopefully fill at a reasonable rate. I won't have an answer to any of this until I go back to PR which will be a few months. I do appreciate and understand almost everything everyone has said and thank you all! Very much appreciate it!

 

[Checkthisout]

You have a very good point and I totally understand, I would like to think that I have used just the force of the cistern many times before replacing the unit. I pressure tank finally would not turn on. I understand that your saying that it could have had pressure this entire time and I have never really ran the water just from the cistern downword pressure. The only way I will know for sure is by creating this bypass and I will find out then. I am pretty confident that this was the case before, but until then, that will confirm my theory. If the bypass has very weak pressure, well then, I will have to come up with a plan B. Really I only need the toilets to flush though and hopefully fill at a reasonable rate. I won't have an answer to any of this until I go back to PR which will be a few months. I do appreciate and understand almost everything everyone has said and thank you all! Very much appreciate it!

What happened when it finally wouldn't turn on that made you replace it?

 

[gotbeans]

Yeah 3 stories up, people have massive generators that power their entire apartment building, I have no idea how it hooks up etc. I have a small roof top space outside my 3rd story building that I can put a few solar panels, maybe a generator, not sure if I am allowed to do that though.

oh if the entire building is designed for it yea that's totally different lol
I'd hook them up even if it was against the rules, just don't mention it to anyone :^)

 

[gotbeans]

His pressure tank under that pump was like a 1-2 gallon one which means it had like 3/4th a gallon of actual water in it and you'd lose that water in half a second after opening a tap so he definitely had water from somewhere else

 

[Checkthisout]

His pressure tank under that pump was like a 1-2 gallon one which means it had like 3/4th a gallon of actual water in it and you'd lose that water in half a second after opening a tap so he definitely had water from somewhere else

That can't be true because he was instructed only to turn the prior pump on "from time to time".

I have a 2 gallon tank and the sink will run for about 4 minutes off of it.

It looks like he had maybe a 10 gallon.

Can't tell.

 

[Zeebest001]

What happened when it finally wouldn't turn on that made you replace it?

It would just make a weird electrical noise like it was locked up. At that time I had my girlfriends brother with me. He told me it went bad, I believe we took showers and ran water a good day before we replaced it. So that is why I will find out if I have enough pressure once I install a bypass, or if I won't. The job isn't that hard to do myself and is the only way I feel I will be able to find out at this point.

 

[sunsurfer]

WPNS, eventually I want to cover the entire apartment, but for now, I just want to cover the booster pump.

Thats going to be a big ($$) system, even for just the booster pump.

 

[sunsurfer]

Just use an inverter/charger like a victron 2 or 3k.

Lots of options available from others.

My cabin has a Grundfos Scala pump that was easily run by an AIMS 3k inverter and is now easily run by the Victron 3k inverter.

It draws I think 450 watts so you can size your battery accordingly. It really has no surge but without knowing what kind of pump you have it's difficult to make an equipment recommendation.

Those Scala inverter driven pumps are really neat but there is an o-ring that goes bad in the mechanical valve type mechanism. A friend gave me a Scala and a spare o-ring but I haven't set it up yet. Likely for watering the garden since I'm worried about reliability for the house.

How has yours been?

 

[Zeebest001]

Thats going to be a big ($$) system, even for just the booster pump.

I estimate a propane system for the 6 apartments to cost anywhere from 20k to 50k, so yeah I agree a big ticket item. I wouldn't mind putting just my place on batteries but I lack space for the batteries and space for solar panels, so it would be hard and even harder to get the batteries I want shipped to Puerto Rico.

 

[Checkthisout]

It would just make a weird electrical noise like it was locked up. At that time I had my girlfriends brother with me. He told me it went bad, I believe we took showers and ran water a good day before we replaced it. So that is why I will find out if I have enough pressure once I install a bypass, or if I won't. The job isn't that hard to do myself and is the only way I feel I will be able to find out at this point.

Ok.

I would plan on buying a large pressure tank to install to use with the new pump. Can still have the bypass but the pressure tank would last quite awhile at supplying stuff during an outage.

 

[Checkthisout]

Those Scala inverter driven pumps are really neat but there is an o-ring that goes bad in the mechanical valve type mechanism. A friend gave me a Scala and a spare o-ring but I haven't set it up yet. Likely for watering the garden since I'm worried about reliability for the house.

How has yours been?

It leaks slightly and I had to install a pressure tank as it would intermittently run and run and run without shutting off. I think the stock bladder it comes with is bad.

I got it for free. It was used to supply sinks for wash stations during the plandemic and almost went the recycler.

It works great now with an auxiliary 2 gallon pressure tank and I just placed a tray under it with a little weep hole that drains through the floor to the ground to catch the leak. Tray also catches drips when I pull the drain plug and drain the system before freezing temps.

Love the flow from it but when it's on a pressure tank, it cycles on and off about every 10 seconds rather than adjusting it's speed up and down while staying on like it used to. Pressure is steady.

TLDR: I got it for free but I would be pissed if I had paid $800.00 for it and it had the problems it has now.

 

[gotbeans]

That can't be true because he was instructed only to turn the prior pump on "from time to time".

I have a 2 gallon tank and the sink will run for about 4 minutes off of it.

It looks like he had maybe a 10 gallon.

Can't tell.

maybe he had 10 gallon, but a 2 gallon won't run a sink for 4 minutes unless you have an extremely small nozzle..
a 40 gallon would run a sink for 4 minutes.

These tanks are never full of water. It's there to pressurize a bladder

 

[Checkthisout]

maybe he had 10 gallon, but a 2 gallon won't run a sink for 4 minutes unless you have an extremely small nozzle..
a 40 gallon would run a sink for 4 minutes.

These tanks are never full of water. It's there to pressurize a bladder

View attachment 205342

I dunno what to say. I'm not saying full pressure for 4 minutes but you can wash few dishes and some silverware before you go: "Oops! I shut the darn pump off" as the water flow begins to slow.

And that's with a 2 gallon tank and 60 PSI

 

[gotbeans]

I dunno what to say. I'm not saying full pressure for 4 minutes but you can wash few dishes and some silverware before you go: "Oops! I shut the darn pump off" as the water flow begins to slow.

And that's with a 2 gallon tank and 60 PSI

Not sure what to say, other than that isn't really how it works.
Yea you may get a really small trickle of water on the last bits of pressure, generally below 20psi it immediately drops off to like 1 psi and water stops.

pressure tank size

Hello, I need a new pressure tank for my cottage water system. (air pressure measured at bladder = 0) Symptoms are good pressure at the cottage for a brief period of about 1 min, only to drop to very low until the pump cycles back on. I have read about how to size a new tank but I want...

terrylove.com

This guy says 40 gallon will do ~3 minutes
I've installed tons of well systems, dug wells, built pumps and gravity fed systems, built towers, etc..
Only time I've ever seen such small tanks used was in RV campers.

 

[Checkthisout]

Not sure what to say, other than that isn't really how it works.
Yea you may get a really small trickle of water on the last bits of pressure, generally below 20psi it immediately drops off to like 1 psi and water stops.

pressure tank size

Hello, I need a new pressure tank for my cottage water system. (air pressure measured at bladder = 0) Symptoms are good pressure at the cottage for a brief period of about 1 min, only to drop to very low until the pump cycles back on. I have read about how to size a new tank but I want...

terrylove.com

This guy says 40 gallon will do ~3 minutes
I've installed tons of well systems, dug wells, built pumps and gravity fed systems, built towers, etc..
Only time I've ever seen such small tanks used was in RV campers.

Then why do we think gravity feed from a 7 foot tall tank is giving him enough pressure to shower and flush toilets on the same floor?

 

[gotbeans]

1psi will fill a toilet just fine, a natural spring that produces 1 liter per day will as well. Lack of patience leads to the dark side
I never said it was enough to shower with, who is we?

 

[Checkthisout]

1psi will fill a toilet just fine, a natural spring that produces 1 liter per day will as well. Lack of patience leads to the dark side
I never said it was enough to shower with, who is we?

The OP said he was showering.

I guess we'll find out in time how it all works out.

 

[gotbeans]

The OP said he was showering.

I guess we'll find out in time how it all works out.

yea I don't believe it, that's why I asked him questions for 5 pages lmao
I looked up a cistern too and they're zero pressure, as his is cuz it has a float switch (personally I'd put a real tank there after the pump)

All I can think of is the entire building has poor pressure and flow so they have those buffer tanks (cistern) before the pumps so the people don't run out of water.
I'm guessing here but if he opened all his entire water in the entire house and ran it non stop the cistern would drain and the filling wouldn't be able to keep up.

It also depends on the person though, I could shower with a trickle of water and have plenty of times but yea the renters there are gonna cry for sure.

 

[Zeebest001]

yea I don't believe it, that's why I asked him questions for 5 pages lmao
I looked up a cistern too and they're zero pressure, as his is cuz it has a float switch (personally I'd put a real tank there after the pump)

All I can think of is the entire building has poor pressure and flow so they have those buffer tanks (cistern) before the pumps so the people don't run out of water.
I'm guessing here but if he opened all his entire water in the entire house and ran it non stop the cistern would drain and the filling wouldn't be able to keep up.

It also depends on the person though, I could shower with a trickle of water and have plenty of times but yea the renters there are gonna cry for sure.

Yes the cistern would run out of water if I opened all the valves in the apartment. Cisterns are very common in Puerto Rico because people lose power and water all the time. When taking a shower I said I was getting about 25% of the pressure vs 100% pressure with the booster. I agree, only time will tell once I install the bypass. Really my major concern is having guests not being able to flush the toilet, I don't want them to have to get water manually from the cistern to dump into the toilet.