# Pump



## Paulie B (Oct 22, 2011)

Have anybody here used these before? I have my pump salesman bringing a demo truck to my office tomorrow. Just curious









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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Paulie B said:


> Have anybody here used these before? I have my pump salesman bringing a demo truck to my office tomorrow. Just curiousk





Is that a vfd for a circ pump motor? Grundfos makes pumps with variable speed built in and taco has 3 speed options too.




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## Paulie B (Oct 22, 2011)

It's basically a booster pump set up. U can use it to replace shallow well pump and not need a storage tank. Or you can use it to pump from a static storage tank for a low flow well. The truck just pulled up to my shop to demonstrate how it works. 

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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Paulie B said:


> It's basically a booster pump set up. U can use it to replace shallow well pump and not need a storage tank. Or you can use it to pump from a static storage tank for a low flow well. The truck just pulled up to my shop to demonstrate how it works.





So it's just a constant pressure pump.


Personally I would stick with a standard form submersible and drive it with a separate vfd, easier to replace individual components and it will be a more durable setup. The submersible pump can go in the plastic holding tank. It will run better all around from being water cooled in that big tank.






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## Paulie B (Oct 22, 2011)

skoronesa said:


> So it's just a constant pressure pump.
> 
> 
> Personally I would stick with a standard form submersible and drive it with a separate vfd, easier to replace individual components and it will be a more durable setup. The submersible pump can go in the plastic holding tank. It will run better all around from being water cooled in that big tank.
> ...


Pretty much. I think it's a cost saving design. The whole thing runs about $600 and change. Obviously the whole seminar was a sales pitch I'm not blind to that. But the reasonable cost seems like it may be worth a try in a customers home that likes to try new things. Which I have a few that will let me experiment with. They are pretty easy to rebuild everything is oring clips and unions. The transducer is easily replaced. It has WiFi diagnosis so I can receive any error codes from my couch on the weekends and it sends a message to tech support automatically. Right now where I am we are on the verge of a drought. So the set up I'm looking at trying with this is.... Using the existing submersible pump to fill a 400 gallon storage tank with a 1 gpm flow restrictor and a float switch. Then use this to pump from storage to pressurize the house. The well in question produces about 2 gpm at best. And the customer always runs out in summer months. Currently he switch's over to a hand dug well when he has guests. But the cross connection and the inability to keep the hand dug bacteria free is costly and not the safest. 

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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Paulie B said:


> Pretty much. I think it's a cost saving design. The whole thing runs about $600 and change. Obviously the whole seminar was a sales pitch I'm not blind to that. But the reasonable cost seems like it may be worth a try in a customers home that likes to try new things. Which I have a few that will let me experiment with. They are pretty easy to rebuild everything is oring clips and unions. The transducer is easily replaced. It has WiFi diagnosis so I can receive any error codes from my couch on the weekends and it sends a message to tech support automatically. Right now where I am we are on the verge of a drought. So the set up I'm looking at trying with this is.... Using the existing submersible pump to fill a 400 gallon storage tank with a 1 gpm flow restrictor and a float switch. Then use this to pump from storage to pressurize the house. The well in question produces about 2 gpm at best. And the customer always runs out in summer months. Currently he switch's over to a hand dug well when he has guests. But the cross connection and the inability to keep the hand dug bacteria free is costly and not the safest.





Just put in a Goulds J5 as a booster for 400$ and call it good. 



Don't bother with all this fancy crap, no one needs a wifi booster pump. What's it going to tell you that will somehow make you more prepared for when it breaks? If you're selling these things and no one else is than you need to be stocking all these special parts. Otherwise when it schits the bed and you tell them parts will take a week they will call another plumber who will tell them it's an overpriced piece of crap and they will offer to replace it with a normal booster.







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## Paulie B (Oct 22, 2011)

Your correct nobody I know is selling them. Kinda why I asked to see if anybody here had used or even heard of them. We do at least 1 pump install or replacement or repair weekly. So we're not new or lacking pump experience . And you are correct the J5 is the gold standard in booster systems in my area. And have been for years. It's always worth a crack at doing some research and kicking the tires on some of the newer technology. If this was a Gould's product I would be more confident. We have worked with the drives made by Gould's for the last 6-7 years and they seem to hold up well and people like the constant pressure. The customer I have in mind would jump all over this product and if it would fail in the first couple years would be ok with ripping it out and replacing it. It's something shiney and new that he could show off to his country club friends. But again if the experiment turned out to be a failure would allow me to replace it and not be mad or refuse to pay. It's like I have an open canvas to experiment. I fought off using on demand water heaters for years and still push my customers on tank style if it's an option. I also resisted using pex longer than most in my area. So I have historically been cautious about newer tech. But it appears this is the job to try something new. Without having to be fully liable for malfunction. I'm going to offer it as an option to him along with the old school and I proven drive option. And explain the pros and cons of all his options. 

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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Paulie B said:


> ...........So I have historically been cautious about newer tech. But it appears this is the job to try something new. Without having to be fully liable for malfunction. I'm going to offer it as an option to him along with the old school and I proven drive option. .......






*This isn't me being cautious about "new tech". *This isn't new by any means, the only novelty here is that it's an all in one package. And that's the problem, it's just a novelty. *VFD pumps are a proven good thing.*


My issue isn't wether the whole thing will hold up. The issue is that at worst when something goes wrong you're forced to change the whole package instead of just a piece. At best you take the whole thing apart for one bad component.


There is no need to squeeze all this stuff into a single box if you have room. *That 400$ up front savings is nothing compared to the extra labor down the road fixing it.*


If you really want to try it and this customer is cool with it than go ahead.




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