Trash Pump- Doesn't Pump

[bgsengine]

if I can make it work with duct tape or nylon ties, I do it.

Must be kin to one that brought in that push mower with blade duct taped on earlier this year.

just watched a recent episode of Mythbusters where they made a working cannon and shot bowling balls out of it -cannon was made entirely of duct tape.

[Mek-a-nik]

The Mythbusters do love their duct tape.

Well, the pump works fine. I went over there and opened it up and cleaned the pump housing surface and it's o-ring. I sealed it with a bead of silicone (and the o-ring), as a replacement o-ring was not immediately available. I inspected all other possible leak sources. I let it sit in the sun for a while to cure some while I worked on their snow blowers.

The pit was pumped down, so we filled it with a hose. Primed the pump, started it up with the pump hooked up to the pit via a pipe they added long ago when they found out the pit pump was inadequate. It's where they always have hooked it up.

It didn't pump.
Again, they had hooked up a bigger pump before, and it worked, so it was "assumed" that the pump I had worked on didn't pump.

A guy who worked there suggested we put the pump inlet hose directly into the pit. His theory being that the pipe that goes to the pit had an air leak or obstruction that the bigger pump could overcome, and the smaller pump couldn't.

Bingo, it pumped fine. Maintenance head shook my hand and thanked me for staying with the problem and said they're calling a plumber to look into their pit pipe issue.

I asked if it was possible to increase the volume of the pit pump, so that they don't need the Rube Goldberg add-on. He didn't know.

Thanks everyone for the help. I learned a lot about pumps!

[bobodu]

Have em plumb in a Harvard bend. Bet the pump works then...

[Luffydog]

think everybody has learnt alot from this topic great post with alot of info..

[Mek-a-nik]

Of course, now I need to learn what a Harvard Bend is. LOL

[RoyM]

Good job and thanks for sharing it with us. Centrifugal pumps are so simple yet can cause a lot of grief.

[Mek-a-nik]

Thanks for then kind words. Couldn't have done it without PPETEN!