Return Pump

[iantower]

Hey guys.

So my temp is at around 80 and though not bad it is winter so I'm trying to come up with some options.
The first thing is lifting my return pump out of my sump. Has anyone tried just lifting the pump out of the water and having a negative suction head with a mag return pump? Wondering if this would cause to much cavatation.
Other then that my only other thoughts are addign more fans to my hood... should of went LED lol.

Thanks!

 

[pulpfiction1]

i dont quite understand what you mean by negative suction head,i have lifted my mag18 out many times to clear the screen while it was running for a few seconds with no ill effect,if you mean having water come back through the mag pump if lifted from the water? this shouldnt happen unless its powered down,the manufacturer does not recomend running the pump with no water ,yes there will be cavication but i had no ill effect in my system,i guess i should power it down when i do this but ..........

 

[iantower]

Thanks for the reply buddy but no I didnt mean that, my fault though... I meant having the suction of the pump above the water line instead of drilling a hole in the side of sump for suction. So the pump would have to lift the water out of the sump then pump it to the return.
Just wondering if anyone has had any success with this and how the pump behaved.
Thanks buddy!

 

[marks69]

wouldn't work.  first time the power went out you would be running the pump dry unless you had a check valve behind the pump.  i do have a 3/4 one that you can take apart to clean, but i don't know if that's the best way.

 

[shayneh]

As Mark stated it would likely be fine until the power went....then because the pump isn't self priming it would run dry and cause all sorts of other problems (potential fire hazard). Only other option is to drill a hole in the sump below water level and run the pump external and I wouldn't recommend doing that with a mag (notorious for leaking when run external). Best bet is to save some dineros and buy a better pump like an eheim or HY Water blaster that can be run in sump but are cooler and use less hydro or buy a pump designed to be run external and drill the sump.

 

[iantower]

Thanks guys... might just have to break down the sump and drill it... no biggy I guess lol
Cheers!

 

[pulpfiction1]

make something like this from pvc bud,i have 1 pump that isnt using a bulkhead but pvc to create and hold water for prime,fill it once then forget it,been usung this method for years,no drilling required.key is making sure that no air gets in the cap,seat it tight after you fill it

 

[Blob-79]

now theres an idea!

just a pointer though.If your gonna do it, Put ur mag pump in a tuperware container or something, its no lie that they are prone to leaking

 

[pulpfiction1]

noisy too

 

[iantower]

There we go buddy... thats what Im talking about! Will start that job tonight during the game!
Thanks bro!

 

[shayneh]

Hee hee I stand corrected there is a third option...LOL! I didn't even think of pulps method.... duh

 

[pulpfiction1]

it does takes up floor space but till i got over my fear of drilling and cutting glass i used this method on all my sumps ,just went through maybe a half dozen different  pumps till i found ones that were quiet,like the blueline, sequence,little giant,etc.....