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Good hand pump recommendation
By dnix71, Section Water Posted on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 01:45:27 PM MST
My HF pump doesn't

I pointed a 15' well in the back yard to pull water for my veggies. 1 1/4" galvanized with a 3 foot steel screened point. There is standing water 6 feet down this time of year, but it drops a bit before the rainy season begins in May/June.
There is a canal in the back, but it's urban runoff/flood control, so the water is green and slimey. It's okay for the lawn, but not what I intend to eat.
I had a HF hand well pump but it won't suck 6'. If I flood the pump/well with a hose, it pumps until I stop then almost immediately loses prime. I've disassembled it a couple of times and it doesn't look like anything is missing. It just cheap. Both of the backflow flaps are metal/metal.
The water is milky because it's in limestone/sand, but with the built-in filter, it's not gritty.
I don't want to use electricity for this. It shouldn't be necessary and it complicates things a lot. Does anyone here have a brand/type suggestion that doesn't cost a lot, since this is just for occasional use.

Good hand pump recommendation | 9 comments (9 topical)

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by kurt on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 03:52:01 PM MST

http://www.bisonpumps.com/shallow-well-hand-pump.html

you will have to provide freeze protection for that pump because it is not freeze proof.

there are other cheaper ones but i have heard good things about the bison hand pumps

IRC
just a personal rant carry on.

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by dnix71 on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:38:53 PM MST

That one is $830. If I needed it for drinking water in a remote place, I might be willing to pay that. This is just an occasional use non-drinking water well.

$100 for a decent hand pump is closer to what I want to spend. The HF pump was $20 wasted.

[ Parent ]

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#9)
by brokengun on Sun Dec 06, 2009 at 08:59:55 PM MST

Those pumps are excellent for the record.

[ Parent ]

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by ghurd on Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 09:05:37 PM MST

Lots of pumps here,
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Water___Water_Pumps?Args=&view_all=&sort_by=

Might look at item #20300300.
G-

Ghurd.info

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by dnix71 on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 05:29:16 AM MST

"Note: Due to quality issues, we recommend using this pump primarily for decoration. If a working pump is needed, we recommend upgrading to #20300300."

Yep, the red one is the Harbor Freight pump. The $50 green one (#20300300) looks better. It's nice that they sell replacement plunger assemblies.

My HF pump was made incorrectly. I took it apart again and realized the plunger rod was about 5/8" too long. When I lifted the handle, the piston would slam into the foot valve at the bottom before the handle came up all the way. After adding 1" of threads to the rod (12 x 1.75 metric) and shortening the rod, the piston goes from top to bottom properly. It still doesn't lift water, though :(

[ Parent ]

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by jlt on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 03:45:19 AM MST

A boat bilge pump would do the job and they are pretty cheap. just carry an old battery out when you go to water. you can pull weeds while watering.cheaper and easy er to do than a hand pump.

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by wdyasq on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 08:07:47 AM MST

I did a bit of research on DIY water pump and cylinder type pumps. It seems it would be easy enough to build a pump of PVC, leathers and a couple of balls to use as check valves.

http://www.do-it-yourself-pumps.com/cylinder.htm

Has a GIF on cylinder water pumps.

I think I would use as large a cylinder as would fit in the 'bore'. I would use marbles for the check valves, possibly using several marbles in cages in lieu of one large ($$$) ball check valve and use flat, rather than cupped, leathers. The entire thing could be made with a drill press and hand saw in an afternoon - I think.

If that is too much trouble, one of the large hand operated bilge pumps can deliver large amounts of water per stroke and should lift several feet.

Ron
Adventure is just bad planning." -- Roald Amundsen

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#8)
by ghurd on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 10:58:53 AM MST

I made a couple with marbles. Marbles are not as round as they look, or the PVC is not round. Added rubber washers to make them seal.
The hard part for me was the leathers. It was a long time ago. I think I used O-rings but couldn't get much of a seal.
It worked. Mostly. :)
G-
Ghurd.info
[ Parent ]

Re: Good hand pump recommendation (3.00 / 0) (#7)
by kurt on Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 09:54:58 AM MST

on thing i had forgotten you can make a pump for non potable use for a sand point well with a check valve and enough flexible black poly pipe to reach the bottom of the well just attach the check valve to one end of the pipe and feed that down the well then attach the loose end to a stick or whatever to keep it from flopping around with enough slack in the pipe so you can pump the pipe in the well up and down a couple feet and enough pipe after the stick to feed into your containers to use just place end of pipe in bucket or container grab loop of pipe coming out of well in both hands and pump up and down in and out of the well water will flow out the end of the pipe. that is the most simplest pump i know of.

IRC
just a personal rant carry on.

Good hand pump recommendation | 9 comments (9 topical)

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