Need a Deep Well Pump Solution [RE-wrenches]

Allan Sindelar, Positive Energy, Inc. allan at positiveenergysolar.com
Tue May 14 16:56:18 PDT 2002


Wrenches,
Here's a tough one. If any of you have solved this, or can suggest a good
option, please do so.

We put in a system last year for a good client. 24V, PS2524 (our last), 850W
PV, SB50, etc. The water system was a SunRise 5218 with SC1B battery
converter and Booster Pump. The power system has worked well; the water
system hasn't. The SunRise pump has failed three times, and neither we nor
the customer want to continue using it.

The well is 500' deep, with weak (1+ gpm) flow at 330-350'. The SunRise was
originally set at 300', which the client knew was our recommended limit for
the hand installation method. When the pump started drawing air, we lowered
it to 350', which worked, but means a crew of 3-4 to pull it out, plus 2 1/2
hrs of RT travel time.

Dankoff has fixed or replaced the pump already (it's still under warranty).
They will give us about 55% refund or credit on another pump. We looked at
using the ETApump, and the client would like to, but the lift limit at 24V
(rather than 48V) is about 200-250', which won't cut it. We could use a
24-48V step-up converter, but don't want to until it has a proven track
record in this application. The client can't afford an array-direct PV array
to run the pump. A conversion to a 48V home system is likewise pretty
expensive, as it would mean adding two more modules (10 now), dropping from
12 L16s to 8 @ 48V, changing SB50 to SB3048, and various other changes.

The only alternative I can see is a standard AC sub. The Grundfos SQ won't
work at an estimated 350-400' of lift, as that would require the 5SQ-320,
which has a 1.40 HP motor, almost certainly too much for a PS2524 with a
T240. This leaves a standard 3/4 HP Grundfos 5S07-18 or equivalent with
T240.

One alternative is a bigger 240VAC pump to run directly off of his backup
generator, which is a Subaru 5.1 kW at 7,000'. The problem with a
bigger/faster pump (to minimize run time) is the slow recharge rate of the
well--it would quickly run dry.

Who has a better idea?

Allan at Positive Energy

- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://www.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/

List rules & etiquette: http://www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquete.htm

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com

==^================================================================
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9
Or send an email to: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================





More information about the RE-wrenches mailing list