External pump intake from sump - Elbow or straight pipe?

[drew930]

When using an external pump in-taking from the side of a sump.... does the pump need to have a straight piece of pipe from bulkhead to intake?

Or could I put an 90 elbow on it first and run the pump from front to back rather than side to side ..... would allow me to save some space.

 

[slief]

Best is to go straight from the sump into the pump. The elbow willl create friction loss and cause restriction on the intake. If you need to use an elbow, I would suggest using a larger diameter bulkhead and elbow and reduce it down at the pump. If you are using a variable speed pump and don't plan on running it at full power, then this is less of an issue but I always upsize the feed line or a the very least the fittings when using elbows and union ball valves on the pumps intake in instances where anywhere near full power of a pump is needed. Restricting the flow into an AC pump is never a good idea. As such, I always upsize those lines where elbows and union ball valves are used on the intake side.

 

[Wazzel]

Ideally you should have 4 or 5 pipe diameters of straight pipe before the pump inlet. Putting one elbow on the suction side is not going to hurt anything.

 

[Freds]

Most manufacturers (that I'm familiar with) state that you cannot restrict the intake. No elbows, just straight pipe.

 

[alton]

My sumps have always been the length of my stands, so a 90 was normal to have the pump parallel to the sump and take up less space. I started with Little Giant, then Pan World, to now a M1 Vectra. In 25 years I have never had an issue with a 90 in the sump, to a bulk head and then 90 to the pump.

 

[drew930]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Slief - I will be using a Panworld 150ps in basement ... I will probably have a turned down just a bit but not a lot. Do you still think this will be bad for the pump? Or do you mean bad for long term 8-10 years use?

Wazzle...Yea I'm talking about an elbow on outside of sump. I probably will use an oversized elbow on the inside though as a guard.

I guess I won't use on between sump and pump though. If I could turn the pump sideways though instead of longways it would definitely save me space and probably look better.

 

[Wazzel]

A single elbow is not going to hurt anything. Because of space issues I had 3 90's on the inlet to the pump on my 60. Never had an issue. Elbows do produce more losses than straight pipe, but not so much that one or two will cause problems.

 

[drew930]

Okay cool .... maybe I will try it then. Especially if you had 3. I just need one. Could even do 2 45s I guess. On my 150ps , then intake height is 2.5" if sitting on same surface as sump. I think it will look cleaner like this but I know some people use 2x4s for a platform for future pumps that may have higher intake ....

Looks like you have a panworld as well? What was your height ?

 

[Wazzel]

It was a pan world. What height are you looking for? My lift was around 4.5ft. I do not recall the height of the inlet off the bottom. My pump just sat on the stand and was a tad lower than the hole in the sump. I sold the tank so can not check any of that for you.

 

[ca1ore]

Meh, PW will be fine with an elbow on the suction side. Ran plenty of them that way.

 

[drew930]

Okay cool. Thanks guys. Will probably use one elbow on inside and one on outside ....