Question with sump pump head height

Fishboy15

New member
I'm looking into buying the apex aquaeuro for my DIY PVC overflow, the head height is 4 feet. It says, if I bought the 291 version with 5.91 head height. DOes that mean my gph would be over 291 because my was Max height is 4 and the max head is 5.91?
 
Normally when they rate pumps the rated GPH rate is when there is no head, as you add head height the flow reduces with max. head height being maximum before flow is reduced to negligible flow rates. You won't achieve flow rates past their rating however.
 
You have to look up the head loss at 4'. Your flow would be way less then 291gph. Also the size PVC you use and the number of 45s and 90s will reduce the flow. I think this is a power head if so this is the wrong type of pump for a return in any case you wouldn't get much flow out of it at 4'. What is the size of the DT and the sump?
 
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PVC or hose on the return? If PVC the diameter of the pipe?
Number of 90's?
Number of 45's?

Think of it like this at 5.91' that pump has 0 flow the closer you go to that the less flow you will have. I can't find a head curve on the pump my guess is it won't handle head pressure very well. I would look at a different pump to start with. Also in reality the pump probably has 0 flow at a bit less then 5.91'.
 
If you were just going to use hose with lets say a Syncra pump first we look up the head loss at 4'.



You can see you need at least a 1.5 but I would go with a 2.0 to be on the safe side.



You can see it says the output is 3/4" so if you were using PVC I would go 1". You also have to take 90's and 45's into account.



You can see how height effects flow.
 
The syncra is too expensive for me, any other suggestions on a pump that would work for me that isn't too expensive but is reliable ?
 
I have the Syncra 5.0 plumbed into a 1" flex hose with 43" of head height. I have it turned all the way down or maybe 1-2 clicks from its minimum setting and it is phenomenal! It's extremely quiet too considering the amount of water it's pushing out. My skimmer actually makes more noise.

I would recommend syncra to anyone and if you can find a way to afford it it's definitely worth the investment!


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I have the Syncra 5.0 plumbed into a 1" flex hose with 43" of head height. I have it turned all the way down or maybe 1-2 clicks from its minimum setting and it is phenomenal! It's extremely quiet too considering the amount of water it's pushing out. My skimmer actually makes more noise.

I would recommend syncra to anyone and if you can find a way to afford it it's definitely worth the investment!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think he's trying to spend as little as possible.
 
Unfortunately most newbies find out to late in this hobby, buy quality products from the get go. As you progress through the hobby, you'll end up spending more in the long run having to replace the equipment you should have bought quality from the get go.
 
The syncra is too expensive for me, any other suggestions on a pump that would work for me that isn't too expensive but is reliable ?

How much flow do you want? There are lots of cheap pumps out there. I would not buy one that does not publish what there specs are. It is a waste of time to purchase a pump that says it is 500 GPH only to find out after your purchase it will only pump 20GPH at your head height.
 
My 3/4 inch PVC overflow, I think I want to aim at 350 gph at 4 feet head. Not sure if that I too much or not. Been Pushing off buying one for a few days because I don't want I buy the wrong size pump. Pretty sure the mag drive 5 is exactly 375 at 4 feet head. I had the aquaeuro 172 but thought it would pump 172 at 4 head but I think I was mistaken, pretty sure my pump was only pumping maybe 50 gph which was really slow. Gonna buy a valve to control flow so do you think mag 5 is okay? Is 375 too much, it's a mix of PVC and hose
 
My intake at the water level isn't sucking in enough water and is barely trickling over into the intake overflow. Is this because my pump isn't pumping enough into the tank? If I increase my pump size, will more water go into the intake pipe
 
My 3/4 inch PVC overflow, I think I want to aim at 350 gph at 4 feet head. Not sure if that I too much or not. Been Pushing off buying one for a few days because I don't want I buy the wrong size pump. Pretty sure the mag drive 5 is exactly 375 at 4 feet head. I had the aquaeuro 172 but thought it would pump 172 at 4 head but I think I was mistaken, pretty sure my pump was only pumping maybe 50 gph which was really slow. Gonna buy a valve to control flow so do you think mag 5 is okay? Is 375 too much, it's a mix of PVC and hose

I doubt you were even getting that much. The spec on that pump shows a max head of 4.75' when you add pipe and fittings restrictions you are probably close to that. If the Mag 5 is a little to big use the valve to reduce it to the flow you need.
 
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