Pump output doesn't match rating

[Coinr]

Just bought a separate small pump just for the spitter. It's rated at 100 - 155 gph on the package label and at 156 gph in the instructions at a 1' lift which is the lift I have it at. The brand is Smartpond and purchased from Lowes.

Hooked it up, adjusted the flow control to the max and couldn't believe the small amount of water coming out. I disconnected it from the spitter thinking there may be an issue with that and still a very low flow. I also made sure that I had it set to max flow. The lower setting was really a joke. Finally, I took a 5 gallon bucket ( still with about a 1' lift) and timed it. It took 5 minutes to fill. So my true gph output is at 60 gph.

So MY QUESTION is, are pump gph ratings typically this far from reality, is this brand (Smartpond) that bad, is it likely that I have a bad pump, or am I missing something altogether?

 

[j.w]

I think sissy here knows something about those smart pond pumps and will hopefully chime in when she reads this. I know there was a thread or two somewhere on here that they were talking about them in but not sure how to find it. Maybe just type in Smartpond in the search box?

 

[sissy]

I have one and so far no problems except with the low water cut off switch .My son thought the pump was not working and took it back to lowes to get it replaced while I was gone and put more water in the pond and all it was was the low water switched had tripped .If you have the receipt take it back .How far are you pumping the water I have a small one and it pumps 200 to 300 and the hose is 3 feet long and splits off to 2 spitters and works great and It is a little much so may add the third spitter to it .I just bought this one last week on sale and i also have a larger smart pump .

 

[sissy]

just realized you said dial down on the front I don't like those they really have no power I have the regular one without that .The ones with that don't work very well and every thing clogs them .They had 3 of them in a pond at my lowes so you can see how each one works and so that in one of the ponds and it was not working very well at all .I will have to go look at the plastic thing mine came in but it was I think a 300 gph and has a removable front .Mine is 330 gph and has a removable front and I put it inside a plastic box i had from an old pump so it would not clog up as fast .it was 49.99 and and was half price plus i had a coupon for lowes from the credit card i got so i could buy all the stuff to redo my well .Figured why not get extra's with there card and save some money .

 

[Coinr]

The line from the pump to the spitter is about 10'. The pump only has a 6' cord so I was trying to place the pump close to the power supply. Also, I was trying to leave a few extra feet on the line between the pump and spitter. I'm not really sure exactly where the spitter will end up and wanted to avoid having my line too short. I figured once we have it in it's final place I can shorten it. I believe the distance the water has to travel is a very small factor so I didn't worry too much about that.

 

[koiguy1969]

10' of horizontal run is equal to 1' of verticle. so if its pumping 1' high and 9 or 10' long its giving about 2' of head.
that said...look on ebay, theres usually a few smartpump brand pumps ...all refurbished.... not sure about what that says on their quality...makes me kind of leary.

 

[Coinr]

Didn't search for the brand-name earlier. Just didn't think of it. It does turn up several references, but not much commentary either way.

I didn't think that distance was that big of a factor. It's raining now so I'll probably attach a very short hose tomorrow and see what happens. Also, even at 2' of head the instructions say that I should have 101 gph. Almost double my 60.

While I buy a lot of things online, I'm reluctant to buy pumps online (at least not yet). In general the Smartpond brand at Lowes seemed reasonably priced (especially when using a coupon), they use less electric than most of the others that I had looked at and if I have a problem I can take it back immediately and replace it. It seemed logical for me, but now I'm questioning it.

I'll post again tomorrow with the results of using a shorter line.

 

[sissy]

yeh seems they have a slight problem with the rest feature on the pumps ,sometimes hard to rest .Yep the power cords were not very well thought out .You need at least 15 feet of cord .

 

[Coinr]

Forgot to post. Shorter line didn't help so I returned the pump. I did have another thought though. I had to use a connecter to take the 3/8 line down to a 1/4 line to work with my spitter. I wonder how that effects the flow?

Anyway, the spitter issue is on the back burner as I'm now dealing with an algae bloom.

 

[Coinr]

So I've been told that my problem is back pressure caused by the reduction in the line size. The way it was described to me made sense.

 

[sissy]

I was looking at those pumps with the shorter cords and still for the life of me cannot figure out why they put a 6 ft cord on a pond pump .The only place you can really put something like that is in a skimmer or use it in a filter to clean it out .

 

[Shdwdrgn]

For what its worth, I can't imagine even a 3/8" line being suitable for 150gph flow... that seems like such a tiny line to work with. After dealing with line restriction in my last pond, I built my new pond with pipes that are actually a step *up* from the largest output of the pumps (the pumps had 1.5" output, so I ran my plumbing with 2" pipe). This way I don't have to worry about algae and snails clogging up my pipes, there's still plenty of room for unrestricted flow.

Regarding your reluctance to order pumps online, I'd recommend Webb's water gardens. I ordered two Laguna submersible pumps, and they both arrived completely destroyed. They sent me two more pumps, and those also arrived with broken parts. (My local UPS is absolutely horrible - anything heavy will get broken). Webb's was willing to work with me, and since I had four good motors with lots of broken plastic pieces, they sent me just the plastic parts I needed to assemble two complete pumps, then I sent all the broken pieces back to them. Not all shippers are willing to put so much effort into a sale, but these guys came through for me.

 

[JohnHuff]

I think the ratings are for the pumps pumping downhill. First of all, I think all these little mini-pumps all rubbish, they are all made in China and of the same design regardless of the name on it. I think these companies just buy them from one or two factories in China and rebadge them as their own.

The hose/tubing size makes a big difference. The 1/4" will only give you half the flow of the 3/8" and I've found that even the 3/8" tubing output is about 1/3 of what it's supposed to be. I bought one of those 192gph pumps from Harbor Freight and the output of that thing is about 1/2 of my old 140gph Rena pump that's made in France. The bad thing is that the Chinese pumps drove Rena out of the market and you can't even buy Rena pumps anymore.

Pardon my digression but in short, yes all these pumps are rubbish and they sure don't make them like they used to.

 

[addy1]

My pump is made for 2 1/4 inch pvc so we used 3 inch for the input of water, dropping to 2 inch output (mainly because that is what we plumbed the bog with lol) The 3 inch gives the pump a great input of water.

The clear water pump, 1 inch input/output for the stream deck pond, I had it going into 2 inch pvc up a steep hill. We started thinking about the water weight it had to push against to get that water up that hill. So I dug in a 1 inch line, the flow was actually better with the 1 inch pvc. Only put it 2 inches below ground, but when we disconnect the pump for winter the line flushes totally empty, no concern with freezing.

 

[sissy]

a lot of the pumps you see have a lot of 6 foot power cords and not sure what some of these people were thinking ,they will say pond but they are only good for fish tanks .How far can you go with a 6 foot power cord after you get it in the water .Remember when looking at pumps to look at the power cord .I see a lot of tetra pumps with really nice long cords ,but still see a lot with short cords .If you are looking at an in pond pump longer is better .