Nugget said:
100% agree with above.
Today while in search of a lightweight suction hose I was asked if I had a foot valve, stumped as to what this was they explained that its required to prevent the pump from draining out during priming. Is this thing necessary or does the Honda have an inbuilt valve of some sort?
Also I've now been to 6 pool, irrigation and pump shops now and no one can sell me 2mtrs of lightweight 1.5" ribbed pool hose, it seems to only come in 9mtr rolls and costs around $80 8.(. At the last place I went to, I ended up buying some proper suction hose but its quite stiff and remains in the shape of a horse shoe, so basically its pretty bloody useless
G'day Nugget.
I use a small 25mm foot valve on that little pump of mine. It was quite cheap and made of black poly, material. The only issue I find is that when water levels are quite low, you will find stuff like leaves, small pebbles etc etc will get in the screen and hold the valve open slightly, with obvious results, and you end up having to prime on restart anyway. Sometimes, when there is very little water, say just 5 or 6 inches (125 to 150mm ) for you imperially challenged amongst us, I have to lay my hose and valve in the water horizontally and then gravity will sometimes keep the valve open slightly.
I'm going to build a primer setup for my pump. Basically, you drill a hole in the plastic priming bung on the pump, hot glue a tube in the hole, fit a small tap to the bottom of a container and attach the other end of the tube to the tap.
When you want to prime, lift up the container, open the tap to let the water drain out of the container into the pump then start up with the tap open. Once the pump starts up, water also flows back into the container. When full, turn off the tap and you're ready for next time.
Just remember, the tube and tap needs to be big enough to allow the water to flow back in pretty quick as the foot valve, Which we will presume is only slightly ajar because of a leaf, gravity or whatever, will let the water out as you try to prime.
It wont work every time, but it will most of the time. I'd still go with the foot valve, especially in trashy holes, as it will work better than an open pipe and screen setup. Mind you, if I make up a smaller screen over my foot valve with shade cloth or whatever, then I'll fix some of my problems.
Cheers, Ron.
Cheers, Ron.