Priming a water pump?

[CJBOTA]

This is probably a dumb question but is there any tricks to getting a water pump primed easier? I have to pump water out of the pond and into my orchard sprayer. i have to spray alot so this has gotten to be a real PIA. It is supposed to be a self priming pump but I would like to talk to the engineer who gave it that name. It is a 150 GPM pacer pump with a 5 hp honda engine.
Once primed it works great. When I try to fill the pump cavity with water it just runs thru the pump and out the suction line. Do they make a check valve for this purpose? I normally get it to go by holding my hand over the discharge end which I guess creates a vacumn. The only problem with this method is a usually take a 150 GPM blast of water to the upper body. My suction hose is 2" diameter and 15 feet long, the book says I should be able to use up to a 25 long hose. I can probably shorten it to 12 feet long which might help some.
Please if anyone knows of a better way I would appreciate the advice.Thanks!
CJ

 

[TRR]

check valve is the only way I know of. I'd get a short section of hose and put the check valve at the pump intake since this appears to be a portable unit. If it was stationary, then consider a foot valve (which I believe is a check valve with an intake screen in one unit).

Also on the suction line. Shorter & closer to the water source is always better. The theoritical max distance for a suction lift is about 33 feet (1 atmosphere). It requires perfect seals and the right weather conditions. In practice, it seems to be limited to about 25 feet. You can push water a lot farther than you can pull it.

 

[ericher69]

This is probably a dumb question but is there any tricks to getting a water pump primed easier? I have to pump water out of the pond and into my orchard sprayer. i have to spray alot so this has gotten to be a real PIA. It is supposed to be a self priming pump but I would like to talk to the engineer who gave it that name. It is a 150 GPM pacer pump with a 5 hp honda engine.
Once primed it works great. When I try to fill the pump cavity with water it just runs thru the pump and out the suction line. Do they make a check valve for this purpose? I normally get it to go by holding my hand over the discharge end which I guess creates a vacumn. The only problem with this method is a usually take a 150 GPM blast of water to the upper body. My suction hose is 2" diameter and 15 feet long, the book says I should be able to use up to a 25 long hose. I can probably shorten it to 12 feet long which might help some.
Please if anyone knows of a better way I would appreciate the advice.Thanks!
CJ

Pictures would help!

Are you running the pump while adding water to the pump cavity or just adding water while off and then trying to start?

I'll run through the procedure that we follow at the fire dept while using a portable trash pump (Honda)

1. Open pump cavity filler/priming port
2.make sure suction line connections are tight and that seals/washers are air tight
3, put suction strainer/hose in source (at least 12" of water around end of suction opening
4. Start pump and rev up
5. Pour water from a 5 gallon pail in pump cavity filler/primer port
6.once primed you should have a steady flow coming out of primer port
7.replace cap on primer port
Enjoy!

Hope this helps

 

[radioman]

check valve at the end of hose that goes into the water. This way the suction hose stays full of water at all times. prime it once and forget it. :thumbsup:

 

[Train]

Well a foot valve at the end of the suction would help, but. First I'd take the cover off the pump and check it out. There is a flapper style check valve of sorts in the pump. ( I have the same one) Once it's primed and running, you should be good for the whole season, especially if your using it a lot. As for trouble priming, make sure the suction line is sealed good at the joint, and if you have a quick connect at the intake make sure the rubber seal is there and in good shape.