DC well pump (Grundfos SQFlex system)

[genusCastor]

I'm looking for a way to have well water in the event of an extended power outage. I have a generator, but must rely on fuel for it. Would prefer a renewable energy source. Looked into a solar panel system, but running 220V from solar gets expensive in a hurry. So I wondered about 110V pumps, and came across this Grundfos SQFlex DC pump, which can also run off an AC supply. Our well is 330'.

So, anyone have experience with a DC well pump?

- djb

 

[dave1949]

No experience. Grundfos has an excellent reputation so I would expect that pump to work as advertised.

 

[Jimbrown]

I have a 6QF2.

It just purrs away every day.

I run mine off of solar panels 5 60 watt panels in series for 60 volts at 300watts. It pumps about 3 gallon a min at that voltage. The thing will run on just about anything. 30 to 300 volt DC and 90 to 240 volt AC. I have mine wired where I can run it off a generator if I need to. It will pump over 6 gal a min on 120 AC. The depth of the well really does not matter it how far the water is below the surface. My well is 300ft but the water level is 80ft the pump is set at 120ft.

I run mine into 1800 gal of storage tank and use a separate pump for the pressure pump.

You can run directly to a pressure tank but your recovery is going to be slow if you do that.

They make some special solar panels just for these pumps that put out 60 volts. They drillers around here usually use 2 or 4 of those to get 120volts DC which works very well.

 

[genusCastor]

I have a 6QF2.

It just purrs away every day.

I run mine off of solar panels 5 60 watt panels in series for 60 volts at 300watts. It pumps about 3 gallon a min at that voltage. The thing will run on just about anything. 30 to 300 volt DC and 90 to 240 volt AC. I have mine wired where I can run it off a generator if I need to. It will pump over 6 gal a min on 120 AC. The depth of the well really does not matter it how far the water is below the surface. My well is 300ft but the water level is 80ft the pump is set at 120ft.

I run mine into 1800 gal of storage tank and use a separate pump for the pressure pump.

You can run directly to a pressure tank but your recovery is going to be slow if you do that.

Allrighty, this is good to hear.

I'm not sure where the water level is, I need to find out. I was also wondering about a pressure tank. Right now we have one, I was hoping to be able to keep the system as intact as I can (i.e., not have to switch from a pressure tank and install a large storage tank).

- djb

 

[Larry Caldwell]

You are going to have to have a storage tank, because the sun doesn't shine all the time. Sometimes it doesn't shine for many days. I have a friend who set up a solar well pump with a 1000 gallon gravity feed cistern. He put a booster pump and pressure tank at the house, but it will serve fine for anything but showers. His system worked OK out of the gate, except he needed bigger solar panels. Once he upsized the solar, it worked fine.

 

[8N Ren]

No experience with what you're asking, but the 2 out of 3 pumps that are in our house are Grundfos, the guy that installed them said that's all he's used for the last 20-25 years, he said he replaced 1. I trust him cause I know he's a straight shooter.

 

[genusCastor]

You are going to have to have a storage tank, because the sun doesn't shine all the time. Sometimes it doesn't shine for many days.

There aren't many days here (east Texas) that the sun doesn't shine. But the pump can run on AC, as well as DC battery backup, so I'm not as concerned about getting water on cloudy days as I am with having to revamp the entire delivery system. I'd prefer to use the pressure tank I already have, if one of these DC pumps can do it.

I plan to call a guy this week for more details on what my options are...

- djb

 

[DarkBlack]

330' is a pretty deep well. Not something you want to visit often....
Put in a normal 220-240ac pump. Spend your extra $$ on the surface of the land.
But that's just me..

 

[Jimbrown]

Well it ain't gonna work at night either. So you have to have some sort of battery system unless you can live thru the night without water.

 

[genusCastor]

330' is a pretty deep well. Not something you want to visit often....
Put in a normal 220-240ac pump. Spend your extra $$ on the surface of the land.
But that's just me..

Well it ain't gonna work at night either. So you have to have some sort of battery system unless you can live thru the night without water.

I think some folks may have misunderstood my OP...

Right now I have a 220V pump, it's been in service over 5 years. In the event of an extended power outage, like a hurricane, a generator is required to get water. During such an extended emergency, I want to be able to pump water without having to rely on gas for a generator. So I'm looking at alternative energy to power the pump for every day service as well as during an emergency.

With one of these Grundfos SQFlex systems, when the power is on it'll apparently use solar when it can or the AC when it can't, and when the power is off it'll use solar and battery backup.

- djb