Johnson water pump/tank

[Dutch445]

I borrowed this pump and tank from my sister and her husband,
they acquired it with the house they bought a few years ago, but
they don't use it.
I have a pond that I can use for watering the lawn, and gardens, but
I have been using a small transfer pump which really doesn't cut it.

so i brought this home and got it running, adjusted the cut-in and
cut-out the best i can. it will only build pressure to about 29 lbs,
and while it's running i don't see much air in the system, so i think
suction side is ok. the tank looks like it might have an air bladder in it,
but when i put a guage on the valve, water came out. so if there was one
in there, it's probably shot. if i am running the pump, it won't build up
enough pressure to hit the hi limit, unless i limit the flow quite a bit.

does anybody recognize this unit? and if so, is the tank just a standard
tank, which i could replace with any new one? (with a bladder)

 

[studor]

It may or may not have a bladder but try putting about 28PSI air in to the valve after draining the water out of the tank and see if it holds. If it does then you should be able to use the tank even without a bladder. You will just have to check it and drain it occasionally as the air gets absorbed in the water through use. Any standard tank will work with that pump as well if you need to replace it looks like a standard shallow well jet convertible.The outflow setup looks a little strange to me but if you look up jet pump configurations it should be pretty straught forward. Hope this helps
regards

 

[Dutch445]

what is the intake "manifold" for? it's on the inlet side
of the pump, there is a pipe plug in it also.. i would imagine for
draining it.

i haven't figured out the plumbing either, there's the
pipe with an outlet on the riser pipe coming from the tank,
then there's the outlet coming off the pump.

should this type of pump build more pressure?
it's a very thin impellar on the motor..

 

[studor]

The pump should build at least 55 lbs with a tank. I think the pipe coming off the pump will result in low pressure only as the pump does not have the capability to build pressure without a tank. It is possible that that line was connected to another tank in the past.The "manifold" I think you are referring to is the jet mechanism to increase the amount of draw the pump is capable of. If you start the pump and use the line from the tank will it still only build 29 lbs?

 

[Dutch445]

I'm not getting anywhere near 55 lbs, but then again, not sure if
there is air in the tank or not, not that it should matter.

29lbs is about max, with the outlets shut off. wonder if
there is something else going on , not that it matters..
i think it will work fine for watering the lawn.

thanks for your help.

is the removeable bottom cover part of the bladder?

 

[WayneB]

for anumber of years I used a small 1/2 hp jet water pump and a 6 gal expansion tank and it worked fine for me. The regulator was set for 30 PSI on 50 PSI off and the pump would run constantly when the water was running

These sell for under 50 dollars and might be the answer to your water pressure and tank problem?

 

[Dutch445]

It's running tonight with 1 sprinkler, and it holds right
about 28 lbs, and the pump is running constantly. seems
ok, pump is a touch warm, not hot at all.
with the sprinkler i have, i don't really need any
more pressure.. so i think i'll let it go for now. the only
thing i could gain was a cycling of the pump, but
with the long extension cord i have i'm not worried
about it cycling anyway, one time it didn't come back on
and i think i'm losing some juice with 150' of extension
cords!
i probably should get some 12awg wire and make a long
run and put a weather tite outlet box out there and bring
it in on rainy days. (like i do now with the extension cords)
but this sure beats that little pump i bought that had no
power to get the water where i needed it!

 

[WayneB]

It's running tonight with 1 sprinkler, and it holds right
about 28 lbs, and the pump is running constantly. seems
ok, pump is a touch warm, not hot at all.
with the sprinkler i have, i don't really need any
more pressure.. so i think i'll let it go for now. the only
thing i could gain was a cycling of the pump, but
with the long extension cord i have i'm not worried
about it cycling anyway, one time it didn't come back on
and i think i'm losing some juice with 150' of extension
cords!
i probably should get some 12awg wire and make a long
run and put a weather tite outlet box out there and bring
it in on rainy days. (like i do now with the extension cords)
but this sure beats that little pump i bought that had no
power to get the water where i needed it!

Well, it sounds like it might be working okay. I wouldn't think you would want to cycle the pump as it is just fine to run continuously as long as there is water running through it.

You might want to see what the VAC is at the pump. I am sure there is a good drop with 150 feet of extension cord (s). Heavy gauge wire will certainly make it run better.

Just my two cents.

Wayne

 

[CurlyDave]

A typical pressure for a centrifugal pump is 30 psi.

If you have 28 or 29 that is just about right for a single stage pump.

 

[Dutch445]

I got my new extension cord today, 100' of 12/3.
that should keep my power up to snuff!

so it sounds ok, i'll just run it the way
it is for now and see how it goes.

thanks for the help