43
votes
Can I use two 30A breakers together for a 60A water pump?
No, and the level of "not understand what you are doing" is concerning.
60A at 240V (220 is at least 50 years out of date) is also 60A at 120V, twice. Two 30A 120V breakers are exactly ...
- 202k
36
votes
Accepted
How can I pump water from our 2nd floor down to 1st floor drainage?
You can find a manual siphon pump at any large hardware or automotive store. It will look like a hand-sized rubber bulb, or possibly like a small hand-operated bike pump, with a hose on each end.
An ...
- 529
28
votes
How can I pump water from our 2nd floor down to 1st floor drainage?
A method that will work in your case is to coil up the entire hose in the water to be removed or ensure that the hose is completely filled by filling one end from the faucet until the other ceases to ...
- 10.7k
27
votes
How can I fill a wheelbarrow tire when the bead is gapped away from the rim?
Looks like the typical gap one gets when mounting a tubeless tire. You'll need to get the bead to seat against the rim as you pump air (hopefully quickly) into the tire - a hand pump might not do it. ...
- 1,559
25
votes
Can I gain AC efficiency by spraying condensate water on the outdoor coils?
Clamp Power Meter
Buy or borrow a clamp power-meter with a "kWh" feature, that is, the ability to perform an energy measurement.
Not all clamp meters have this, e.g. a "True RMS" ...
- 15.8k
21
votes
In what situations could "dirty water leak into" municipal water pipes besides a catastrophic loss of pressure?
When there is no flow in an underground water supply pipe under pressure, a small crack or a loose joint in the pipe can only leak water. Contaminants can't get in.
However, as soon as there is flow, ...
- 10.9k
19
votes
How can I fill a wheelbarrow tire when the bead is gapped away from the rim?
If you're not afraid of a little fire then this could work:
https://youtu.be/DJiqbAVsxRY
Put on some safety glasses, preferably tinted
Put on some rubber gloves
Put on some ear protection
Have a ...
- 16.5k
18
votes
Can I use two 30A breakers together for a 60A water pump?
The right breaker is $12.
(I'm being generous here) you are confused about how 120/240V split-phase works. A lot of people think you multiply amps by 2 when going from 1 phase to 2 phases, or the ...
15
votes
How can I pump water from our 2nd floor down to 1st floor drainage?
Wanted to add a clarification to the auto-siphon technique - you do not need to fill up the entire hose. You only need to fill up enough to make it without air gaps to a level below your siphon ...
- 250
15
votes
Can I gain AC efficiency by spraying condensate water on the outdoor coils?
See other answer for how to test for actual efficiency gain, but you're basically cooling your output coil with a swamp cooler. In commercial settings it's called a free cooler. Water is either ...
- 2,268
14
votes
Can I gain AC efficiency by spraying condensate water on the outdoor coils?
Disclaimer: This question is about Air Conditioners. The "You" discussed below is an air conditioner owner. This answer is not about heat pumps, which are a different class of equipment (...
11
votes
How can I fill a wheelbarrow tire when the bead is gapped away from the rim?
Take it to the local tire store, and ask them to inflate it - they'll use their bead-blaster machine to mount it. Should be little to no cost.
The next time it happens, ask the tire store to put an ...
- 1,426
10
votes
How can I pump water from our 2nd floor down to 1st floor drainage?
If you want to avoid having to restart the siphon periodically, a useful trick may be to shape the hose into a sort of "S" shape, with the inside end extending to near the bottom of the tub, and the ...
- 1,018
9
votes
Can I gain AC efficiency by spraying condensate water on the outdoor coils?
If you gather and archive a local source of weather data, and operate the mist system on alternate days for a while, you should be able to gather a pretty good sense of the effect on power use, ...
- 202k
9
votes
In what situations could "dirty water leak into" municipal water pipes besides a catastrophic loss of pressure?
Backsiphonage and backpressure
The situation you ask about in your question is called backsiphonage, where pressure demand (suction) in a line that isn't adequately pressurized pulls in contaminants. ...
- 81.8k
8
votes
In what situations could "dirty water leak into" municipal water pipes besides a catastrophic loss of pressure?
Here happened that a factory (wine bottling facility) pushed pollutant (wine in our case) in the city water mains. Authorities said the pressure used by the facility was higher than the acquaduct's ...
- 2,377
7
votes
Accepted
Can I run my washing machine drain line into a condensate pump so it drains better?
I think you have a couple of factors to consider in using a condensate pump.
One is the volume of water per unit time relative to what the pump can handle. A condensate pump is going to expect a ...
- 10.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Can some wet/dry vacs indeed continuously pump water?
There are two solutions:
Wet/dry "Pump" Vac
Look for a wet/dry vac that is labeled "pump" (the manufacturer will likely draw a nice hose with fresh water prominently on the box).
Such wet/dry vacs ...
- 1,205
6
votes
What shouldn’t be dumped into a basement dump sink?
Sewer pumps are designed for specific uses and their ability to handle different liquids and solids varies hugely. Read the documentation for your specific one.
The most common enemies:
For all ...
- 34.3k
6
votes
How can reduce swimming pool pump vibration through the ground?
If you can feel the vibration standing next to it that is what's transferring noise into your house. I don't think a barrier will be of much use. My pool pump doesn't make any noticeable vibration. ...
- 1,814
6
votes
Can abruptly turning the main power switch to a heat pump off while running in cool mode damage the unit?
In my experience turning off a compressor while it is running does not cause damage. What can cause damage is to immediately turn it back on before the pressure on the high side has had a chance to ...
- 20.9k
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a Plastic Barb to PVC Pipe pipe fitting?
Sometimes the hose barb fittings on a pump or device are removable so you can swap them for another fitting that suits your use. Here, it looks like the hose barbs are molded into the plastic of the ...
- 4,389
5
votes
Foot valve leaking? Other solutions to priming pump
Option 1 - better foot valve, or better seal/gasket in the foot valve you have.
Option 2 - set up an easy priming solution, if 3 days between pump starts is typical. i.e. have a reserve tank (above ...
- 202k
4
votes
Is a high electric bill for a pump house caused by a well pump running constantly?
I saw this at a house in NH -- crazy high electric bills caused by a corroded pipe nipple between the tank and the the pressure switch. The pump was running all the time, but since there was no pilot ...
- 216
4
votes
I have a 30amp 240 breaker going to a 240v water pump. I want to protect each leg with a GFI
In short, no. Each leg of a 240v circuit is is 180° out of phase and they share a common neutral. If both legs are hot, it will trip a 1 pole GFCI because the opposite phases cancel each other out on ...
- 6,905
4
votes
Accepted
What does the 26/6 mean in a pump rating?
It has been a few years since I looked at specs on one but the two numbers are identified as Q/H or (m3/h by m). (m = meters)
To my understanding Q is volume of flow in m³/h (25), so how many cubic ...
- 1,078
4
votes
Accepted
Water pump as air pump or vacuum pump
You cannot use a water pump to pump air. A water pump is designed to move fluid with a viscosity and density that is 1000 times greater than air. The water pump needs the lubrication and cooling of ...
- 20.9k
4
votes
How can I fill a wheelbarrow tire when the bead is gapped away from the rim?
I've had decent luck using a couple of plastic bags and even saran wrap. I rolled them up and placed them near the rim so that it fills in the gap enough to get a better seal. The pump then works well ...
- 141
4
votes
How can I pump water from our 2nd floor down to 1st floor drainage?
Siphoning will work, and how hard it is has little to do with how long the hose is going DOWN, its the distance from the top of the liquid to the highest point of the hose. (before someone very exact ...
- 141
4
votes
How can I pump water from our 2nd floor down to 1st floor drainage?
Install a sink above the 3' height
The root of your problem is that your wash water is on the floor. Most people with sinks have the sink at some height above the floor. And I have a feeling you, ...
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