Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

salto_jorge

May 15, 2011, 10:28 PM

Post #1 of 9 (2795 views)

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Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

For some reason our place is going through a pump every 9 to 12 months.
The pumps have been replaced by our plumer and are costing us about 1800pp each time.

Please let me know if you have a pump and how long they last.

If you know the brand that would also help me out, I unfortunately do not know the brand that I have and hate climbing the ladder to the roof where the good old black water tank is located.

morgaine7

May 16, 2011, 5:48 AM

Post #2 of 9 (2781 views)

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Re: [salto_jorge] Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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You might want to check out these fairly recent discussions:
http://www.mexconnect.com/...orum.cgi?post=156639
http://www.mexconnect.com/...orum.cgi?post=147095

I've had my Rowa pump for three years and my Rotabomba for a few months longer. No problems at all with the Rowa. The Rotabomba occasionally loses its prime, but that's easily fixed in my case because it's at ground level.

Kate

sparks

May 16, 2011, 5:53 AM

Post #3 of 9 (2779 views)

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Re: [salto_jorge] Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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I don't have pressure problems but use a small blue Rotoplas pump to get water up to the tinaco. It cost about 900 pesos. 1800 sounds like a major well pump and more than you need to boost pressure.

Also our local pump rebuild guy can fix about any problem for from 150-200 pesos

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

Rolly / Moderator

May 16, 2011, 7:13 AM

Post #4 of 9 (2768 views)

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Re: Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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We've had a pressure system for 11 years and have lost only one pump. That was due to metal fatigue. The fracture could not be repaired.

I have friends who have had several failures due to the pump's having drawn air instead of water. That is easily repairable and does not require replacing the pump..

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
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johanson

May 16, 2011, 9:15 AM

Post #5 of 9 (2747 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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My pressure pump has been working well for more than ten years. What brand is it? I don't know, because I'm up north and can't go look.

What type of protection do I have to ensure that the pump doesn't burn out? Well, I have a cut off switch should the voltage be too high or to low and the pump is below the storage tank which has always had water in it. Therefore the pump has never sucked air.

sparks

May 16, 2011, 4:48 PM

Post #6 of 9 (2723 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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In Reply To

I have friends who have had several failures due to the pump's having drawn air instead of water. That is easily repairable and does not require replacing the pump..

My cisterna pump and tubing runs dry regularly is why I don't have it on automatic. Plumber says it's the pichancha valve on the cistern intake but we are at odds with each other so I have to change it (or clean it).

I must have the highest street pressure in Mexico because both first and second story tinacos fill easily from the street. I can also "water the street" for most of my block from the front of my house. Because of the high street pressure we decided to install 3 2-way pressure valves (válvulas) that sense street pressure and will switch to tinaco pressure when needed.

System is only 3 months old and totally mechanical so we'll see

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

salto_jorge

May 17, 2011, 7:27 AM

Post #7 of 9 (2694 views)

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Re: [sparks] Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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Our home came with a booster pump on the second floor roof next to the tinaco in the gravity fed system.
All the systems are on "Automatic", use flotante electrico and mecanico in the configuration.
The design of the system could be a mess from several plumbers working on it resulting in a nightmare.
The bomba (cisterna to tinaco) has been replaced/exchanged 2-3 times and the booster pump replaced/exchanged 1-2 ( and needs another) in 3 years.

Due to water issues in zapopan the tinaco and cisterna basically run extremely low (empty) once to several times a month.

I plan on purchasing a booster pump myself and having it installed instead of the plumbers exchanging things and charging me for the labor. I have watched them actually replace the parts but do not know where the parts came from.

YucaLandia

May 17, 2011, 11:50 AM

Post #8 of 9 (2677 views)

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Re: [salto_jorge] Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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I have installed 3 Evans brand hydro-pneumatico pressure systems here. Their pumps have worked ok, but they do have a weakness in the little 1/4" tube that feeds pressure from the pump head to the pressure/on/off switch. The poly-tube that Evans uses fails in just one year of partial sun exposure here. (Solutions: when new cover carefully with several layers of aluminum foil to block UV light, or replace with exterior grade tubing.) The only other problems we've experienced with these 3 systems are dead ants fouling the electrical contacts on one, (Solution: make piles of ant poison powder around the pump motor's mounting feet); and another had a slightly leaking check valve between the pump and the tinaco.

What exactly is going wrong with your pumps?
Are the bearings going bad? Maybe screeching, or locking-up causing the motor to seize up and burn up the windings?
If you have bearing problems, you might need to protect the motor from weather?

Does your pump cycle on and off a lot? Very few local plumbers here seem to know how to properly adjust the pressure settings on the pump,. Or, instead, if it cycles for an appropriate length of time, but then cycles back on after just 15 min to an hour of no water usage, then you may have a leaking check valve or a leak in the system that causes your system to burn up pumps?
-
Read-on MacDuff
E-visit at http://yucalandia.wordpress.com/

(This post was edited by YucaLandia on May 17, 2011, 12:25 PM)

salto_jorge

May 18, 2011, 8:55 AM

Post #9 of 9 (2643 views)

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Re: [YucaLandia] Is anyone using a Pressure Booster Pump (water) in Mexico ?

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The pumps fail to start, (new) Plumber/Electrician said that they were budget models and undersized causing the motor to burn out.