Shur-Dri SD-520 Won't Draw

For about sixteen years I used a Grundfos ѕ hp deep well on a timer to run 1 minute per hour on open discharge into an underground storage tank about 1600 feet away. In that tank I had a Grundfos Ѕ hp in a case that pressurized the tank for the house which was about 50 feet away. Two years ago I went to county water and repiped all the outside faucets to run off of the tank system. Last fall the system stopped working and recently I finally got around to going down into the tank and checking it out. The inlet on the Grundfos had rusted away. As I don’t like getting down into tank I decided to go with a shallow well mounted on top of the FloTec pressure tank in the basement. I bought a new Shur-Dri SD-520 convertible and used the ejector from another SD-520 that had been removed from an identical application (underground storage tank). I also used the foot valve from the other installation. After piping up everything and priming the pump I can not get it to draw from the tank. I called Shur-Dri on three different occasions fully explaining what I was attempting to do and giving them all the particulars. The last support tech insisted that it was the foot valve. So I drained the tank and installed a new foot valve. The VERY SAME problem still exists. I can fill the lines and let it stand over night and there is no water loss. Vertical lift is about 5 feet then about 50 feet horizontal then about another 3 feet vertical to the pump (which is mounted on the top of the FloTec tank) inlet. All piping is 1” PVC. When the pump is powered it will empty the pipe (full 1” stream at first then it goes to a thumb size stream then nothing) but will not draw from tank. ANY suggestions to alleviate this problem and get me moving forward would be greatly appreciated. Thanks James You said that all the piping is 1 PVC. First of all, 1 PVC is not big enough suction line for a jet pump that is sitting 50' away from the well. Most jet pumps (but not all) have at least an 1 1/4 suction port, and the suction piping should at least be that size. However, as the pump is moved further away from the well (or source of water) you have to increase the size of the suction piping to offset friction and elevation losses. The other issue that may have a bearing here, is whether the pipe from the water source to the pump is at least level, if not slightly uphill from the source to the pump. If the line goes downhill or has high spots, air pockets will be trapped at the high spots, which will cause the suction to break. This wasn't much of an issue when the pump was in the tank, but it certainly is now that the pump is 50' away and having to lift water. The ideal situation (if you want to use the Shur-Dri) is to set it on top of the water source and use correctly sized piping. Ron Ron Thanks for the input. I recently (before your post) spoke with a Shur-Dri tech that said almost identically what you said, both relative to the pipe diameter and also as to the feasibility of putting the pump on top of the tank. He also said that for each elbow an increase in lift of 7' is 'felt' by the pump. Should I also put the pressure tank on the water tank or does it matter? If I left it in the house it would be easier to build a covering for just the pump. If I put all new pipe in with 1 1/4 would that cure the problem? Would going to 1 1/2 pipe be beneficial? If I go to a larger pipe there is one section (about 8) where the pipe goes through the tank (cast in the tank) that is 1 pipe. Does this defeat any effort to go to a larger pipe? Again THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your knowledgeable input. James You can leave the tank where it is. If you have to use the 1 pipe that's through the tank, you can. That short piece will just cut back on the flow capabilities of the pump just slightly. Since the pump will sit on the water source, use the same size pipe as the suction port as much as possible. Ron

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