1/2 HP Clear Water Pump H.D. Farm, Home

Yes you do have to prime it, but give me a break, its not near as hard as other reviewers made it sound. I sprayed the line full of water with a hose, and turned it on. Worked great. If if the occational air pocket runs through the pump, it still recovers quickly on its own without re-priming it.I can't tell whether the gallons per minute, etc. are correct, but it is meeting my expectations just fine.Here is what I am using it for:I recently bought a spa and find that little pebbles, and sand collect from people walking accross the concrete and picking it up on their way in. They make overpriced hand pumps to suck it up with. They run anywhere from 50 dollars (for a glorified squirt gun that you have to hold your thumb over while you suck it up, then squirt it out on the ground and start over) to hundreds or thousands of dollars for a battery powerd vacuum. thats just crazy.anyway, I bought a whole house filter (amazon) for about 28 bucks. This pump was cheap, and I made a hose with a pvc pipe to stick in the spa to suck up the sand, grit, and anything else. the hose connects to the filter, which then runs to the pump which has a hose leading back into the spa. So for about 75 bucks total, I made a filter that can drain my spa in about 20 minutes. I can use it to pre-filter the water as I fill my spa back up, and best of all, I now have a filter to pick up heavy, or hard to get stuff that collects at the bottom. If I leave the pump going for about 20 minutes, it essencially can run my entire spa through it to filter it all. This will sure save me on the 70 dollar filter replacements for my hot tub (I wont have to use it near as much if I am pre-filtering the water I fill it up with, and also filter water every week or so).Hope this helps someone. This is a great pump so far. I accidentally dropped the output hose on it which pumped probably a gallon of water onto the pump while it was running. didn't even phase the pump, although It scared me pretty bad.

Works well enough for minor jobs. Instructions are terrible. The threaded holes are 1" but your standard hose is 3/4". Initially the motor motor would not turn even after adding wd40. After many tries it finally started turning. Then it would not suck any water from a bucket. It appeared to have no suction. Then I figured out that you have to "manually" suck some water into the pump and that water creates the suction and then the pump works great.

Great value for intermittent garden use. I installed this pump under my deck to feed of my 4 ground level rain barrels and hard wired it to an out door switch with a longer wire.I take down all piping and take the pump inside for the winter here in Canada. Yes, the pump is inexpensively constructed. the motor body is thin cast white metal and would be hard to repair, electrical cover is thin plastic, the tin fan cover fits very loosely and the bolts joining the pump and fan ends to the motor body have no lockwashers and might easily strip the threads in the body. However anyone with basic electrical and mechanical skills can easily manage these inconveniences. Firstly, I haven't had any rust problems. The pump was installed at a level = half my barrels' height and the pump therefor had no head problem but it is always filled with water and after 6 weeks it tripped the GFI. Even though a little exposed to rain, it was the water leaking past the seal between the pump and the motor when idle but with no way out, that filled the motor cavity with water (tiny leakage is normal but can't accumulate), this created a fading short on the hot side. I disassembled the pump, dried it out and drilled a couple of 1/4" holes in the bottom of the motor body on either side of the stator, so the water won't accumulate. With 1" pump inlet(fed from four 1/2" rainbarrel lines) and 5/8" garden hose outlet, presssure and volume are great. Some suggestions 1) put a thin bead of silicone caulk around the rim of the fan cover it will hold the cover on and is easily removeable. 2) a pair of long needlenose pliers at the center of the plastic fan blades will easily pry it off. 3) the 3 short bolts holding the ends of the pump to the main body cylinder will strip easily so do not over tighten. On the other hand, they can be replaced with a little longer nut, bolt and lockwasher sets 4) the cast iron end cap under the fan blade is weaker than it looks, but light pressure from a good fitting wheel puller attached under the cap mounting holes will take it off. 5) Paint the inside of the pump and motor body with rustoleum paint. 5)the ballbearings are standard, cheap and easy to find on the Internet. All this probably applies to the 1hp model also sold here. It's basic old technology so very easy to work on. Unless you get a problem that requires motor rewind, you should be able to fix any problem with this pump. If you want all this already done for you buy a $280 pump for silver-platter service (maybe).This one is a little work but 1/10th the price.

Good little pump but only lasted 3 months used it for 5 hours a day with clear water then it will not turn over anymore

This little pump does only one thing, but does it very well: pump water. It will give about six gallons per minute for as long as you want. BUT...It runs very hot (about 200 deg F), and uses the water being pumped to keep it from overheating. Therefore, it HAS to be run wet. They provide a port for priming. Since it is a centrifugal pump, it is not self-priming, but it does allow water to flow straight through. So get some water in the pump and its input line, then turn it on. When the source runs dry, turn it off. Right then. This pump should give years of service, as long as it is kept wet. And every other half-horse pump I have found costs at least three times as much. They are more versatile, but this one is perfect if, like me, all you are pumping is water and you can keep it wet.