Team-BHP - The Home Water Pump Thread

I am looking for a new water pump for my water pipeline connection. The current motor - Sarvo Zappy is over 15 years old. It's winding has been replaced once and shaft etc have also been replaced recently but I am facing motor jamming problem frequently. I have to manually push the shaft blades then it starts rotating but gets jammed after few days again. There is no issue with water pressure that is being pumped. Not sure if it is again the shaft that is causing the problem or a weak capacitor that is not able to start the motor after an overnight.

I may take it to a local electrician for one last fix but I am also looking for a replacement. Please suggest if it is worth to get it again repaired for Approx Rs.500-700 or go for a new one (Avg cost - Rs. 2500). Browsing online gave me a few options like Kirloskar and VGuard motors. I need an 0.5 hp pump that is enough to fill water tank placed on the second floor.We also have another Sarvo motor recently installed for other section of the house. Sarvo motors are reliable but are bit expensive - nearly 5k for a 1hp motor.

Anyone using below pumps available for sale through Amazon/Flipkart -

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluevolt (Post 4641375)

I have to manually push the shaft blades then it starts rotating but gets jammed after few days again. There is no issue with water pressure that is being pumped.

Not sure if it is again the shaft that is causing the problem or a weak capacitor that is not able to start the motor after an overnight.

Please suggest if it is worth to get it again repaired for Approx Rs.500-700 or go for a new one (Avg cost - Rs. 2500). Browsing online gave me a few options like Kirloskar and VGuard motors. We also have another Sarvo motor recently installed for other section of the house.

Having spent most of my childhood working in my uncle's motor re-winding workshop, from whatever I have seen, your problem is most likely due to weak Capacitor. A crude way of checking a capacitor is, charge, unplug, leave for sometime and short it. A strong capacitor will spark aggressively on shorting. Capacitors wear over time and Motors refuse to start. There is no need to change motor for a weak capacitor.

Since you already have another motor at home, check the capacitance of its capacitor (250 or 125 micro farad). Higher is fine. Plug it in to the suspect motor and check if that solves. Then buy a new capacitor from local electrical shop (should cost about 200-300).

Induction motors are quite robust. They go on for years without much maintenance. However the mechanicals such as bearings need regular lubrication. Warping of shafts are unusual for 0.5 hp pumps, but rusting can be a trouble especially for unused/less-used pumps. Bearings also wear. But these issues will result in excessive vibration and noise. If the shaft is very tight when you rotate manually followed by loud noise while running, we can suspect issues with shaft/bearing/lubrication.

If the capacitor change didn't work, the pump is not that noisy running, then this could be also a problem with starting coil. In which case, you may consider re-winding it or complete replacing.

If you think, not worth taking all the hassle for a 15 year old pump, and prefer to buy a new one, then my choice among your list goes to Kirloskar.

I have been using Kirloskar Chotu for the past 1 year and is used to pump water from sump to a 1000L tank on the 2nd floor.
This pump is very small/compact compared to other .5 hp pumps in the market and the flow rate is slightly lesser at a much lesser power consumption. They claim it can be run even on a ups though I am yet to test it on UPS.
We don't have to use everyday as we have enough water pressure from the mains which fills the overhead tank, but on some days, that may not happen and that's when we have to use this pump.

I have been using Crompton 1hp (mini master) for past 9 years, used daily for about 40 minutes to fill up tanks at 4th floor (15 meters) and there are absolutely no issues so far. It fills up about 1000 litres in 30 minutes from ground to 4th floor.

I would certainly recommend it.

Your pump has already served for 15 years, the electrical efficiency of current generation pumps has improved drastically and you must consider replacing old pump. You will be happy with this decision.

Be prepared to spend upward of 5k for a good 1 hp pump.