Shurflo Minimum amount of taps ???

[TerryEspo]

Good Evening Everyone:

I have been reading a few posts about how many taps a Shurflo can work with, BUT, I am wondering the opposite.

If I have a short run of 100FT of 1/2" poly and maybe 4-5 saddles, guessing each saddle will be handling 4-5 taps, so maybe 25 total taps feeding the pump.

That is not a lot of liquid the pump will be seeing. Yes, they can run dry, but I feel my pump will see less sap than most peoples here.

Is my diaphragm working harder having less liquid? Should I be trying to get more taps feeding the system?

I guess I can run some real long laterals to get more sap into the mainline if need.
Some trees I am looking at are bucket trees, (far from tubing system) but could be put into the system with lots of 5/16 being used.

Any suggestions or input is welcome please.

Thanks.

Terry

[TerryEspo]

O.K.,,,, little bump, single question.

Is there a minimum amount of taps needed in order to have a Shurflo pump connected ?

Thoughts ???

Thanks.

Terry

[DaveB]

The pumps are designed to run dry and my experience last year was that there were times when it would run and just gurgle out with not much liquid so I would think that 25 taps would be OK. I could be wrong but since they are designed to run dry, wouldn't it just be more of a matter of time it spent running vs. having a liquid in there?

[Biz]

The pump isn't working hard with no flow. I tested my Shurflo 4008, it's a 12V motor rated at 7.5 amps max. Running dry with no flow and pulling a vacuum it only pulls about 1.25 amps so it's very lightly stressed. It is probably working hard when pumping a lot of flow, or when pressure is high - which it isn't when used for vacuum. Mine will have only 10-15 taps this year so we will see how it works soon.

Dave

[Clinkis]

I used one last year on a lateral line with 22 taps and it worked flawlessly. Improved my flow 50-75%

[TerryEspo]

That is great news Clinkis, I think after working out back today I will have more than 22, but not 100-200 like some have.
Thanks.

Terry

[wnybassman]

I'll only have 20 on mine this year.