Repurposing Booster Pump for Sheer Decents?

[stshields91]

I have a PB4SQ booster pump that was installed with my new pool. I took the plunge on a robot cleaner and was curious if that booster pump may be able to be repurposed for my water feature, which is three Sheer Decents.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to consider this so any of y'all experienced with this or have thought through the pros/cons of it?

 

[ajw22]

Booster pumps cannot run on their own and need to be fed by the filter pump.

 

[JamesW]

A booster pump does not have the correct performance curve for a sheer descent.

A booster is high head (pressure) and low flow (GPM).

A sheer requires low pressure and high flow.

The booster will just max out at low pressure and the motor will overheat.

 

[JamesW]

This describes the amount of flow per linear foot of sheer vs. projection.

If you have 6 feet of sheer and you want 18" of projection from a 3 foot high sheer, then you need about 15 GPM per foot, which is about 90 GPM, which is way beyond what a booster can do.

 

[JamesW]

https://cdn.fluidrausa.com/-/media/zodiac/global/downloads/jandy/water-features/h0347100.pdf

 

[stshields91]

Thanks again for all the help here! My own though experiments on how it may work left me with the impression that it was unlikely to. Thanks a million for the link to the PDF @JamesW ! I can now save that info with the rest of my equipment docs!

 

[1poolman1]

I have a PB4SQ booster pump that was installed with my new pool. I took the plunge on a robot cleaner and was curious if that booster pump may be able to be repurposed for my water feature, which is three Sheer Decents.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to consider this so any of y'all experienced with this or have thought through the pros/cons of it?

Booster pumps become very noisy when the restriction of the actual cleaner is removed.

 

[JamesW]

Here is a waterfall pump for comparison of performance curves vs. a booster pump.

A 3 hp variable speed pump is nice because you can adjust the flow to make the sheers perform as you like.

Pumps usually fall into three main categories; High Head, Medium Head and Low Head.

Booster pumps are specialty pump designed for extra high head.

Waterfall pumps are designed for extra low head.

Waterfall pumps are typically run at 1,725 RPM compared to a regular single speed pump, which runs at 3,450 RPM.

A variable speed pump runs at any speed from about 600 RPM to 3,450 RPM.

A big 3 hp variable speed pump has a big impeller and it operates a lot like a waterfall pump at slower speeds.

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/pumps/waterfall/WaterFall_Specialty_Pump_English.pdf

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