Where's my eyeball!

[DCAG]

My PB told me NOT to put the eyeball in the return (all the time) as that makes the pump work harder, and reduces it's life. He said, basically, to only use it occasionally. Right now I have the eyeball's threaded ring in, but not the eye itself. Water movement is excellent, so it's not really needed, I'm just less likely to lose it if it's in the return. (Where's my eye? I can't find my eyeball!! :lol: ) I don't remember if/how much it increased pressure with it in... I'll have to put it in and see...

Thoughts?

Dan

 

[Bama Rambler]

I can't see why that would hurt the pump. I CAN see where it'd hurt the circulation by not being able to aim the flow out of the return. What size eyeball do you have? I have a 1" and my pressure runs about 10 PSI.

 

[DCAG]

I didn't think it would hurt the pump either, but... who knows?

The eyeball I have is 1 inch., and without it, it's about 10 PSI.

 

[mas985]

Actually, it is just the opposite. Eyeballs increase head loss in the plumbing system, albeit very small increase but more head loss means less flow rate so the pump is in fact working less hard with the eyeballs. This is apparent if you were to look at the current draw from the pump. You would find that the pump will draw less current with the eyeballs installed than without. Although with or without, the operating point is still well within the normal operating range so it really shouldn't affect the life of the pump.

The amount of work produced by the pump is proportional to the pressure delivered times the flow rate delivered. However, it takes more energy to create kinetic motion (flow) than it does to create potential energy (pressure) so the pump will both produce and use more energy, the higher the flow rate is.

However, what you will find is that the GPM/Watt is higher at higher flow rates so the pump will be more efficient without the eyeballs than with them although the difference is probably pretty small. I would use them if they serve a purpose for circulation which I think they do.