"Pinocchio Brandy"
One of our competitors websites claims the founder is a plumber ? If so, the information we received indicates he no longer shows up on any jobsite, and he never scuba dived any pump install.
This company openly admits they install brands of pumps using Chinese motors (in fact, we are not aware of ANY competitor in Austin that does not use these Chinese pumps - - they all do). They are also known to prefer installing so called constant pressure systems (VFD's), but buyer beware, those computer devices which are highly susceptible to lightning - electrical damages.
Austin Lake Pumps has sufficient inventory of American made Franklin pumps - - the best in the business. Rumors are that all our competitors are scrambling to try to obtain the Franklin motors which are no longer designed for their pump ends.
Some background: the Xylem/Centripro/Gould's/ITT/Red Jacket, Sta-Rite, and others were exclusively using Franklin motors for decades before they all converted to obtaining their 4" motors from a Chinese motor factory known as “Faradyne”.
A note about installing Lake pumps:
Mounting pumps onto/under boat docks is not recommended, as the theft rate and the intake of weeds and debri is typically higher in the shallow water columns. This “plumber” company is known to install their pumps into too finely slotted filter piping shown below that was designed for downhole vertical water wells which mostly have clear well water - - not to be used for dirty lake water full of algae, weeds, and scum. We have recovered from the local lakes several of what they refer to as their “pump stands” which the proper term is a pump shroud or flow sleeve, only to discover all the too fine slots are completely clogged with scum, algae, etc. These slots are so fine that you may be able to barely slide a sheet of paper into each slot of the brand new pipe. Due to global warming, the water temperatures near the surface of area lakes in summertime can reach 86 or 87F, which is the high side temperature limit of pump manufacturers, water temperatures down at depth are substantially cooler leading to longer life of equipment. Special motors are available for even higher water temperatures, but no one desires to pay extra for them.
On the other hand, Austin Lake Pumps has multiple exclusive innovations in our custom pump shrouds or flow sleeves that are time tested and proven:
All our shrouds/flow sleeves are designed to maintain a specifically engineered flow of water to allow the pump motor to remain at safe operating temperatures.
We use best practices to “center” the pump motor in the flow sleeve so as to prevent mud and silt accumulation from blocking proper flow of cooling water (and BTW, you can't achieve this with standard sch. 40, 4 inch PVC pipe in the region of the motor)
Mount the pump shroud so the pump and motor possesses more than the recommended minimum angle as recommended by the manufacturer.
Use a technically innovative filtration material on our uprights to yield 400% to 500% more filter area and smaller micron filter size than simple slotted PVC piping.
ALL our PVC shroud fittings are schedule 40 grade with minimum 200+ psi rating to prove how strong sch. 40 is, none are the cheaper sewer grade fittings (no pressure rating) which is what we are discovering on our competitors "stands" or shrouds when we are called out to recover them from the lakes. You can see the curved outlets of the cheaper sewer fittings from our "plumber" competitor in the image below:
Take note of the cheaper black colored plastic well seals on the image below (colored electrical wires emerge from these well seals). We absolutely NEVER install cheaper plastic well seals as they are almost guaranteed to come loose and "pop out" after time underwater, which destroys the intended cooling water flow required over the pump motor, we only use the tried and true more expensive cast iron well seals. Also the 4 bolts used on plastic well seals seize up after only a few months underwater so of those that don't "pop out" on their own, the ones that do persist cannot be removed, we have witnessed this first hand several times on competitors installs. If the plastic well seal cannot be pried out (rare) you are really in a pickle. The bolts used in cast iron well seals never seize on us.
Typical amateur mistake above by one of our competitors:
Take note:
1) This is a much too finely slotted horizontal pipe on these 2 pump shrouds. Actually, this pipe is manufactured specifically for screening out
sand in water wells where you don't typically have scum and algae - - - but these intake slots will clog up rapidly from algae, scum and zebra
mussels in lakewater (we have seen it all too often).
2) A serious portion of the intake slots are all the way past the motor and pump intakes, reducing effective cooling of the pump at least 50%.
The pump is inside this pump shroud and the pump intakes are typically in the middle, close to where the red line is drawn. All the slots to the
RIGHT of the red line are not passing cooling water over the motor first as they should be in a proper design. This CHINESE pump motor
could easily fail early.
3) Once these slots do clog up, the motor/pump will be starved for water flow and the motor can suffer excessive heat damage not being
cooled properly.
4) These dozens of fine intake slots are perpendicular to the pipe, exactly as if the pipe had been "scored", ready to be snapped, just like a
scored sheet of glass. A boat anchor or other stress will make short work of this piping. If a child sits on this horizontal top pipe it will snap.
Why place something so delicate in the lake ? Is it because the contractor wants to get called back and charge more $$$ to do more service
work ?
5) The pump shroud above will likely roll over at first grab of an anchor and if it does not snap, the entire slotted top pipe will then be
submerged in the mud, sucking mud in everytime the pump operates. How would anyone know to go right it ? All the sprinkler system filters
may start to show muddy debri, next the property owner has to end up paying his irrigator @ $75 or $80 an hour for 3/4 day or more to go
clean out every little filter in every sprinkler in the whole yard (typically hundreds of little filters and clogged spray nozzles).
When the algae and muck in the lake clog up these slots, then the pump is STARVED, it struggles to suction water, this will result in cavitation bubbles, which will destroy a pump.
Fair use is claimed for educational / instructional purposes. A larger version of this photo can be seen on the internet.
The better option:
Austin Lake Pumps offers as a premium, 1st class option a custom built pump shroud above which has a lifetime guarantee against mechanical breakage from boats or anchors.
This super brute HDPE and steel pump shroud is sloped at an angle as all pump manufacturers prefer, to increase pump thrust bearing life and help prevent sludge buildup,
and it has no brittle PVC fittings. The oversize, brute pump shroud tube is >1/2" thick wall HDPE polymer, so strong you could drive a truck over it without damage.
The black HDPE pump water pipe coming off the pump on this shroud has two custom sweep bends (no fittings to break loose).
You can literally anchor grab this pipe string and yank it around all you want. At the trade show one of our HDPE vendors used to
suspend a cast iron fire hydrant for 3 days continuous off a similar HDPE poly pipe. The main frame is heavy welded rod and a piece of 8 inch oil
field pipe with 2 stainless bolts/nuts to bond the 8 inch steel collar to the HDPE poly pipe. The black tape wrapped around the
yellow HDPE poly pipe shroud represents where the submersible pump water intakes would suction water internally. Lake water
is not suctioned in from the sealed bottom end of the yellow HDPE poly pipe, it is allowed in through a large port cut downward
facing on the yellow pipe at least 14 inches up off the lake bottom. 2 bags of concrete mix are installed underwater to harden,
the bags are placed inside each corner of the steel framework to stabilize against floods and boat anchors.
This new custom pump shroud is the result of more than 28 years of design and engineering.
We have discovered this premium custom shroud takes considerable time to weld and fabricate.
It can be used most effectively where sufficient water depth allows.
We still offer an all PVC pump shroud in our economy line, for those who choose it.
Above is a prime example of boat prop damage to submersible lake pump cable where a local pump company
laid the pump cable and piping in too shallow of an area even though there was a deep channel nearby
Above: even galvanized steel pipes are no match for the wear and tear of improperly secured lake pump piping.
Constant wave action against a concrete footing took it's toll over more than 25 years.
The internal check valves of pumps provided by the pump manufacturers are often not as reliable as the "aftermarket" brass check valves we install.
Above an internal check has failed.
When lightning struck it shredded the insulation off the wires for several feet inside the outer jacket.
The circuit breaker was also damaged.
Another submersible pump on the other side of the neighborhood which suffered the same fate as the one previous. Note the vertical pipes open at the tops. What do you think will happen if a ice bag or HEB shopping bag slowly settles down to depth and is sucked into one of these pipes ? This job was installed by one of our competitors and is not the proper way to design a pump shroud.
Sorta like atherosclerosis of arteries, eh ? All this rough accumulation inhibits the flow of water in the pipe reducing the overall performance of the system.
Yet another example of improper sealing of the wire connections of a lake pump. The red arrow points to the greenish oxidation of the copper.
A rocksaw was employed to make the cut (below), a proper sleeve and a new pressure pipe were installed.
Quite a lot of pipes side by side
What would you guess made this hole ?
Here is a rare "Double Cascade of Triple Isolation Power Relays" required because the landscape and irrigation company
refused to accept that their irrigation controller transformer / multiple cuts of the control wires by them were their fault.
So the system had aged and was defective, and did not have enough juice to actuate the power
relays down in the boathouse anymore. The owner was preferring a solution that did not involved digging up hundreds of feet of his lawn.
This company had originally installed THREE separate irrigation controllers in different spots to control the irrigation system for this property
on Flat Top Ranch Road, what a nightmare, they really should have had their licensed pulled (but then they would just hire another lic. irrigator).
Austin Lake Pumps now has alternative electronic module control solutions that will also solve this problem.
Here is an example of an electrocution accident just waiting to happen on the shores of Lake McQueeney, right at water's edge.
I witnessed two precious little 6 yr. old year girls tandem skiing behind an old Evinrude outboard go right past me as I was standing there, mouth agape, just like a movie scene from the 1950's
Notice all the random wires, many not rated for submersion in water.
That red wire is NOT fastened, it merely passes over the ground terminal which is empty.
Yes, no grounding again on a sizeable 480 volt 3 phase pump system on Lake Austin, fortunately far from the main body of the lake, up a slue.
Approx. 50% of the existing pump systems we are called out to service are not grounded at all, which can increase the chances
of electrocution shock drowning and also increased possibility of damage to the pump during lightning strikes.
Be wary of anyone offering so called constant pressure valves as a solution because they will result in too high of pressure losses and therefore are not beneficial for obtaining maximum pressure with the most common type of pump used on most installations.
Here is an example of a well Xtrol water well bladder tank which was installed on a lake pump system inside of two white plastic bags. Did the installer really believe this was going to give extra protection from rust ?
These tanks are usually used in combination with a pressure switch to allow an "on demand" system to function properly, but this lake pump was already controlled by the irrigation controller over 300 feet up the cliff which is the preferred method. However, even though there was a water faucet to explain why an "on demand" system would be needed there was no evidence that a pressure switch had ever been installed to control this system. there was also no evidence of a manual pump switch for a water faucet.
It is conceivable this tank could have been installed to protect against water hammer. The tank was removed since it had rusted through.
It's always amazing to me how poorly some contractors will mount a lake pump. This one had only a piece of irrigation wire and some nylon tie straps holding it to the dock underneath.
This is a defective pressure relief valve on a lake pump system which was stuck in the "always open" position. You can imagine what this does to system pressure when the pump comes on not to mention the constant loss of the column of water in the mainline (in between proper check valves) up & down the cliffside everytime an irrigation cycle is finished. Everytime the pump comes to start a cycle that column of mainline water must be refilled and it rushes up the cliffside pushing the air out until it hits the sprinkler heads at high velocity causing a shock which is not healthy for the pipe, fittings and heads. This defective pressure relief valve was replaced with a much higher quality model.
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2 images above
Problem: Centrifugal pump installed by others worked fine in this location last season but would not build pressure this year:
A) Pump impellers worn or damaged ?
B) Foot valve clogged up ?
C) Suction pipe clogged or has a pinhole or crack ?
D) ?
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Just Some Interesting Images of Life in Austin, TX:
Boss Hoss sighting, on South Lamar
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I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Dr. Robert "Bob" Metcalfe at the 2017 UT Longhorn Startup Program.
Dr. Metcalfe is the Father of Wired Ethernet and founder of 3COM, and he also known from time to time for some comedy.
He is perhaps best known (in comedy) for his 1995 prediction that the Internet would suffer a "catastrophic collapse" the following year;
he promised to eat his words if it did not. During his keynote speech at the sixth International World Wide Web Conference in 1997,
he took a printed copy of his column that predicted the collapse, put it in a blender on stage with some liquid and then consumed the pulpy mass.
This was after he tried to eat his words in the form of a very large cake, but the audience strongly protested. (Wikipedia)
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Some of our customers have unique signs at their lakehouses
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and next to their properties
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Lake Pump Provider to the Stars ! Jaston Williams of Greater Tuna fame, next to the historical Starnes cabin he owned. Mr. Williams had Austin Lake Pumps install a pump system to provide for his cabin.
Jaston owned the Starnes cabin (complete with a courtroom and jailhouse) next to Volente Beach Club that was historically occupied by the infamous Judge Starnes.
Judge C. Rhea Starnes was a influential character in Texas politics in the 30’s and 40’s. He was an LBJ mentor and involved in the push for funding for Mansfield Dam along with Lyndon Johnson and US Senator JJ Mansfield.
In 1947 when the lake existed, the Judge bought the original Dodd home located at the corner of Lime Creek/ Volente Rd (still standing) and built the first large marina in Volente (now known as Highland Lakes Marina ?).
It’s been said that Johnson received the blessing of the Texas Democratic elites to run for a US Senate seat in Judge Starnes’ lakeside cabin in Volente.
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