FAQs

Warranty is limited to the repair or replacement of the original item. This cover does not include disassembley, assembly or installation. Customers must arrange and pay for shipping the unit to our warehouse. After repairs are complete or a replacement unit is found, we will pay for shipping the unit back to the customer. Warranty is valid as long as:

  1. Item is under normal use and within the item’s specified working environment;
  2. No physical damage;
  3. No alterations made to the item.

Warranty does not cover damage to other equipment used in conjunction with our products.

Please check all deliveries from us as soon as you receive them and report any damaged or missing items within 3 days of delivery.

Any DOA (dead on arrival) should be reported within 7 days.

Warranty on the replacement unit will be valid either for the remaining warranty length of the original unit, or 3 months, whichever is longer.

Products specially procured from other manufactures to Pumpmaster will be covered by their own original terms & conditions.

We receive queries from people who have bought a house with a pump or have had a pump installed and they don’t understand the basics of pumps so when a problem occurs, they don’t know what to do.   This is a short list of a few things that you need to know about household pressure pumps. Things to know:

  • All house pumps must be protected from rain, sun, dogs, ants, kids and frost and you can do this with a good quality pump base and weatherproof cover.
  • The suction pipe from the tank to the pump must be the same or larger inside diameter as the pump outlet.
  • Pump suction pipe should be flexible to allow for vibration and eliminate stress on the tank and the pump.
  • All pressure pumps should be bolted/screwed to the polyslab base or concrete, don’t just sit your pump on the ground.
  • Always install an isolating ball valve on the outlet of the pump immediately after the controller or pressure switch.   This is critical when you need to remove the pump for servicing or to troubleshoot.
  • Once your pump is installed, spray around the inside of the cover and on the Polyslab base with a surface bug spray.   This will keep unwanted wriggly things out of the motor and the electronics.
  • Before you plug the pump into the power point, you need to make sure that it is full of water.   Pumps must not be started unless they are full of water.   To fill them when the tank is higher than the pump, just open the discharge isolating ball valve, water should run through the pump.

Submersible pumps are among the most common and cost-effective pumps in general use.  The pumps have a hermetically sealed motor close-coupled to the pump body and the whole assembly is submerged in the fluid to be pumped.

The main advantage of submersible pumps is that they prevent pump cavitation, a problem associated with a high elevation difference between pump and the fluid surface, they don’t require priming and they are out of sight and by definition don’t take up space.

Submersible pumps push fluid to the surface as opposed to equivalent surface mounted pumps such as jet pumps that have to lift fluids (self-prime). Submersibles are more efficient than self-priming pumps.

A submersible pump has the task of driving water from the bore to the surface, forcing it through water pipes and then out through sprinkler nozzles. This work can be mathematically expressed in metres and in the world of pumps is referred to as head.  A submersible pump will continue to pump more and more water until a balance is reached between the head asked of it and the head it can generate. This point is known as its duty point.

By calculating the duty point of a pump, we can calculate its output which will then determine whether the pump will work efficiently, inefficiently or cavitate and damage itself in any given application. This information can also be used to calculate the number of sprinklers a system can run and the correct selection of pipe sizes when designing a reticulation system. Whether it is a small domestic garden or semi-rural application, the perfect pump exists for the task!

Minimal maintenance is required to keep a submersible pump in good working order.  They are generally installed and left untouched for years. Some owners recommend turning the pump on, at least once a month during the winter but apart from that, maintenance is directed towards the system into which they are installed.

Common causes of submersible pump failure are solenoid valves failing to open, reticulation controllers not electrically suited for the task, bores that are over pumped or the selection of the wrong electrical-control components.

In essence, pump maintenance is really about maintaining the reticulation system into which the pump was installed and being alert to abnormalities as they arise. Investigating the cause of water hammer when it is first heard or that first dry patch in the garden will usually circumvent more serious problems involving the pump.

It is also important to employ tradesmen who have experience in the industry and are familiar with the working and installation of submersible pump systems.

We receive many calls from people who have bought a pump from another shop or the pump was already in the bore on the property when they purchased the property, the pump has failed, and they want to know why.  There are quite a few factors that affect the operation of a bore pump, they include the following:

Water Quality:   Water quality has an effect on every bore pump, sometimes the effects are very minimal and sometimes the effects are catastrophic.   Water that has a high or low range pH will kill a pump and motor, water with a high Chloride level will often kill the motor, water with a high iron oxide content can block the pump impellers or the water inlet and again, kill the pump and motor.   Damage caused by water quality is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

Water Temperature:   Water at more than 30 degrees C will reduce the motor cooling effect and this can cook the motor if a shroud has not been fitted.   Water above 40 degrees C will require a specially selected pump and motor, or it will just die of overheating.   Water at 1 degree to say 15 degrees is perfect for pumps and motors and they will usually run for years and years.   Damage caused by water temperature is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

Cavitation:   Cavitation is caused when the pump is allowed to operate without any back-pressure or load on it, this will always result in actual physical damage or even breakage of the impellers and other internal components.   Damage caused by cavitation is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

Upthrust:   Upthrust occurs at the moment when the pump starts, the motor is fed with electricity and the motor goes from zero revs to 2,850 RPM in a second and that tries to push the shaft up through the top of the pump.  The result of upthrust will be a smashed top bearing also called a thrust bearing and possibly other broken internal components.   Damage caused by upthrust is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

Running out of water:   If you allow the pump to “run-dry” then it will overheat and fail.   Operating the submersible bore pump so that it never draws the water level down below 1m above the top of the bore pump is critical.   It is easy to measure the water level in any bore and this should be carried out frequently enough so that you are sure that you know exactly where the water level is in the bore at all times.  This is particularly critical if you only have a single bore.   Damage caused by running dry is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

DC Electrical Attack:   Sometimes stray DC current from a nearby electric train, electric transformers, electric fences or any other large machine that can produce DC voltage can leak through the earth and cause corrosion in the submersed bore pump motor.   These items that cause the DC can be up to 5 kms away from the pump.   Not all pumps are affected by this as firstly you need to have a source of DC current and then you need the necessary soil and water conditions to create the perfect storm for corrosion to occur.   Removing the DC source and installing sacrificial annodes can reduce damage but you won’t even know that you have the conditions until you have killed the first motor.   Damage caused by stray DC voltage is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

Lightning:   Lightning strikes often send millions of volts into the ground, your pump and motor are in water in the ground, make sure that you include your bore pump equipment on your insurance policy.   Damage caused by lightning is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

Mud & Sand:   Bore pumps are designed to pump water not mud or sand.   50 grams of sand per 1,000 litres of water is the maximum quantity that is allowable, and 50 grams of sand is not very much, about a desert spoon.   If you have sand in the water, it will act as sandpaper and erode the internals of the pump causing pump failure.   Mud is often worse, it will block the pump inlets, block the impellers and cause a reduced flow and pressure and eventually you will end up with a locked pump or a broken shaft.   Damage caused by mud & sand is not covered under any manufacturer’s warranty.

Household pressure pumps are designed to start when the pressure that is in the pipework falls, generally this is caused by you turning on a tap, flushing the toilet or, the dishwasher starting or some other outlet.   When the pump turns on frequently and you have not turned on an outlet the problem is usually caused by a leak in the system.   The frequency of the turning on could be as often as every 1-2 minutes or 1-2 hours or, anywhere in between.  The leak could be a toilet cistern, a dripping tap, a hot water service over-pressure valve that is faulty, a pin hole in an internal pipe or any other leak.   In most of the cases it is a leak and not the pump.   The way to find out if it is a leak or the pump is simply to turn off the isolating ball valve on the outlet side of the pump, if the pump stays off, the problem is a leak in the pipework somewhere.   Most electronic controllers have a small internal pressure tank of water that needs to be exhausted before the pump will start, this water volume may be as little as 20 millilitres.   If you have a leaking fitting or pipe and it is leaking at a rate of 15 drops per minute, it will only take 20 minutes for the water to leak out and the pump to start, once the pump starts, it will run for about 12 seconds and then turn off, in 20 minutes it will do the same thing again.   

All pumps with just an electronic controller will turn on every time that you turn on a tap, start the washing machine or, flush the toilet and this can be very expensive on power and pump replacements.   The electronic controllers protect the pump from damage if the pump runs out of water and help to provide a more constant pressure of water but there are downsides as well.   Installing a 58-litre pressure tank after the pump and before the house will have a huge effect.   With a 58L tank on a house pump, I would be able to flush the toilet 6 litres, wash my hands 2 litres, wash the cat’s bowls 4 litres, fill the jug 1 litre, rinse some dishes 6 litres, fill the dogs water bowl 2 litres and water 3 outside plants 9 litres before the pump even turns on.   That is 7 pump starts eliminated and lots of power saved.   A pump on a house with 2 adults and 3 children and no pressure tank could easily turn on 100 times a day and that is 36,500 times per year.   A pump with a pressure tank should last longer.