Hand pump for boiler feedwater

[mtnman]

I've been looking at hand boiler feed pumps and ran across these,

Universal Hydraulic E-Brake Racing Handbrake
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Hydra ... ad&vxp=mtr

They seem to be a nice pump, capable of hydraulic brake pressures and cheap to buy, around $40. Pros cons?

[marinesteam]

It doesn't look like the volume that this could pumped would be adequate for feed pump use (you'd be pumping like a mad man to get any significant amount of water into the boiler).

Might be ok for hydro testing but hard to say without any real spec sheet.

Ken

[boatbum]

I think there is a rubber seal around the plunger and I don't think it is designed for high temps.

Keith

[cyberbadger]

Anyone know what the hand pump in this video is called, and if it's available?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zabHb_oq1dE

-- edit --

Nevermind I found it. Mcmaster Carr part : 4229K1 or 4229K5
http://www.mcmaster.com/
Very pricey those... $490 USD or $900!
Unfortunately Mcmaster Carr only ships to the USA, not even Canada anymore.

I have one of these: (About $200)
http://www.toolfetch.com/reed-htp300-hy ... 0-psi.html
I never intended to use it other then hydrostatic testing. I'm not sure how suitable it would be for a boiler under pressure.

Other then making your own, anyone have any suggestions?

-CB

[TahoeSteam]

Try stopping by your local fire department(s). Many used to use old hand pumps for their hose testing. My father got two very nice cast iron and bronze pumps approx 1" bore and 6" stroke from CDF (now Cal Fire) before he retired.

See if they may have one they're willing to part with..

[farmerden]

I have a small hand pump .Trouble is when the water disappears from the sight glass you want water and lots of it! Seems I have to pump forever to get the water back. Beckman sells a large pump with a large handle. I have one for the new boat I will build [one day!] It's nice to have a "first" boat to learn on-Trouble is my first boat is so well built the only flaw is this piddly-ass hand pump! And no I didn't build it and it wasn't George's first boat either! Get a big volume pump that will deliver water quickly! Den

[Lopez Mike]

Mine is 1" bore and maybe 2" stroke and it not big enough. No way could it stay ahead of the engine unless I was just drifting along.

[DetroiTug]

Mike, I have the same size on the tug. 1X2 inch. As a test once I tried to keep up with the boiler, I gave that up pretty fast. It's a Pearl pump. It has packing on the ram, I'm thinking about replacing that with O-rings on the ram itself in grooves. Would be less resistance, the packing drags quite a bit.

The only manual pump I've ever seen that could keep up with our size steam plants was about 1.5" bore and about 3" stroke and had a handle about 3 ft long on it. Every few minutes he would give it two or three pumps on the handle. It was the only pump he had.

-Ron

[Lopez Mike]

Mine has O-rings. I dunno if they have less drag than regular packings.

I bought a used stern shaft packing gland with about a two inch bore. I plan on brazing the end shut and making it into a pump body. As often as I use it, I'll probably have a nice long removable handle so as to not plug up the machinery space with it.

I'm getting good service with a couple of in line round check valves with spring loaded discs. I was uncertain about them but they've been working away silently for a couple of years without a glitch. There are also some usual swinging check valves at the boiler for both this hand pump and my engine driven pump. I know nothing about the temperature ratings of these disk type valves.

[Kelly Anderson]

Ronnie Baird offers these pumps; http://www.tinypower.com/store.php?crn= ... =cat_click .