How to add pump for weak water pressure to simple top loader?

[rphair]

I just moved into a flat in India which definitely does not sport a "classic" clothes washing machine like I see elsewhere on this forum... but the conditions are "delicate" and the machine is rather old so I hope this will still be of interest.

Typical "top load" fully automatic washing machines in India don't have a water intake pump, and the water pressure in my case is too low to convince the machine that water is entering fast enough.

I got the idea of putting a water pump immediately between the water supply and machine's intake to boost the pressure... but local plumbers don't want to get involved in what I would have thought would be a common problem (many flats are at roof level and have only a trickle of water pressure).

So I have to choose and probably install a water pump myself, and wanted to check what I should be looking out for when choosing & installing an "amplifier" pump for the clothes washer:

1) Would there be an "aquarium" pump that would provide enough pressure? The machine is designed for max 6kg (13.2 Imperial pounds) laundry with a maximum water filling of 60L (15.8 gallons) into the drum. (These "aquarium" pumps can be found at some breadcrumbs around the Amazon page linked to in this posting.)

-- The main liability of this kind of pump is that the inputs & outputs are much smaller than the 1 inch (or maybe 25mm) diameter screw fittings that go into & out of appliance taps in India (I assume based on the British standard).

-- Also most of the cheaper pumps are generally "submersible" (having no water pipe intake) or don't have safety features like "dry run protection" for when the weak water pressure trails off to zero.

2) The next level of pump power is targeted at sprinkler systems, and all have specifications that should fill 60L in the first few minutes of a wash cycle. I was happiest with the pump at the post URL link, but the local plumber said "this is only half of the pump" and I have just no idea what he means by that.

I'd expect this pump to work, as in a common application, by screwing between a 1 inch garden hose and a 1 inch input to a lawn sprinkler. Likewise I imaged it could go at the water input to the top-load washing machine, turn on & run whenever needed, and solve the problem completely.

So what am I missing? I am concerned that there's no such item on Amazon India sold as "supplementary water pump for a washing machine" given the huge demand there would be for such a thing. Any advice about how to assess this DIY job would help a great number of people here.

https://www.amazon.in/Autonity-Automatic-controller-Pressure-protection/dp/B0CKMXH973

 

[gizmo]

What you have linked is NOT a pump, it is just a pump controller. (a device which switches a pump on and off as required.) It senses water pressure and if the pressure falls too low, it switches on a pump. It is used in systems that provide a whole of house pressurized system from a simple water tank or well. I don't think it is the product you need.

 

I think you require a booster pump.

I have linked one on Amazon India for you.

I can not promise if this is a good product, but you will need something like this...

https://www.amazon.in/STARQ-Automatic-Pressure-Suitable-Circulation/dp/B096MBLJT4/ref=sr_1_10?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NV7RpwxmksdRsZI7kjngfzu0l746HE5fsV3HxJfdJFw11lZemX8mmpzoRThtsJaHjxwOTlfdagqgIc01H0ZzTxmS9skVi0xyub1L7SLRh8Hpy1Ft_YSBCzHlhI81J7VejoPBp7dO02QMnWhLjebG20MVUkJLCOla87OqadPfmdxoKZZXjwjb7YlQ8zvBE6_OOo031OhCMFu_9o24VRAfz3LEJMPfqxVUuDXOJN-f_54.2NfpY_sOLo4KCxBbBD18PBMYO53Ddj-dSPSjDIod7vc&dib_tag=se&keywords=booster%2Bpump&qid=1713499240&sr=8-10&th=1

 

You would use it in automatic mode, so it only comes on when the water starts to flow into the washing machine. You should contact the seller to see if this will be suitable. These type of units have a sensor inside that detects water flow, and starts up the pump when the flow starts, and shuts off when the flow stops. It will depend on your existing system being able to supply at least a very slow flow into the washing machine, which would then be detected and boosted by the pump. If your current system isn't able to open the washing machine's inlet valve and start a slow flow, it probably won't work automatically and would have to be switched on and off manually. (not ideal.)

 

Another option is to use a 12 volt pressure pump, as designed for mobile homes, boats, caravans and so on. You would need a suitable 12 volts power supply to run the pump. The pump maintains a fixed pressure in the outlet hose, when the pressure drops (because you turn on a tap or the washing machine fill vale opens) the pump will automatically start up and continue running until the tap closes or the washing machine fill valve closes, when it will switch off again.

 

I have installed one of these 12 volt pumps for a friend who has a 12 volt solar power system at home - the pump runs directly from the 12 volt battery. It provides a good water flow for his washing machine, which runs from a 12V to 240V inverter. Prior to installing the 12 volt pump, he had a similar problem to you - insufficient flow for his washing machine.

 

I like the 12 volt DC pump option as this system doesn't rely on any flow to be detected to start the pump. I used something that looks like the one in the link below:

https://www.amazon.in/ATORSE-Pressure-Diaphragm-Priming-Caravans/dp/B0CG3R6THR/ref=sr_1_57?crid=32QJ8QFGGKBIX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Edon4lZOaSVCCwyTpsOCUNSYP1eDCVb9R-y9W9gg_fagPvdD5_-Dn_qQReRRKQ3jnHGWWNj4-wnNRVngu1rKsbkcZPI9mMndIMDE1459xN0S0KE2-sGWTd6vHoUC_DH8yaAwCpHnKWQGmZ5VVg9lSB2CPsIL7nJ0Ou-OzBYegvf_LhsWRg4t5tc7QAnNpW8pE_MA5I7Z-zQuj3tt8BcCChG-Im945urypDRewEEQ-4BnE9v3hsk2A4SmWZvTGUGLDkP97805HfKKgA_0TmobfhUkEJaNtqMrQ60YwDCYSy8.az12J3S2pFnxAsTN0L8A5X-dqUf15H32zTr7KuOH2Ac&dib_tag=se&keywords=12+volt+dc+RV+water+pump&qid=1713501347&sprefix=12+volt+dc+rv+water+pump%2Caps%2C584&sr=8-57

 

 

 

Again, if you choose the 12 volt option, you would need a suitable 12 volt power supply - either a 12 volt battery, and a charger to keep it charged; or a 220V to 12 volt power supply that can provide enough amps to run the pump.

[this post was last edited: 4/18/2024-23:39]

 

[DADoES]

 
I'm not aware of any washers that have an onboard pump for water intake.  They all operate via the pressure of the connected water supply system.

 

[henene4]

What you are trying to do isn't really possible.

If your power outlet can only supply 1000W, adding a step up transformer will increase the pressure, but the available power won't increase.

Same with a faucet.
Your machine dosen't really care about pressure, it cares about flow rate.
If your faucet only delivers lets say 1 liter per minute, adding a pump won't increase that. It can't really magically suck more water out of the pipe - it could theoretically, but increasing water pressure is an industrial scale endeavour for utility companies.

It's not like your faucet is directly connected to an unending well supply.
You have low water pressure and thus flow rate because the utility only puts so much water into the system on the supply side and you are at the other end with probably a fair number of other customers in between.
If that number of customers outstrips supply, you can't do much.

What you'd need is a kind of buffer, a reservoir, to accumulate the water
over a longer time to have the water "ready" when the machine calls for it.

 

[gizmo]

Pressure is important too, not just flow - the water inlet solenoid valves have a minimum pressure required to crack them open.

 

I live in an area with no town water supply, all homes near here have some form of either gravity feed from a tank, or automatic pressure pump from a dam, well or tank. I know of several local homes where pressure, not flow, is the problem, making solenoid operated washing machine inlet valves unreliable. With a gravity fed supply from a tank not much higher than the home, you can get fine flow if the pipe diameter is wide enough, but the water pathway through the inlet valve is just too restrictive and the valve has a minimum water pressure required to open. These systems are greatly helped by a booster pump of some sort. That is why we fitted the 12 volt pump to my friend's place - his old Fisher and Paykel washer (my old Gentle Annie) was less fussy about water pressure and flow, and worked fine off their gravity feed system, with only about 2 metres head. (tank 2 metres higher than washing machine.) It did take over half an hour for each fill, it was a real trickle.

When that machine eventually died, I gave them a much newer Fisher and Paykel Washsmart, maybe 5 years old? Its inlet valve would sometimes not open due to the low pressure, if it did open, the flow was miserable. I tried a good spare valve but it was the same. Installing the 12 volt pressure pump fixed the problem, it now fills in a few minutes, the old machine used to take over half an hour to fill.

 

If fitting a booster pump to a slow town water supply doesn't help because the town supply just can't supply water any faster, then it is still possible to make a solution - a small reservoir or buffer like Henene4 mentioned above. Use a float valve to fill a small tank or cistern (100 to 200 litres would be my suggestion) and the tank can fill very slowly, it could even take hours if needed. Then a pressure pump (12 volt or 230 volt) can take water from the tank/cistern and feed it to the washing machine. A toilet-cistern-style float valve would control the flow of town water into the tank/cistern, so it never overflows. The water level in the tank will fall when the washing machine is filling, and slowly refill once no more water is being taken from it.

 

[DADoES]

 
Water pressure is also what closes the inlet valve when power is removed from the solenoid.