KITCHENAID HYDROSWEEP IN MY POND

[stevet]

Check your specs!

I love the idea of having the HydroSweep fountain in the pond. Leave it to you to come up with something like this!
Start by making sure that your sump pump will pump from 40 -60 gals a minute so you duplicate the specs of the original pump inside the dishwasher. Then you will have to really shorten that corrugated hose or else use a smooth bore hose. The corrugations slow the water down tremendously. You can even see this inside the house if you have corrugated hose on the drain of the dishwasher. It can restrict the flow enough to leave water in the bottom of the tank. Also, make sure you are using a new washarm support and washarm so that they seal better. Seemed to be lots of water coming out of the center holes which really should not be that evident. A new arm and support will "click" together when they match up. That is what the brass split ring is for. Also, you should use a nice thick cork gasket under the support where it meets the toilet flange and use 4 screws. That way you will seal that completely and prevent leaks around the bottom of the support housing as well as seal off that small opening you can see in your pictures. That was intended to push a stream of water into the sump to help wash down any food left there.
I would say to try that and see what happens.

Also, you have to realize that the upper housing was designed to have the spinning pump impeller direct the water into the volutes cast in the housing. unless you leave enough room in there for your water to make it to the volutes, you may have a built in restriction in your home made pump chamber between the flange and support.
One more thing.. make sure that you block of the opening that is between the volutes.That was the original inlet for the pump. But I am sure you realized that already. You don't want to lose all the pressure thru that big hole!
I think you are on the right track and need to tweak it some more and it will work fine.

BTW, being the obsessive compulsive that I can be sometimes, The washarm support will fit a 15 series machine but the filters will not work correctly. That particular support was obsoleted many years ago which was a shame. The ones you have do, of course fit both the 16 and 17 as they were identical.

Keep the project going and the pictures coming

 

[soberleaf]

thanks

i did plug that center hole with a fender washer and nut and bolt and rubber gasket.

the pump i'm using is a submersible pond pump i have had for a few years, expensive little sucker, not sure what the flow rate is, i could call jones fishery in cinti and find out. i'm sure it's at least 60 gal/min. that's 360 gal/hr. i will find out.

my next idea is to mount the pump directly under the toilet flange using a short peice of 1 1/2 pvc about 3 inches long. that's gotta increase the flow rate considerably.

i agree about the gasket between the flange and the housing, once i get it more in line with the way it should be i will seal it. i also am using a new wash arm support, i buy em on e bay for 15 bucks but alas my hydrosweep is off one off my machines! i've never bought a new one (yet).

at first i didn't understand what you meant by the volutes but now i do and i did check that when i mounted the support to the flange. but i will check it again.

do you remember that origional ad steve? i remember it was very early 70's when i saw it cause i worked in an appliance store and i was 16 so it had to be around 1971. i used to love looking at the kitchenaids! i dreamed of having one but we were poor and i couldn't afford one yet!

now thanks to this great site and people like you and including you who have helped me i own 17 of them! and i have 5 more lined up if i decide to buy them (gotta save some money first, my trip to michigan to see everythingold was my big splurge).

anyway you always steer me right and i appreciate your advice (steve) and will take note of all you said when i continue with this project.

any ideas on how to sink a motor and pump assembly into something waterproof so i could duplicate the origional way it was done?

thanks, pete

 

[stevet]

designs? Here's one!

How about taking a pump and an actual tank and mount the pump thru the bottom of the tank so the motor is now inside the tank? Seal off the door opening and any other openings in the tank including the power line. Now you have a vessel which should float. Add some ballast to the tank so the motor will sit below the surface enough to pull some nice water volume thru the pump intake. Plug up the constant rinse line and the drain outlet and if you get the pump running in the water, you will have duplicated the conditions inside the tank of a normal machine. Kind of getting the picture of what I mean?
Maybe you will need Robert to help you with fabricating a seal even if it is plexiglas for now. But I bet you can get something going from this angle.

 

[soberleaf]

now that's an idea i would never have thought of

an inside out, upside down kitchenaid!!!

hmmmm, i might get a chance to do some more on this later this week. will post pics when i do.

thanks

 

[turquoisedude]

Neat, but...

don't let my hubby know about this! We're in the process of doing some landscaping and a pond is part of it - I just don't want him to get any funny ideas about how to use a GE impeller drive wash system!!
Seriously, that is pretty darn cool!!

 

[soberleaf]

would your hubby

or you know wher i can find a pump seal for an old g.e. mobile maid dishwasher with a spray arm from the late 60's perhaps.

as for the pond display i am going to get it to work. i just have to keep fooling with it and i am seriously trying to come up with a way to use the entire motor and pump unit from a kitchenaid. just have to figure a way to insure it's watertight so i don't destroy a 1/2 h.p., gold seal motor in the process.

when there is a will........... there are relatives i always say!!!

 

[70series]

Beautiful dog. He looks very happy.

Have a good one,
James

 

[soberleaf]

he's happy alright!

when he's in the pond he's happy. when he steals my bread and eats a whole loaf he's happy! when he kills my frogs and runs around the yard with them hanging out of his mouth he's happy!
when he barks at the neighbor's kids cause he wants to play he's happy! when he chases the cats he's happy! when he hogs all the covers in bed he's happy! it doesn't take much to amuse him!

 

[soberleaf]

i'm gonna start a post for pet pics

on the super section, it can be fun. we have all kinds of topics there from politics to what underwear we wear so why not pets?

 

[combo52]

Water flow to hydrosweep

Stevet is right you need more water flow. 60 gallons a muinte times 60 an hour is 3600 gallons of water an hour not 360. we used to take a top loading KA portable DW outside and run it with the top open and the water would go at least ten feet in the air.

 

[spankomatic]

Somehow it seems a dishwasher rack is needed in this pond invention.....

 

[soberleaf]

i have a kd-5

and i was thinkin of doin the same thing, runnin it outside with the top open to see how high it would shoot.

thanks for the correction on the math, ofcourse it's 3600 gal/hr. i was not thinking there. i'm not sure what the volume of the pond pump is, gonna find out this week.

i also am actively looking for some type container that i can mount the motor and lower pump housing on the inside of that will be completely waterproof. like a bucket with a lid that screws on that would be waterproof, that way i could replicate the entire pump in the pond. i work at home depot and everything in the store is being observed by me for it's possible use in this project.

 

[soberleaf]

dishwasher rack?

sure, if i get it running i'll stick a rack out there too!

 

[spankomatic]

Cool!

 

[turquoisedude]

pump seal for an old g.e. mobile maid dishwasher

Peter, it may be a long shot, but if you happen to have the model number, I can try asking at my favorite parts guy's store. I am way overdue for a visit for a Westy part hunt... Email me if you prefer.

 

[soberleaf]

thanks! the model

no of the mobile maid is SM 301D2

i sent that no to a parts supplier on the web and they told me it was the wrong no. but that is what is clearly stamped on the name plate on the back of the machine.

 

[turquoisedude]

Yeah, that sounds like "HMM. That's older machine and I don't feel like digging for parts" answer to me! No guarantees, but I will see what I can find for you!