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Can we talk about running a dredge pump dry for a few seconds?
I used to baby my pump and shut it down the second I heard it suck air, but after talking to an old timer on the Mississippi last summer, I let it run dry for about 10 seconds to clear the line and it saved me a ton of clogs. Anyone else do this or am I asking for trouble?
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johnson.daniel1mo ago
Man, I've stood there with a dry pump more times than I'd like to admit. I figure if I can clear a clog in five seconds without killing the pump, it's worth the gamble. That old timer on the Mississippi probably knew what he was talking about, those guys have been running gear since before I was born. I've definitely had a few times where letting it suck air for a few seconds saved me from having to pull the whole intake line apart. Just don't push it past ten or fifteen seconds unless you want to smell what burning seal packing smells like. My wife still gives me crap about that one time I cooked a pump on a job site.
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Six seconds to be exact, that's my personal record for running a dredge pump dry before I heard that horrible grinding sound and the smell of burnt rubber hit me. My buddy still calls me "Sparky" because I nearly started a small fire with the seal packing that day. But honestly, I've done the same trick a dozen times since then for clearing clogs and it's never failed me. The key is knowing your pump's limits and not being an idiot like I was that first time. I figure if a few seconds of air saves me a half hour of tearing apart the intake, it's a fair trade. Just don't do what I did and push it to see how long it'll actually go before it screams for mercy.
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