Wet Vac with pump out

No more plastic tank.. Oh Well it cracked ... Now We went and picked up the 30 Gallon Tank for th vac it doesn't seem wide enough for that stuip float valve thing but I think I can make it work.. Just playing around when the pump empty's the tank there is probably 4 gallons left in it but thats OK. I also got Mike at the steel place to just go ahead and make me not only the stainless steel top for the surface cleaner but a handle and 3 brackets welded on it for the swivel casters ( all 16 guage high polished stainless) Total Cost $165.00 ..It might be a little heavy but hey it's going to look great..So how would 25 ft of vac hose work on my little vac .. would it still suck up water.. If it will I thought about just building a vac-u-boom..
I guess it'slike my wife says " you make all this money and you just want to build stuff , build build build... why dont you just buy one." And I always say that wouldn't be any fun...
 
Good grief, you just wasted your plastic tank for no reason. I won't say how many feet of vac hose you can use, as it seems like no matter what I say, you do the opposite, so just try it and see if it works.
 
The automotive parts house should have wire reinforced 5/8 and 3/4 inch heater hose. It is used for tight spaces where regular hose will kink.

I did what you are doing, several years ago. The pump I used came from Delco in Dallas-Fort Worth. I never did get it to suck and pump at the same time. I did use a quick seal for the hose and some kind of electircal fitting so the extension cord did not fray on the sharp metal. Sometimes the pump intake would plug w/eggshells and other stuff from the floor. That only happended When I was in a hurry or late at night. My outlet hose was a 10 foot heater hose, but I was always close to a sink.

There are pump-out vacuums used in the sprinkler industry. The only thing I know about them is they are expensive.
 
Ok everything works . 30 gallon drum, (metal) ... Float wire was hooked to the side using a tack welded bracket so that it goes up and down smooth, I still got to put casters on the bottom of it so I can roll it around. I will take some pics soon . I have been awake along time and I have to go do little fire extinguisher accounts all day today... I always got to try stuff just to prove to myself that it will not work.. and that plastic tank .. Oh well it was a freebie years ago .. Somebody had dumped it off at the local pressure washer shop.
 
It just doesn't make since..The vac on the 30 gallon metal tank works fine. But every once in a while It won't pump until I turn off the unit.. Like maybe the check valve is getting stopped up.. A friend of mine said why not just use a beilge pump .. He has one in his boat and he says he runs it all the time even dry sometimes and it doesn't hurt it . Only problem is that it is 12 volt... I bought the carpet machine with the onan (locked up motor on it ) now I got more junk laying around... Well anyway I have like a real busy week this week I got to make TAX Money . Middle of April we start on the flatbed for the Ford F-150..
 
I hate to bring back an old thread.. And yes I have been really busy ... We picked up the Whataburgers and Western Sizzlins and Bumpers in the state of Mississippi... But as fate would have it I have some interior flooring to clean so I had to bring this back up... I have been using 3/4 inch spring check valves from parker on my wet vac and they work great for about an hour or so... But then a piece of something gets stuck inside the check valve an its all over... I was thinking about trying a flapper check valve , maybe they would not stop up as easy.. I also thought about using the old brass type check valves that look like a Y shape... When we clean floors the problem with the sping loaded check valve is they just stop up to easy .. Any I dea where to get a flap check valve ... I have seen the ones for fish tanks that are clear but the flap is rubber and I would be scared that the rubber would get sucked in backwards ???
 
Check out a carpet cleaning supplyhouse. Many portable carpet cleaning machines have a filter bag that slides in the vacuum port, then the vacuum hose is slid into place. The filter bag captures most of the contaminants, keeping the pump out systems from getting clogged. I would assume this same filter could be used on a shop-vac.
 
Cool ... Thanks I will try to find some in Jackson... I think the flapper check valve is going to be the answer ... Because no matter how many times you tell your guys " dont push alot of trash in the wet vac because it will stop up the check valve " They just dont listen....
 
Ok old thread I know but with some ne life.. I went to warren oil today and got a 55 gallon metal drum.. I am also looking at getting the Shop Vac head .. Sams sells them for 303.00 .. Has 105 in waterlift.. I think cfm's are about 135 or so...I am going to also put my rigid head on a 55 gallon drum as well for just normal pick up of water ... Now lets talk hose length.. What kind of hose length on the 55 gallon drum with the 105 in water lift head , and what length hose with the rigid head, can I expect to run .. We are also working on building a 14 inch surface /vac... It is double walled... This one is going to be a floater.....Now I just need a bigger trailer to put all of this stuff on..
 
Lowe's has one already proven. lasts for about 3 years under Drive Thru Conditions. Costs $100. May not be the fastest GPM pump at 6 GPM, but it works.
 
Commerical pump out shop vac

Hydrotek systems makes a 50/50 pump out shop vac for 2,395.00 this system sucks 50gpm and pumps out 50 gpm and works great with a recovery surface cleaner if anyone needs to know how to get there hands on one contact me and i will help thanks steve
 
Hey John, this may help. I have two, Lamb Central, vacuum motors that I got from a guy that was closing his self serve car wash. They were inside of the self serve vacs. I mounted both motors on top of a 55 gal poly drum that has a removable top. Great idea but they collapsed the drum (blue drum in the pic). Then I mounted them on top of a metal 55 gal metal drum, black drum in pic, and that worked well for vacuuming. As far as pumping out, I purchased a submersible pump with a float switch from Northern Tool,and mounted it inside the drum a few inches off the bottom. Problem was the pump would not pump out while the vacuum was on, too much negative pressure I guess. So after tinkering I placed a cheap plastic back flow valve, that I purchased from Home Depot, inside the drum after the pump. This allowed the pump to work while the vacuum was on. It's homemade, but it works.

https://youtu.be/_BPKFdtPyzk


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Very cool George, thanks for sharing. As much as I want to go straight for a nice brand new big budget reclaim when I'm ready, this may be a good initial setup for me. I'm really having a hard time finding clients that will pay for anything done right in the town of beer hacks. City I'm in is so awesome they told me I need a GC painters license to repaint a mailbox for a client, meanwhile BK & everywhere else is dumping fry oil down sewers every week.
 
Very creative George, well done!
 
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