This is my first post hear so first of all I would like to say Hi I have a hydro II pump on a spit fire The pump is not producing any pressure what so ever on the solution line or the gage The mixer tank is full and when you take the inlet hose off of the HP pump there is water flow going into the pump I have a hunch that it may be the way the inlet hose is plumbed up I have a manual but it's not rely enough detail Any suggestions on this one most appreciated Thanks Batista
Welcome to the site, I cant help you with your problem but I'm sure someone here will have some suggestions for you soon I just wanted to say welcome.
:welcome:Sounds like you may have a priming issue. There is a chance you have an air leak somewhere that preventing your pump from priming. Try force feeding your pump with a garden hose. This should definitely create pressure for you. Once you have done this and have run the pump for a minute or two...Put your normal inlet hose on and see if she remains pressurized. This can also happen if your pump has run dry. If so, you may want to invest in some kind of low pressure sensor or water level shut-off. Good Luck!
Thanks Ara Yes the pump has been run dry due to a faulty pump in pump and non working float switches If I went on the assumption that the pump needs priming don’t understand what you mean by air leak but did you mean an air blockage in the pump If that’s so then the easiest think I could do tomorrow when I get to the machine is run it and undo the outlet hoses on the pump and weight for water pressure As for Force feeding the pump with a garden hose; not quite sure how I’m going to go about it As I think the HP pump in let is 5/8 and we over hear use standard 3/8 garden hose and fitting And I don’t rely have a tap to connect to the only thing there is, is an outside mains in pipe which may be 1/2” or I don’t know How do you normally rig your garden hose up to the inlet pump hose? Thanks Batista
Batista, If I had to force feed temporarilly i would try to fabricate someway. Try and get brass fittings that will connect to the inlet hose of the pump. Maybe try a step down union with hose barbs or something like that. And use a couple of worm drive clamps to hold the two hoses together. You should have a sink connection kit as a carpet cleaner so that would be a good way to get your water. All it takes is a minute of force feeding to get that pump primed. once the pump is primed then reconnect your regular water inlet. I dont recomend running that pump for too long without water if your trying to prime it. Odds are there is some damage to the seals already.
I have coupled up a garden hose to the inlet of the pump. Turned the tap on force feed the water and found 2 leaks one on the out let quick connector of the machine which was faulty and I have now replaced and the other there was a crack on a ¼ to 1/8 reducing nut on the pressure gage; I have relocated the gage for the time being and with the garden hose system it still shows no pressure on the gage with or with out the machine running Now if I disconnect the 2 out let hoses on the pump rig up the garden hose to the inlet, with the tap on you will see water coming out of the outlet hoses with the machine in the off position. Now I run the machine and there is still water coming out of the outlets however if I rev the machine up the pressure dose not increase Now when I turn the machine off with the tap running note there is still water coming out of the outlets on the pump; then I turn the tap off disconnect the garden hose and connect the hose from the mixer tank to the inlet take it off to remove any air blockage there is a steady flow of water coming through the hose; reconnect it back up start the machine and there is no water coming out of the out let port on the pump The original pluming had a 3/8 to 5/8 reducing nipple connected to a ¾ tail fitting going into the inlet port and therefore a ¾” hose going into the inlet from the mixer tank The system now has 5/8 tail going into the inlet port and therefore a 5/8” hose going into the inlet from the mixer tank Is it possible a 5/8” hose and not a ¾” hose is casing the problem or is it something a lot more dramatic Bstista
P.S . Basically by removing the out let hoses from the pump I have bypassed everything after the pump so therefore the problem must be within the pump or before the pump
Batista Buddy. You should only have to disconnect one hose Which is the inlet to your pump. You have to keep all the other lines intacked so pressure can build-up. Also, I forgot to mention but you need to plug the waterbox where that inlet line was on. So water doesn't leak everywhere. Stick a rag in it or something. The 5/8 hose is actually what you want to use. The inlet hose needs to be one size larger than the port. Let me know if I have answered your question. I am here to help you.
OK if I was to fit a plug to one of the outlets from the pump and fit the gage to the other outlet then that should demonstrate if the pressure has built up or not As it did not when I changed the damaged fittings before. What is a water box do you mean mixer tank The port/out let tail fitting from the mixer tank is 5/8 and therefore its hose is 5/8” I don’t know what a ‘Barb’ is but I still have the original 5/8 to 3/4 reducing nipple screwed into the 3/4 F.M. tail fitting and the original 3/4” hose but the hose dose not fit into the 5/8 out let on the mixer tank Thanks again Batista
much easier way to prime the pump too. be sure you have water getting to the pump. plug in a pressure line with a open qd. start the truck and stick the pressure line into a vac house and block of escaping air so it sucks the water through the pump. Done. takes 20 seconds.
Dose anyone know the name of the manufacture of this pump It’s called a Hydro II pump but I can’t find anything called that when I do an internet search It’s because I need a workshop manual for it; the spitfire manual is only rely an operators manual not enough detail
Batista, Don't change any high pressure hoses or rearrange anything. Because you can damage the pump without a regulator. If you follow my instructions you should have pressure unless the seals and check valves are blown. Scotts way is much easier, yes, but we are looking for zero dry time. Since you have probably been running this pump wondering whats going on. Also if your not careful Scotts way can put hairline fractures in the porcelain if it doesnt prime quick enough. Its a good method, but like I said were looking for zero drytime and no cavitation.
Well it looks like I don’t have to strip the pump after all The only Torch wrench I have available is one fit for Lorries what dose not start to measure until 100lbs I keeped playing around with it as like Ara said; one step at a time though I did the garden hose trick first With the machine off treat it like one giant hose pipe with a 50” solution line rigged up to the end of the equation with the ¼ quick coupling taken off; and getting water through the system would not have done it any harm There was slight pressure on the gage Then I ran the machine with the garden hose still running revved the machine up no increase on the gage though So now its time to build the pressure up disconnect the 50” hose with the machine off and tap on no real increase on the gage; Now start the machine up nothing happened weighted a while and has presto the gage started to go up a little :-D Put the 50” hose back together connected the hose and wand to the machine and tested there’s water coming out Now its crunch time machine off garden hose off and put the mixer tank hose back into the HP pump inlet and fill the mixer tank up with several buckets of water Bled the hose and started the machine up and slowly pressure showed on the gage Tested the wand pressure coming out Did this several time filling the mixer tank up by hand and I think she’s working now :hi: Now the next problem it to fix the pump in pump had to order a lower housing for it with VAT and postage on top a whopping 45 quid And the cheapest I’ve seen theses pumps are 85 quid new with postage on top Just hope when it arrives tomorrow I can put it all back together properly and have her pumping water and if she dose pump water then I hope the solder sticks and dose not leak on the pre heat exchange that I repaired earlier And then there’s the dreaded float switches in the mixer tank The old ones wear knackered and not showing any current and there was no wiring for them anyway The new ones I have fitted are ½ NPT so I have had to bore 3/4” holes through the tank and there still leaking a little at the moment Wiring them up was not easy as there only rated at 0.5 AMP and putting a heavy load on the upper switch like the pump just welds/arches the float together After mucking around with them for a week having them wired up on my desk :argue: some bright spark when he had seen the schematic told me the problem was only a flipping diode that was missing from the upper float switch to terminal 87 on the relay; that was taking a full load from the pump to 87 and on the other end a full load from the lower switch to terminal 30 It now has a Diode fitted and I think it all works properly Big test is going to be tomorrow though :AddEmoticons04259: Batista
Batista, I'm so happy that you have pressure now! Good Job! What kind of machine is this? Sounds to me like this mixer tank is nothing but a headache. Maybe you should concider getting a new mixer tank. I bet you can find one thats ten times better at a local carwash supply or a Truckmount repair facility. To be honest I never liked having an electrical shutoff in the waterbox or mixer tank. If your pump has a clutch you can wire one through that and its so much easier. And if its wired to the clutch there is no need for relays and intricate wireing. in my opinion the best way to have a mixerbox or waterbox is to have it be mechanical like a toilet bowl. Good Luck Batista! Your welcome!
