Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Dylanb on February 25, 2012, 09:11:11 pm
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After changing vans I cant get the pump to start, its a shurflo 100psi connected to a WCW Digital flow controller. Its just stuck on DE (dead end detected) and wont start. It has power and does blip every 3 seconds which makes the water in the filter wobble.
Can anybody advise? is the pump knackered?
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Wire the pump directly to the battery(make sure you wire correctly) bypassing the flow controller, if it works ok then it coulod be your flow controller. Have you checked if the battery has enough charge in it?
Failing that it's likely to be the bushes in the pump, but try the first bit first,it's far less complicated.
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As above really, maybe disconnect the outlet hose first and see if it fires up, if it does then you may have a kink in the hosereel or the pressure setting might need to be looked at. Make sure it's a good battery too.
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Might need to prime the pump.
Could be airlocked.
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Mabye it needs recalibrated? Could it be the sensitivity level has increased therefore it thinks there's a permanent dead end?
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That could be your controller and it could be a voltage issue. First step wire the pump live direct to the battery bypassing the controller. Is the red light on your controller coming on?
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The pump has an airlock leave the inlet pipe on and then on the outlet pipe anywhere you can on the outlet side suck the pipe with the pump running this will force the water through the pump.give it a go and let me know how u get on.
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I presume u opened up the outlet valve from the tank again
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I presume u opened up the outlet valve from the tank again
I reckon the pump would still run if there was an airlock, a blockage or a restriction.
If it's none of the above it can only be the pressure switch(at the top of the pump head) you can either replace these(£1.75 micro switch from Maplin) or bypass the pressure switch all together.
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Thanks for all your replies, I dont think its an air lock as the pump would still start. The motor wont start at all, it has voltage, Digital flow controller is on and no mater what speed i set is just wont fire up the pump and flashes DE. Ive tried auto calibration but it seems to refuse and flick back to DE. Both were working perfect last week in my old van ???
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Do a manual calibration and set it to 99, if that doesn't work it sounds like you controller is at fault.
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The magnets on the inside of the pump motor have come loose and are not opposite each other now, the glue has failed.
Remove pump motor shaft, affix magnets opposite each other and glue them in place, reinsert motor and you're good to go
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If the magnets aren't loose then take the top off the pump head and make sure the pressure valve (non return) in the head of the pump is moving up and down freely, it's the lite white button valve, they can seize up if not used for a few days
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Glue - what glue? They should be sprung loaded so as they wear they can be pushed into contact by the springs. Chances are the pump will be ok.
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The magnets are glued in, you are thinking of the brushes.
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Oh, right.
Anyway, wire up the pump direct to the battery for a few seconds and see what happens.
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OK, wired the pump direct and it works fine, hooked up the controller again, tried to manualy increase the CAL, it was on 41, I increased to 60 then the fuse popped, tried a few more but kept popping the fuse instantly without even switching the controller on, is there a way to reset it? Ive attached a photo of the controller board, there are a few clear brown patches around some of the connections, not sure if its fried?
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2jcdi6t.jpg)
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thats probably just solder flux on the board, where its been hand soldered.
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makes me think the controller is shorting as ive used all the same cables including inline fuse to connect pump directly which works fine, but if I put the controller in the circuit it blows the fuse instantly without even turning it on
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You sure you haven't reversed the polarity and got the live and negative wires wrong to the battery now?
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I have a varistream that just fried in front of me, all the wiring was fine, I had just finished 1 house, drove down the street to the next, switched it on and nothing...no LED light..nothing!
I think that the circuit boards, over time are susceptable to damp and humidity.
I'm making my own ATM, so when the next one goes I'll be prototyping my new one.
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First posts would lead to worn out pump (brushes etc) how old is the pump, also is it is blowing fuses now are you sure that the polarity was correct
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the pump is fine, decided the controller must have died as i have checked and double checked the polarity and it just blows the fuse as soon as i connect it
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OK, wired the pump direct and it works fine, hooked up the controller again, tried to manualy increase the CAL, it was on 41, I increased to 60 then the fuse popped, tried a few more but kept popping the fuse instantly without even switching the controller on, is there a way to reset it? Ive attached a photo of the controller board, there are a few clear brown patches around some of the connections, not sure if its fried?
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2jcdi6t.jpg)
Thank you all for giving some good advice It may be the control, having said that if it worked fine last week before switching it to the new van that seems unlikely.
1.There is no manual reset on the control. In normal operation once the DE clears the control will restart the pump, There dose not appear to be any sign of the board be damaged.
2. The fuse is a 7.5amp - with a pump running at maximum we would expect the pump to draw between 5 and 6 amps.
So for the fuse to pop at a flow rate of 60, the pump is taking a high draw then we would expect to see. Check all your wiring and connectors ensure that there are no corroded or damaged connectors also any breaks in the cable.
As the fuse has blown the control was correctly wired otherwise the diode we put on the board to protect it from reverse polarity will have gone and you would spell burning.
Did the fuse blow before you turned the control on? If yes this suggests a higher ampage draw from the pump above 7.5amps or a cable fault.
Having connected the pump direct to the battery we can eliminate a possible restriction in the system or air lock.
We have two issues to look at.
1. stopping the fuse from blowing
2. Setting calibration so DE stops displaying
As above in the post check all wiring and connections from the battery through to the pump. How old is the Pump? Sometimes worn brushes in the motor mean the pump has to work harder and this will increase the amp draw. If you have a spare pump it is worth trying it on the system.
If you are confident the wiring and pump are ok. Check the water jets hose and brush for any signs of grit or a blockage.
I would also ask have you changed any fittings when you transferred the system?
Re connect the control Red = live Black = minus, connect these to the battery.
do not connect the control to the pump for a moment - Turn the control on if it is working normally it should display PS (Pressure Switch)
1.Now connect the controller to the pump if the fuse blows straight away there may be an issue with the pump.
2. If the display remains blank the control may be damaged (how Old is the control? )
3.If it now displays DE (Dead End) try to calibrate using the auto cal function on the controller. If the control still will not calibrate and stop displaying DE again it may be a fault with the unit.
I know there is a lot to go through here, It will help establish where the fault is and how we go about fixing it
Ian
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Save yourself endless hassle - fit a simple by-pass across the inlet and outlet pipes on the pump. A quarter turn ball valve will allow you to set the volume of water being delivered to the brush. Wire the pump direct to the battery with a 15amp fuse and a toggle switch. No electronics to play up, no lost time and frustration when your controller packs up miles from home.
With this set up you don't even need a pressure switch, provided you never completely close the bypass valve.
Only drawback is the pump runs all the time it's switched on but if you have a decent battery this isn't a problem.