Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: WISEOWL on January 05, 2009, 06:08:16 pm
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I have been WFP since August with a van mount. It has been a huge success with the customers and my ladders are now (thankfully) a thing of the past.
Before my query here is my set-up so you know the score:
650 ltr
SHURflo 8000-946-138 - 110 amp Leisure
Varistream Digital
11 ltr Resin Cannister
100 mtr mini-bore
23ft Unger Pole
When I bought the system the seller stated he generally used setting 2. Even on first cleans I found this to be adequate but 2 months in had to go up to setting 3 for the same flow.
Now, just after Christmas I have had to go up to setting 4. That means for commercial or really dirty first cleans I am having to go to setting 5 or 6 which I don't want to do as it puts undue pressure on the pump. When the flow drops one of the jets begins to trickle and a shake of the pole would correct it.
As it turns out, and despite the fact that I have had to go to setting 4, the flow is consistant and works well at all levels. But how long till I have to go upto setting 5? :-\ I've heard good and bad things about the Digital Varistream, now my round is accustomed to WFP varying flows aren't as important as it used to be.
Help and advice would be handy, people have given me advice before and I have faith in you again! :)
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Charge your battery.
The numbers don't mean anything.
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I recently had the same problem. Battery fine, Varistream fine, but pump had got a bit noisy - I ended up replacing my pump. Its fine again now.
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Its because of the cold,
You will be back to the 2/3 flow rate in the summer.
Dean
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Thanks everyone.
I have been concerned about the level of power in my battery but as long as the green light doesn't flash I thought it would be okay. I generally work for 2-3 days then carge it over-night.
The most I have charged it for is two days but want to be careful not to burn out the interiors. It is an older type charger that charges at 2 or 2.5 AMPS.
I'll see how things go and the cold weather has crossed my mind. Cheers folks.
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Im not saying this'll sort your problem out but if you charge the battery daily it might help.
Matt
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Cold weather - more resistance in the hose, water is thicker too when cold. I had so much flow in the summer that everything was set as low as i could get it, now i'm on 4.
You'll notice that kinks in the pole hose will remain as a restriction too.
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Yea, saying that things seemed slower today flow-wise, even out of the 200 litre drun into my barrels.
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if your pump has a pre filter it may have become slightly blocked , try removing the filter and cleaning it worked for me when i had same problem.
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My sensor takes several seconds to realise that the valve is fully open. I was waiting for water at the brush head on every job today.
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Looks like it is more common than I thought. :)
Incidently the pressure setting is on C and I have changed it up and down more out of curiosity and seen no real difference so have left it at the same pressure setting.
Oh and nearly forgot!
Setting 3 - 850ml per minute
Setting 4 - 1200ml per minute
Setting 5 - 1600ml per minute
Which led me to believe that nothing conspicuously wrong with the set-up.
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use a by pass 8) 8) 8) 8)
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Cold weather - more resistance in the hose, water is thicker too when cold. I had so much flow in the summer that everything was set as low as i could get it, now i'm on 4.
You'll notice that kinks in the pole hose will remain as a restriction too.
Hi
I agree. At 4 to 0 degrees water is changing from liquid to ice and so becomes more dense. I also find that my 2 pumps running from a 120amp leisure battery are also struggling as the efficency of the battery deteriorates with the lower temperatures as well.
Spruce
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My sensor takes several seconds to realise that the valve is fully open. I was waiting for water at the brush head on every job today.
I'm going to check it at the weekend. Is it the black lid you just unscrew and what am I looking for once I am inside?
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if your pump has a pre filter it may have become slightly blocked , try removing the filter and cleaning it worked for me when i had same problem.
Yep, this happened to me, cleaned it and all was well.
Tony
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could try the following, test to see if its your battery,
use pump off another battery you know thats good
clean out diaphram on pump, just take head off and take everything apart, its really easy and clean, should have a filter, got one off ebay 7 quid, before pump, because any bits that get into diaphram will effect flow.
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could try the following, test to see if its your battery,
use pump off another battery you know thats good
clean out diaphram on pump, just take head off and take everything apart, its really easy and clean, should have a filter, got one off ebay 7 quid, before pump, because any bits that get into diaphram will effect flow.
Yeah!
I can imagine me with 364 bits of metal on the table!
:D
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no dont worry there's not much in there only a few bits of plastic, it all comes apart really easy, ive done it a few times its really simple you cannot go wrong, ive got a parts diagram if you want it shows how it goes together
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I should be okay if its just a case of taking it off and putting it back on again.
What does the diaphragm look like? Is it near the top of the pump or with the metal cannister...
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the diaphram is the plastic bits its what does the pumping, just take head off and take it apart easy peasy
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just got a new batt and the man in the shop said even a new batt will only have half its power in this cold
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no load of rubbish, what you get out of you battery depends on how much its charged by full charg you get full voltage full current drain, if its almount flat you may voltage loss and you wont be able to pull much current ie pump will work slow and not much flow
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Also sounds like you may have a blockage in the jets in the brush, if you shake the pole and its ok for a while, try taking the hose off the jets and blowing them through backwards, i generally use the pipe i have just taken off the jets to blow them through, if that makes sense.
Charge your battery every night and use one of the 'intelligent' chargers so as not to damage plates.
The more gizmos you add to a system the more can go wrong, I use the bypass method and flow rate set to approx 1-1.5 litres a minute.
HtH
Steve a
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Okay heres an update on my progress.
I took the pump off it's brackets yesterday morning and removed the black cap. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, and the fact that the pump was completely frozen up I let it thaw and returned the cap and fixed the pump back to the van.
This morning I have gone out and connected the hoses and turned on the pump...
...nothing.
The pump appears to be working and the varistream is on but no water, not even a trickle. Interestingly enough when I turn it up to 8, 9 or 'b' the green light doesn't even flash as per the norm. I would understand if the pump simply wouldn't start up but everything seems to be working except water coming out.
New pump do you reckon?
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your pump now has air locked in it, you need to disconect the hose reel from the pump, turn the varistream up to "b" and leave it until you get a good flow of water out of the end of the hose,(you may have to try this several times. ie let varistream run on setting "b" for tens seconds then turn off and try again). when you have got water flowing turn off varistream reconect hose reel to pump then turn varistream back on and it will pump until your hose reel is full of water then it will reach pressure and shut off.
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Another update and hopefully some success in my quest.
I have hopefully solved both problems and will explain to let others know if they have the same problem too.
Yesterday I took off the black cap but due to the pump being frozen I couldn't inspect the diaphragm fully as I couldn't detach the sections. Then today when it all thawed out I mentioned that the pump ran but nothing came out.
So after a final decision to have a proper inspection I was able to get to the diaphragm and can see that 1 of the 3 rubber seals had perished which must explain my weak flow, it was only being spun by two of the rubber rather . Also, when I ran the pump with the cap off the motor was spinning but the diaphragm wasn't it was just sat on top of the spindle not moving!
I will be ordering a new diaphragm and hopefully fitting it Tuesday morning, no doubt I will be on here for advice on how to remove the old one and fit the new one!
Any suggestions for suppilers?
Does it sound like I have cracked it?
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Doesn't ice push the diaphragm out of place?
My tank outlet foze just after the open and shut valve last week too.
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Yes but the initial problam was a reduced flow rate.
I looked at the diaphragm today and 1 of the 3 fins has eroded away which must have explained why I wasn't getting an efficent flow. The central cog was only spinning two of the three fins.
Cheers...still on the look out for a diaphragm though.
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Any pics? I've never looked inside one.
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There is a good picture on this forum: http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=47390.0
Basically the central spindle from the motor drives the diaphragm which in turn rotates the three fins I believe. One of mine is worn down so that it is not getting friction from the central seal. Thus slow flow.
It didn't work this morning becuase of displacement yes.