[NWH]

What setting do most of you have yours on this time of the year,this last couple of weeks my pump has been cycyling on and off when in use. Just lately on the setting I'm on around 35-40 it's taking forever to turn off when dead ending the pole. Thanks

[Simon Trapani]

Around 30 this time of year if you can't auto-calibrate.

[JandS]

Mine wouldn't work the other day in the cold..rang PF who supplied me and they said turn it from what your on now...45...and try 60....bingo....

[NWH]

You say try 60! I thought you were supposed to turn it down not up in the cold,are you finding it will cycle on the pump when it gets going to start off with and then after a while almost like when the hose has expanded a bit work fine
Thanks.

[NWH]

Just popped to the van and set the cal  to 60 and happy days all working fine now lol,I've just changed for a new pump and am now also finding a lot less draw on the battery's as well,last few weeks it's been draining them to the point my diesel heater has been turning off for some reason,any ideas on that too.

[JandS]

Think he said something to do with water being colder or something...can't remember now.

[JandS]

Here you go NWH this explains it in laymans terms.
http://www.windowcleaningmagazine.co.uk/your-system-winter/

[Dave Willis]

Water thickens up in cold weather and hoses stiffen. Hence you need more pressure. Keep up at the back!

[Don Kee]

It depends on hose bore, length, pump age etc...

As a rule of thumb, CAL goes up in winter (thicker water, need more pressure to move it around) and the opposite in summer

(Although if your pump is taking an age to shut off then you should probably lower it a bit)

For the record, both pumps calibrations are set to around 19/20, but pumps aren't that old

[NWH]

Thanks for that bit of info much appreciated.

[Spruce]

Just popped to the van and set the cal  to 60 and happy days all working fine now lol,I've just changed for a new pump and am now also finding a lot less draw on the battery's as well,last few weeks it's been draining them to the point my diesel heater has been turning off for some reason,any ideas on that too.

Your diesel heater will automatically shut down once draw voltage of the battery drops to 10.5v.  This usually means that the battery is in a low state of charge - in other words, flat.  Once you stop the power draw, the battery voltage will very quickly stabilize.
It will probably get back to 12.3 volts before you get back to the van and put a voltmeter across the terminals or call the voltage up on the controller.

It could just mean that the battery needs charging or that it's down on capacity and needs replacing. Your leisure battery should always be fully charged as often as possible. If it isn't it will sulphate and loose capacity.

.
 

[NWH]

I have 2 in line 110amp banner battery's 3 weeks old.

[Smurf]

Using warm/hot water I don't normally need to adjust the dead end stop whatever the temp is.  60 is way too high if you ask me but whatever works best for you . More pressure whilst the water is turned off at the pole that's allowed to build up the longer the pump will try to stay on.  Especially when using hot it's a bad thing as puts extra strain on the pump and could end up causing leaks, blown hoses. connectors etc.

[chris turner]

I have a pure freedom controller with auto cal that doesn't seem to do anything. The instructions say it should take several minutes to auto cal but I once left it for 2 hours and it was still calibrating.
Now I just leave it on 50 all year round without problems.

[Dave Willis]

Normally when the pump doesn't shut down quick enough it's air in the system. However, years ago I had a nearly fat battery which also caused the pump to keep running. Strange one when that happens. Beauty of the analogue controller is that you can adjust the pressure in a second until your hot water comes through then back it off when required.

[Ian Sheppard]

Hi NWH

As always thank you guys for coming in on this one.

As a rule during low temperatures you will find the Calibration will need to be increased so going up from say 45 to 60 would be right.
The reason the pump is being cycled in/out of DE is because of changes caused by the low temperatures in the way the hose line expands and sped of expansion Plus the Viscosity of the water being lower at this time of year compared to summer.

Calibration is telling the controller what the open flow pressure and pump current draw is. Closing a tap increases both of these with the control detecting the change and dead ending the pump. Opening the tap both current and pressure fall and the control restarts the pump.
While a higher calibration will mean the pump is slower to DE and slower coming out the difference may be a second.

I mentioned water Viscosity This is the thickness of the water molecules they clump together in low temperature meaning the water actually flows more slowly. As an example of Viscosity compare a Slush puppy ice drink to a coffee. One is thick and pours slowly because its cold ( Low Viscosity) the coffee will pour fast ( High Viscosity )

In Low temperatures what this means for your system is the water will move slower in the line this means the pump must work harder to achieve the desired flow (Compared to warmer temperatures) This increases both pressure and the current drawn by the pump.
Add to this that in low temperatures your hose line wall is stiffer than it would be in summer its not as pliable. In low temperatures this means the hose is slower to expand again this will increase pressure.

As outlined in some systems if the  Calibration is left at say 45,  the open flow pressure and current draw in low temperatures can be higher than the controller expects as such the pump cycles in/out of DE. The answer then is to increase calibration so the controller expects higher current draw and pressure associated with low temperatures.

This flexibility of the controller is designed in to allow it to manage a very wide range of situations 

Turning the Calibration down would in low temperature make the cycling worse

[Ian Sheppard]

This Blog goes into a little more detail

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/effects-low-temperature-system-ian-sheppard?trk=mp-author-card

[NWH]

Thanks for all your help chaps today my system worked like it was brand new pump switched itself off in under 5 seconds or so and much much better flow since I cleared Vision out of my tank outlet lol,completely cloked up I think I'll lay off it for now.

[Spruce]

I have 2 in line 110amp banner battery's 3 weeks old.

OK.  If they aren't flat then it must be something else.

 A Webasto Thermo Top C heater will automatically shut down after 76 minutes of running time. Its a safety feature. I can't find a time for the 9.1kw heater. there's a figure in my head of 90 minutes but that's not a given.

Are all the connections good?

[NWH]

Really it shuts down does it that's the first time I've been informed of this and I spoke to the manufacturer this week about it,it did shut off today although it seemed prior to it doing so working well. I spoke to a guy they use for replacing the burners that it really should be charged from the mains i.e a plug on the side of the van like ionic supply a couple of times
a week for 12 hours or. He told me I would have to drive for an hour after using it for 3-4 hours to put enough back into the battery's for it to keep working properly,I'm getting frustrated to the point of going gas.