[DeLuce]

Hello
I am The Wife.  Can you help me so that my husband stops stomping around between the house and the van cursing under his breath please?
The varistream keeps kicking the pump off because there's air getting into the pump. (my diagnosis, and Im quite confident Im right!)
And having replaced the hoses from the tank to the pump, the only place left is the strainer.  I can sometimes see air bubbling in it.
I have removed the ptfe tape and put it back on...quite a few times  : ...but it's one of those strainers that you tighten directly onto the pump and Im scared of ripping the thread by over tightening it.
Does anyone know if the strainer has to end up in the downward position?
If so, how do you manage that?
Is it supposed to have a washer?
Should I use ptfe or not?
Or should I replace the strainer with a 'swivel strainer' that tightens with a nut onto the pump instead?
Thank you.  You might save my sanity and my marriage.

[david thomas]

by pass strainer put suction side pipe direct to pump if this works then the strainer thread 1s worn go to local caravan
dealers they sell strainers for around £6.00 with the wing nut

[david thomas]

 Strainer glass lid should be in downward position

[Nathanael Jones]

Just for the sake of diagnosis,.. remove the strainer all together and see if you have the same issue.

[DeLuce]

It's a brand new pump and strainer so theoretically the thread shouldn't be worn.
How do you tighten it up ensuring the glass is at the bottom? I havent managed that yet!
I will have a go at bypassing the strainer.
Meanwhile, I think that the problem may be that the as I tighten the wing nut to the hose/strainer end, it pulls the opposite way to the thread on the strainer/pump end, so undoes it.

[Dave Willis]

Always have my glass on the top, usually has an air bubble in it but have no problems. Check all the connectors and try to get rid of any hozelock connections if you can - they don't work well without pressure. Get your pump and strainer as low as you can and make sure the tank has a vent. Ptfe all threaded parts.
When you say the pump is kicking off can you explain more?

[andyM]

When fault finding on a wfp system I find it best to work backwards starting with the pole end.
So for example if you have air in the system, leaks or blockages disconnect the pole hose and run the system. If its still playing up disconnect hosereel and so on, this way you should be able to eliminate certain components and find where the problem lies.
All connections threaded and jubilee clip or whatever should be as tight as you can get them to prevent leaks and air entering the system.
Also Hydrophyl make a good point of making sure the tank is vented otherwise you will have air in the water tank that is getting into your system.

[Spruce]

Hi
When we started windowing cleaning 5 years ago, we inherited a Shurflo pump and screw on filter.
In those days the pump was fitted with the pump mechanism at the top and the motor at the bottom. With the motor fitted in this position the filter was correctly positioned.
When Shurflo decided that it was better to turn the pump around so the motor was at the top this became a problem with the filter as it was upside down and didn't look right. However we used the pump in that configuration for months before it got on my nerves so much that I brought one from Shurflo that could be tightened in any position.

I have found that these filters do need an extra tightening 'nip up' to stop leaks - just a bit. I have never tried to lubricate the thread with a thin film of Vaseline or something like that, but this may help. There is also a seal at the top of the glass container. Is this still in good condition, or has it been damaged.

So, in our experience you can work quite happily with the filter upside down. It will just make a mess when you unscrew the filter to clean it.

I include a picture of my son's van with the aforesaid filter. You can see the orange seal/gasket on the bottom of the filter bowl.

I see no reason to use ptfe tape on the coupling that attaches the inlet hose to the filter. The hose coupling and the filter should have mating surfaces that will seal themselves. Could the tape be the cause of the airleaks?

Air getting into the system can only be from somewhere between the tank and the pump. Everything after the pump will show up as a water leak. 

Oh! We also stopped using jubilee clips to tighten the hoses onto the couplings as they cause airleaks if they aren't the right size. We now use double eared 'o' clips very successfully. As you can see the pump is quite high up, virtually at the top of the tank and we don't suffer from air leaks.

Spruce

[DeLuce]

Yellow gasket? What yellow gasket?     There isnt one on mine!  Maybe that's part of the problem.  But Ive looked at the picture on the cleaning spot web site and I cant see one on the screw on model.

Anyway, Ive bypassed the strainer now, also tightened up the screws on the head of the pump, checked all the jubilee clips, checked the tank vent... and the varistream is switching off the pump and flashing P.
I can get a fairly continuous flow by changing the settings to B or D on No.4 only but it wont work on the factory setting of C at all. It thinks it has reached the right pressure and switches off the pump.
I understand that you have to adjust the settings to suit your system, but it worked fine for 5 houses and then started playing up.  So I dont understand why.

Thank you for your help so far.  Hope you can help me solve this right to the end.
By the way it's a shurflo 5l/min with digital Varistream and 100m microbore.

Thank you.

[Davie T]

Hi Spruce,

Good idea to keep pump etc in the cabin rather than back. 
In the past I was told to keep pump positioned as low as possible to avoid airlocks and once done, I had no more airlock problems.

[DeLuce]

What a difference a bit of daylight makes.
I can see that there is a gasket on the strainer.  Its a muddy green colour.  Couldnt see it last night tired and grumpy with an LED head torch!  The strainer is tight in a very nearly upward position and it doesnt fill up with water at all, there's just a bit visible in the bowl.

Ive tried ALL your suggestions, and it seems to be running ok now (done 2 houses.)  In a multitude of many councellors there is wisdom!  Thank you.

Strangely the jubilee clips seemed be loose this morning despite being tightened last night.  I'll replace them with double eared O rings as soon as I can.  Good idea, thank you.

The other thing that seems to have helped is taking off a second feed.  After the pump we had a T piece to split off the hose, one to the back of the van and one to the side door.  At the end of the unused one we had a hoselock deadstop.  I would have thought that if is was faulty, since it was after the pump, the water would have leaked out at pressure rather that sucking air in, but then again Physics was not my strong point. 

Thank you again for helping. We were just getting to the stage of wondering whether to get the ladders back on the roofrack...

[DeLuce]

Aaaaaagggghhhh.

Stupid stupid water fed pole system.  Whose idea was this?

Cant get a constant flow.

Went back to one of your ideas, which was to work backwards through the system, and it seems to be the pole hose that's the problem.  Works ok up to there now.  Its a CLX 18 pole and I had thought that the brush/gooseneck was crimping the pole hose by being too tight onto the top of the pole.  So we took the brush off... and it still didnt work. 

Its a microbore hose so 6mm internal diameter.  Could it be a problem if the internal diameter of the pole hose was a tiny bit bigger? 6.5mm maybe?

Please try and help us solve this.
All rational ideas will be considered.  Im cold.  Got wet feet.  Cheesed off.  No income.

[Dave Willis]

You need to tell us exactly what's happening. Is your equipment brand new?
Is the pump running constantly but no water coming out? Is the pump stopping? Does it pump water without the hosereel etc etc? Are you using a controller (varistream) are you using any pole valves or triggers? Have you got an on off valve on the tank outlet before the pump?

[Dave Willis]

If you have flow but it's not constant it could be a minor adjustment to the pressure setting that is required.

[DeLuce]

From the top: Everthing brand spanking new

500litre vented tank in van.
Tank plug/elbow with 1/2" barb.
1/2" hose (with jublilee clip) to...1/2" inline tap to...1/2" hose (with jubilee clip)
to shurflo strainer
to shurflo pump (wired to digital Varistream connected to 115ah leisure battery, fully charged)
to 100m microbore (6mm)

Up to here it seems to work ok.

Then via rectus21 fittings to 2metres of pole hose

Still ok to there!!

Then to a flow control valve from pure freedom.  Its just a 1/2" ball valve, quarter turn, but they have cleverly added a bracket to it so it clamps to the pole.

Now if I attach the pole hose with the flow control valve  it doesnt work.
But if I attach the pole hose without the valve, IT STILL DOESNT DAMN WORK!

The pole hose is Gardiner 8mm diameter (6mm internal).

Yes I have tried all the varistream setting known to man.
The annoying thing is that it did 2 houses this morning without a hitch and then when
we moved on to the next house down the road it started playing up.

The pump runs and then keeps reaching pressure and switching off.  And then when it decides to run again its slow to respond with a decent flow... and the it drops off again.

[Dave Willis]

Have you tried turning the varistream pressure up (not the flow setting)? Have you disconnected the pumps pressure switch? (you shouldn't use it with a varistream)

If it's a digital controller you need to push in and hold both buttons until you get the digit showing pressure press both again to get it flashing. Release the buttons then push the + button to get a higher pressure setting. Then switch off and back on again

[DeLuce]

Yes disconnected the pump pressure switch when I wired it up.

Yes have tried increasing the pressure.  Have tried right from, was it E at the top? down through D C B A  then the numbers lower.
And have tried all the various flow rates 1-9 on each.

I wouldnt be so bewildered if it had never worked.  But doing a couple of houses and then going funny is driving be mad.

[Dave Willis]

hmmm when you open the pole valve with the pole collapsed, water starts pumping and you can hear the pump running continuously? When you extend the pole to full height can you hear the pump still running or does it stop and start?

Forgot to ask have you a di vessel before the pump?

[andyM]

You have said that when you disconnected the pole hose everything was working ok and water was flowing through I take it.
Now when you connect the pole hose back up without extending the poles length is water coming out of the jets ok and at its usual pressure?
Or are you saying the pressure is reduced only when the pole is extended to do top windows?

[DeLuce]

It stops flowing smoothly when the pole hose is connected and the pole collapsed (and collecting the water in a bucket so I can recycle it).

I connect the pole hose and open the pole valve, the pump kicks in, and then P flashes and the pump stops.
Then it runs again for a 3 or 4 seconds then the flow dribbles away and P starts flashing again. Then it runs again for 3 or 4 seconds then...repeat to fade..

When I disconnect the pole hose, the flow is fairly constant and I can alter the Varistream up or down with no ill effects.

DI is in the shed with the RO.