[mufcglen]

just looking at these for when i start my van set up and im thinking shurflo 100psi seems to be the main pump that everyone uses but whats the best reliable controller?
see corwoods are doing a pump and an e-z flow controller for £135, whats the controller like?

[Smudger]

As far as I am ware they are all made by spring.

Ask Ian Shepard for advice, it really depends on what you want your controller to do

Darran

[Tony dunmall]

Hi guys

The original was called an an Eco flow, developed by myself and a friend and spring originally crow electro there all the same just relabelled, there are varying differences dependant on what you would like your controller to do

Buy from nearest to up you or whoever you purchase your majority equipment from as saves on postage alternately I would buy direct from spring 

There are a few others out there, but ultimately all similar

[mufcglen]

cool cheers for replying fella, thought they looked the same but with a different sticker on lol!
so none are cheaper made then others etc as i just want a good reliable system

[Smudger]

You can get really cheapo ones off eBay,  but they look, well, er,  exactly what they are built in some ones shed - that's not to say they don't work well,  my advice is to stick with tried and tested spring products

Darran

[Paul H]

Have a look at pure freedom .. They do. Pump and controller mounted on a steel back plate ... Just need a power source ( battery ) to connect to and off you go ...

You may be able to shop around and get something similar cheaper ...

I have one of these fitted in the van ... Works a treat

[mufcglen]

Cool, do u just connect up to the van battery?
I plan to run anouther battery with a split charger in the van so I don't have to take it out to charge!

[Spruce]

We have always had excellent service from our Shurflo pumps. Make sure you order the correct inlet filter as well as a couple of straight and elbow hose connectors. You want the filter with the wing nuts to tighten up, not the female threaded socket that is slightly cheaper.

If I was buying a controller now, I would buy the 'new' analogue unit that Spring makes. Having the 2 dials on the front (flow and pressure) makes sense to me. Simple easy adjustment.

http://www.gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/acatalog/Easy-Analogue-Liquid-Logic----trade-----Pump-Flow-Controller--LIQUIDLOGIC_ANALOG.html

What I also like about this is that you have an 'infinite' range of motor speed settings. With our digital Varistreams (which have given us excellent service) we don't have the same level of control. For example; I run my pump on 4 as 5 wastes too much water. I would like a setting between 4 and 5 which the Varistream hasn't got.

Also, the latest Varistreams consume current even when the unit is switched off, so they need an extra cut off switch to be added into the system to stop this.

You will probably have to supplementary charge your battery even with a split charge relay if you don't do much mileage. I like the idea of an additional solar panel another cleaner has attached to his sunvisor which trickle charges his battery during daylight hours. He also has a split charge relay.

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

The annoying thing about all the controllers I've used is that there is always a slight delay before the controller starts the pump up.  I have controllers installed but I've set the pressure to max and use the pressure switch on the pump which is adjustable. This means that the pumps start pumping as soon as the pressure drops.  You could buy motor speed controllers rather than a wfp controller that would do exactly the same thing for just a few quid off eBay and have a better system in my opinion. Some say that eventually the pressure switch will play up but I've never had a problem and just carry spares.

Simon.

[James Bulton]

My own experience is analog is best less things to go wrong. I think all these newer ones with the battery controllers seam to stop you working when there is not really anything wrong with the battery. I have a home made one used it for 3.5 years no problem and I just cannot see the 100 quid in them. My one cost me just on 10 quid and has a volt meter so I can see at an instant if my battery is running low. 

[Ian Sheppard]

Spring manufacture a wide range of pump controllers, as mentioned by Tony this started with the Eco flow over 8 years ago. Since then we have continued with development into a wide range of controllers. While continuing to offer support for the older units.

The original post relates to a control and pump package I believe. The control can give years of service often i give advice to people using the original V1 and models we have not produced for some time. when you buy one of these units from a distributor you get more than a unit that just controls the pump speed depending on the model other features are available.

Using a distribution network The end user can look for best price, strangely as it would seem if we were to sell direct the price would be higher than available through the WFP distributor. 

There is a number of resources that look at benefits of controls and why you would consider using one over no form of pump control.

[Ian Sheppard]

The annoying thing about all the controllers I've used is that there is always a slight delay before the controller starts the pump up.  I have controllers installed but I've set the pressure to max and use the pressure switch on the pump which is adjustable. This means that the pumps start pumping as soon as the pressure drops.  You could buy motor speed controllers rather than a wfp controller that would do exactly the same thing for just a few quid off eBay and have a better system in my opinion. Some say that eventually the pressure switch will play up but I've never had a problem and just carry spares.

Simon.

Simon

I am intrigued by your reference to a delay. Is the delay with the pump starting or with water reaching the brush head?
From memory you have a hot water system with a diesel heater and the controls have some added features over and above the standard control
Are you setting calibration to 99?
Also does the control DE the pump when you stop flow or is it the pressure switch cutting in?

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I have an LPG on demand set up. The delay is from where the controller pulses the pump. I've found that all the controllers I've tried over the years operate a similar way, when a dead end is detected the controller will then pulse the pump intermittently until it detects an open end and then it continues to pump.  If you open the valve just after a pulse you can be waiting for a while before it the pump starts pumping again. With a pressure switch it's always instant. It may sound trivial but I like to eliminate every little delay that I can and I found waiting for a pump to kick in a bit of a wind up even if if is only for a few seconds.

Simon.

[Ian Sheppard]

Thanks for the info Simon

The pulse is the controller running its DE test while the pump is off, as you say the control is checking to see if flow has been restored and the restart the pump. While the pump is in DE the control tests every 2 - 3 seconds, I can see that if the flow being restored coincides with a test the pump restart would be delayed a couple of seconds.

Pressure dynamics in the system will also have an effect on how quickly the pump restarts flow.

Ian

[mufcglen]

cheers for replying guys and some interesting info there ian, 1 final question, if i fit a tap in the pole hose line and stopped water flow would the controller turn the pump off and then re turn the pump on after the tap opened again?
just asking as my diy trolley i made doesnt turn off when i stop flow which i resume is down to a cheap pump?

[mufcglen]

just seen the wcw controller with built in tds meter, that sounds pretty cool!
anyone else have one of these or do any of the other controllers have a built in tds meter?

[Ian Sheppard]

cheers for replying guys and some interesting info there ian, 1 final question, if i fit a tap in the pole hose line and stopped water flow would the controller turn the pump off and then re turn the pump on after the tap opened again?
just asking as my diy trolley i made doesnt turn off when i stop flow which i resume is down to a cheap pump?

The short answer is yes, Once the tap is turned off the control see,s the water flow has stopped and Dead end the pump. When you turn the Tap back on the restriction is removed and the control will restart the pump.

For a slightly longer explanation have a look at the following article http://www.springltd.co/node/130
Scroll down to point 3 This covers Calibration of the control to the pump and what the control is doing.

[dave0123]

The annoying thing about all the controllers I've used is that there is always a slight delay before the controller starts the pump up.  I have controllers installed but I've set the pressure to max and use the pressure switch on the pump which is adjustable. This means that the pumps start pumping as soon as the pressure drops.  You could buy motor speed controllers rather than a wfp controller that would do exactly the same thing for just a few quid off eBay and have a better system in my opinion. Some say that eventually the pressure switch will play up but I've never had a problem and just carry spares.

Simon.

There is a second or two delay in the water getting to the brush head which isn't a problem its only 2 seconds max.. but if you put a tap on your pole hose this keeps the water in the hose and there is no delay as when you open the tap the first burst is the water in the hose.... then the pumps running by the time that's used