[Frank pole]

I have one of those FLOWMASTER pump controllers - Its been playing up a lot lately, so I decided to open the baby up! - WHAT A MESS! I had to re-solder about 10 solder points  - very poor build quality - Looked like it had been built by a one armed 9 year old chinese boy on acid! no probs now its running great! - but the question is : What is the best pump controller?!"£$

[macmac]

I've got a digital varistream & it was a nightmare to start with BUT this was down to the (also new) pump being faulty which was replaced (shurflo 100psi)

Now, after replacing pump & with plenty of fine-tuning the settings it works a treat! It's robust with no external parts hanging off to break. They do take some fine-tuning though so be patient for a couple of days. The pressure switch is now electronic so no replacing these again. I'm a one man set up & with the 100psi pump i only need to use flow rate on setting 1 (0 to 9). The pump is hardly turning at this, only ticking over so should prolong it's life.

Mine is a ready-made pump box (plug & play) from cleantech, great service- especially when pump was faulty, they sent me a new one the same day!

I've not used any other pump controller though.
Hope this helps.

Tony

[Frank pole]

Tony- Thanks for the advice, Im due to put another van on the road so I need a full kit for it - I just dont fancy buying kit that has been made on a friday afternoon! - if you know what I mean - All advice on getting a new van together is welcome!

[Jack Avery]

A Flojet on demand pump, no extras to buy works very well. Just control the flow with the control valve. Pumps from just over 1 ltr a minute to just over 6ltrs a minute whatever your work demands it will provide. I`ve had my 60 PSI pump for over two and a half years.

[mark dew]

A Flojet on demand pump, no extras to buy works very well. Just control the flow with the control valve. Pumps from just over 1 ltr a minute to just over 6ltrs a minute whatever your work demands it will provide. I`ve had my 60 PSI pump for over two and a half years.

samer here. No problems at all. Have varistream on trolley and had no problems with that either, but the flow rate on that depends if the moonbeams are in harmony.

[sair]

best advice either vari stream or eco flow " new style" as you can run with out presure switch

I am biased as i sell eco flow 

word of warning you cannot use a flow jet 100 psi with the flow master or any of the old eco flows as the rating of the diodes is not high enough to cope with the high peaks of current when it dead ends

that is why vari strem reduced the flow rate from the newer style pumps

[cybersye]

I am biased as i sell eco flow 

eco flow, I'm biased because I have one 
its the old type that does not do away with pressure switch (100 psi shurflo ) but its very well made and robust, fit and forget. Always worked faultlessly in 3 years. I added an inline switch before it so the flow setting stays the same unless i change it and I can switch it on and off as I please.
Simon

[Xline Systems]

digi varistream all the way. strong robust and in my opinion the best on the market

[Moderator David@stives]

The trouble with the digital varistream is most of the settings are useless whats the point of having 7 settings which are no use, and one which is slightly not fast enough and one just to fast.

I put mine on 1 and its to slow
on 2 its to fast the rest of the settings are useless unless you want to rinse from the other side of the road, my guess is if you were using standard hose then it is totally useless

[Busby]

Nice one Dave, 

that tickled me up - rinsing from other side of the road

Same sense of humour as me, unlike some on here

 
 

[Bobs Window Cleaning]

you already have the best..............Flowmaster

[[GQC] Tim]

The trouble with the digital varistream is most of the settings are useless whats the point of having 7 settings which are no use, and one which is slightly not fast enough and one just to fast.

I put mine on 1 and its to slow
on 2 its to fast the rest of the settings are useless unless you want to rinse from the other side of the road, my guess is if you were using standard hose then it is totally useless

I'm stuck between 1.6lpm and 2lpm on a Digital varistream, I would wish for something in between. Might have to fiddle a bit more with the extra settings. Oh well........I like it though.

[sair]

flow master is just renamed, and badged up for someone else! Its an original eco flow

[chris@c.m.s]

I have the original eco flow set up with a shurflow and haven't had any problems with it at all in two years  of working with it.
 

[macmac]

The trouble with the digital varistream is most of the settings are useless whats the point of having 7 settings which are no use, and one which is slightly not fast enough and one just to fast.

I put mine on 1 and its to slow
on 2 its to fast the rest of the settings are useless unless you want to rinse from the other side of the road, my guess is if you were using standard hose then it is totally useless

You need to get all three settings right to get the perfect flow. I know when you first alter pressure settings it seems like it doesn't affect the situation but it does, it just takes quite a bit of fine-tuning to hit the sweet spot!

[Moderator David@stives]

Mac

I have got the internal setting set at 1, so that cant be lowered any more, and the external setting at 1, where is the third setting ?

I have no trouble setting up the mechanical switch on the older varistreams

[Londoner]

I don't see why you can't just use a potentiometer to control the speed of the pump and a seperate on/off switch.

A potentiometer is what the volume contol numpty on a radio is. The further up you turn it the more electricity it lets through = louder music or in our case, pump runs faster.

Something like Maplin YP05F should do the job for £4

[macmac]

Mac

I have got the internal setting set at 1, so that cant be lowered any more, and the external setting at 1, where is the third setting ?

I have no trouble setting up the mechanical switch on the older varistreams

These are my settings & it took weeks of tuning to hit a reliable, constant sweet spot but i have done it, a regular, reliable perfect flow at the touch of one button.

Pressure = C
Cut off    = 5
Flow       = 1

80m of minibore (8mm) with 2mm pencil jets.

Once a month i have to use the pole at 42ft, only on this occasion do i have to alter the settings- I have to raise the cut off to 7 or it cuts out before the water reaches the brush.

Tony

[Moderator David@stives]

I knew there was a pressure and a flow, didnt know about the cut off, I mustn't have read the instructions thouroughly enough

[Moderator David@stives]

Just read through the instructions and there is no sign of a third setting ?