shurflo??

[hydro-clean]

I just made up a shurflo system on a hand truck its the 12v. 1.8gpm@60psi w/on demand switch. i used a 6' section of 3/8" clear tubing for the pickup into a 5 gal bucket. and i have a 60' section of 3/8" on the other side with a gun and short wand. with a 12v battery. but i have a problem, i havent put on the 60' section yet but i did put a 3' section on the discharge side with the gun and short wand, if there is no tip on the wand the pump works fine but if there is any kind of tip on there the pump surges while spraying. i have tried a 0050, 25050, 15050, 15007, and a 15040 and all of them did the same thing. any suggestions? thanks, what size tips does everyone use? thanks

 

[ron]

depending

on what shur-flo pump you got their should be a tiny,tiny allen screw on the end of the pump. Get a allen wrench and adj. that screw. Depending on the thickness of the fluid your running through the pump and tip,plus langth of line. You will need to adj it. Keep the little allen wrench handy. I tape mine to the lid of my toolbox.

 

[Harold Brantley]

hydro-clean

Your problem is predictable and the solution easy. If you'll give us your name and location I'll give you the solution.

 

[hydro-clean]

shurflo

hydro clean, dom, from new jersey

 

[Harold Brantley]

Thank you.

Your problem is caused by the pressure switch cutting on and off very rapidly when you spray with a nozzle in place. When you pull the trigger, the pressure drops below the cut on pressure imediately and cuts the pump on. Because of the nozzle restricting the flow, the pressure rises imediately to the cut off pressure and cuts the pump off. When you had the nozzle removed, the pressure couldn't rise above the cut off pressure, therefore the pump kept pumping.

The reason this happens is that water cannot be compressed (only very little) so the cycle between cut on and cut off on the pressure switch is very rapid.

The solution is to provide an air damper to slow down this cycle. This is the same reason that all well water systems have an air tank. You can make one to solve your problem. A simple way is to make a PVC cylinder with 4" to 6" PVC. It needs to be mounted vertically with a cap on the top and the bottom needs an outlet with a 'T' fitting. Connect your hose from the pump to one end of the "t" and connect your hose to the spray wand to the other. The height of the PVC tube will determine the amount of dampening you get. About 2.5' to 3' has worked well for me.

In operation, the air in the damper will compress till the cut off pressure is reached and the pump cuts off. When you spray the pressure still goes down but much slower now allowing you to spray for 0.5 to 1 minute before the cut on pressure is reached. The time is dependent on the nozzle size and the volume of the air in the damper. When the pump cuts on, it will pump till the air is compressed to the cut off pressure. In operation, the air damper will be 1/3 to 1/2 full of the water, so when you finish, you should drain the water from the damper.

Good Luck, I hope this is clear enough.

 

[hydro-clean]

shurflo

thanks for the reply but does everyone have this problem , cause this is the first time i have heard something like this?

 

[Aplus]

Hydro,

I think the pressure switch may be malfunctioning. You can test it by jumping over it with a piece of wire. Just look closely at the connectors, and you'll see how to jumper it.

The bad news is that a pressure switch costs half as much as the whole pump. The good news is they're easy to replace.

 

[Harold Brantley]

If your nozzle is large enough to keep the pressure below the cut off pressure then the pump will keep pumping the whole time you are spraying and only cut off when you release the trigger. This will keep you from having to build a damper as long as you want a large flow. The damper allows you to use any nozzle size you want which is what you need for different applications.

 

[ron]

Harold

could/would you post a pic?
1 short piece of PVC
1 end cap [top]
1 bottom cap with t?[this is where i lost you-i have not seen a 4" piece that you are talking about, i have seen them for 1 1/2 " and know what your talking about but have not seen a 4 or 6 inc one. can you make this dampener out of a longer piece of 1 1/2 inc?]
1 can primer
1 can pvc cement
2 pipe clamps to mount to wall
4 screws
2 hose barbs
2 hose clamps
3/8ths chem line
teflon tape
is this the correct shopping list?
then you need
a hacksaw
a screwdriver
a wrench
Harold if you just took a plastic filter houseing[the type that use filter cartrig.] and took out the element and flipped it upside down.
Would that work?

 

[Aplus]

I can't believe there's a need for an air damper. I've used all kinds of tips with mine and never had a problem. None of the pump cart sprayers available commercially have air dampers.

It's just a pump....intake on one side, and output on the other. It shouldn't matter what tip you have.

I still think a bad pressure switch is your problem.

 

[Harold Brantley]

Ron, I'll try to make a photo in the next day or so and post it.

Tony, As I said earlier, if you have the proper conditions, you do not need an air damper, but if you want to operate outside of those conditions, an air damper is a viable approach. You are right Tony it is just a pump, but it has a pressure switch with a cut off and cut on pressure. To prevent the rapid cut on and cut off situation, an air damper will solve the problem. It may not be for you, but others may want to operate with different conditions.

 

[Harold Brantley]

Ron, here is a picture of a pump cart with a small air damper. It is 3" dia and 12" to 15" tall. The top is capped off and the bottom has a 3" to 2" reducer and then a 2" to 1/2" reducer with a "T" on the bottom. It is plumbed differently than I suggested earlier. The damper is "T"ed in the hose from the pump to the hose reel. The other side of the "T" goes through a red handled ball valve to allow purging of the damper when spraying is finished. This set up allows spraying for about 30 to 45 sec before the pump cuts on. The pump then runs for about 10 to 15 sec before cutting off. I spray with a size 2, 3 and 4 nozzle through 150' of hose and barely know when the pump cuts on and off.

Ron, you are correct about the parts needed. The plastic filter housing should work if it has enough volume to prevent the constant cycling of the pump.

 

[Henry Bockman]

I had someone suggest installing one of these shurflow pumps on a trailer rig I have to use for chemicals. I was told that I could use my pressure line and gun for putting on the chemicals then just switch the hose back over to the machine. Does this sound like a good idea and how far will this thing spray? I'd like to find a way to quickly put chemicals on houses and other surfaces for cleaning.

 

[Harold Brantley]

Henry, for cleaning houses and buildings, I use a downstream injector. It only takes a few seconds to change nozzles and then 7 seconds to get the chemical through 100' of hose to start applying chemicals up to 3 stories high plus gable. A lot of guys here like the x-jet but I don't like taking the chemicals around with me. This is just personal preference. There is no right or wrong, just do what works best for you.

The Shurflo pump, is going to have much less volume, pressure and therefore less distance and coverage area. I only use a Shurflo pump for more concentraded chemicals applied at closer distances. Again this is personal preference.

 

[ron]

thank you