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Blocked pump

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jmslade

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Can anyone help I'm at my wits end, I have 2 shurflo pumps my problem is ,to start, I thought it was clogged with resin(before anyone starts I have a strainer fitted)so I took it home opened it up but it was clean, so I fitted the spare but same problem, so I thought airlock, did the take the hose off the outlet put the pressure up to 99 and shook the tank no joy and now I'm totally lost as to what it is . It must be simple but I'm just not seeing it. The water is flowing into the pump just nothing is coming out. Your help would be much appreciated.
 
Disconnect before 1st pump, water flowing? If it is disconnect after 1st pump, flowing? If it is disconnect before 2nd pump.
Repeat this to the hose reel to try and find where the p
Are you sure your battery voltage is good - above 12v?
Hi, yes there's no issues with the battery, I've rectified the issue, took the pump off removed the bottom cleaned out the inlet and outlet areas placed the bottom back on cut some longer wires from the pump directly to the battery, placed the hose on the inlet rattled the pump around and water started flowing. Mounted the pump back on the plate connected it to the variflo and working(had to hike the variflo up to 99 reduced it back)like there wasn't a problem, taken me days to sort it and loss of earnings. Seems to be a recurring problem,quite iritating!
 
Hi, yes there's no issues with the battery, I've rectified the issue, took the pump off removed the bottom cleaned out the inlet and outlet areas placed the bottom back on cut some longer wires from the pump directly to the battery, placed the hose on the inlet rattled the pump around and water started flowing. Mounted the pump back on the plate connected it to the variflo and working(had to hike the variflo up to 99 reduced it back)like there wasn't a problem, taken me days to sort it and loss of earnings. Seems to be a recurring problem,quite iritating!
Thanks very much for your advice though always good to bear these things in mind
 
What happens when the pump isn't used is the non return valve in the pump sticks to its seat.
Connect the pump up to a tap and turn the tap on slowly. The water must flow in the direction of the flow through the pump. It will release the non return valve.
The other thing is to ensure the pump is connected correctly. Someone once had the issue and the inlet was connected to the outlet.
There is an arrow showing the flow direction on the pump.
 
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Hi, yes there's no issues with the battery, I've rectified the issue, took the pump off removed the bottom cleaned out the inlet and outlet areas placed the bottom back on cut some longer wires from the pump directly to the battery, placed the hose on the inlet rattled the pump around and water started flowing. Mounted the pump back on the plate connected it to the variflo and working(had to hike the variflo up to 99 reduced it back)like there wasn't a problem, taken me days to sort it and loss of earnings. Seems to be a recurring problem,quite iritating!
Auto calibration of your pump you should do that’ll stop straining the pump and causing this problem m8🕺🏼
 
You mentioned this is a recurring problem. This may by because of the location of your pumps in relation to the water level in your main tank or even the bore of the hose going from your tank to you pumps.

If you run your tank dry and suck air into the intake hose then the hose has to completely refill before your pump will work properly in most cases. If any air at all gets in your pumps then they will only sputter at best, and while they are in this state it becomes difficult for them to produce enough vacuum to draw any more water from your tank especially if the water level in the tank is lower than the pump.

I don't know how you have your system plumbed, but this sounds like a two man system (Two pumps). If so, personally, I would have a separate intake hose for each pump and would try using 8mm ID hoses for the intake hoses as they have a much smaller internal volume to fill if you run your tank dry and have to re-prime the system. I used to have a similar problem until I did this. Now my system primes real quick as soon as I remove the output hose.

If you have both pumps connected to the same intake hose and don't want to change this setup, then 8mm ID hose would be too small. In this situation I would fit a drain point at the intake of each pump that I could fit a hose to so that I could get a syphon going and get a good flow from each drain point before switching the pumps on. That way you know you have no air in the pipes before switching the pumps on.

Of course also make sure that your intake connections are 100% airtight.

Hope this helps if the problem recurs.
 

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