Pressure switch activates for no reason

[Barrynoggins]

Hi

First post.

I have a Shurflo 8000 pump, used with a controller. My problem is, the pressure switch activates when the tap is on and there is nothing (that I can see) inhibiting the flow. It generally happens a few minutes after I have turned the tap on. it will flow for a bit, then p/s stops it, then it appears like it is struggling to get pumping again, then back to normal pumping.

Is this a pressure switch problem or does it sound like my pump is on the way out? It is 7 years old, replaced the diaphragm a couple of years ago, usually used at 99psi.

Thanks

 

[Pjj]

Hi

First post.

I have a Shurflo 8000 pump, used with a controller. My problem is, the pressure switch activates when the tap is on and there is nothing (that I can see) inhibiting the flow. It generally happens a few minutes after I have turned the tap on. it will flow for a bit, then p/s stops it, then it appears like it is struggling to get pumping again, then back to normal pumping.

Is this a pressure switch problem or does it sound like my pump is on the way out? It is 7 years old, replaced the diaphragm a couple of years ago, usually used at 99psi.

Thanks

Sounds like you need to calibrate the pump ?.

 

[dazmond]

Hi

First post.

I have a Shurflo 8000 pump, used with a controller. My problem is, the pressure switch activates when the tap is on and there is nothing (that I can see) inhibiting the flow. It generally happens a few minutes after I have turned the tap on. it will flow for a bit, then p/s stops it, then it appears like it is struggling to get pumping again, then back to normal pumping.

Is this a pressure switch problem or does it sound like my pump is on the way out? It is 7 years old, replaced the diaphragm a couple of years ago, usually used at 99psi.

Thanks

Pump needs recalibrating!?

 

[Iron Giant]

Could be air in the system as the pressure switch shouldn't really activate all the time it should flash up de when the water flow is off I'd run the pump flat out with the pole disconnected or if you are able to disconnect the hose from the hose reel inlet and run the pump flat out that should sort it.

 

[spruce]

Hi

First post.

I have a Shurflo 8000 pump, used with a controller. My problem is, the pressure switch activates when the tap is on and there is nothing (that I can see) inhibiting the flow. It generally happens a few minutes after I have turned the tap on. it will flow for a bit, then p/s stops it, then it appears like it is struggling to get pumping again, then back to normal pumping.

Is this a pressure switch problem or does it sound like my pump is on the way out? It is 7 years old, replaced the diaphragm a couple of years ago, usually used at 99psi.

Thanks

99 psi? This isn't a psi rate, it's a flow rate.

Turn this down to 30 or 40 and then tell us what happens.

 

[Barrynoggins]

Could be air in the system as the pressure switch shouldn't really activate all the time it should flash up de when the water flow is off I'd run the pump flat out with the pole disconnected or if you are able to disconnect the hose from the hose reel inlet and run the pump flat out that should sort it.

99 psi? This isn't a psi rate, it's a flow rate.

Turn this down to 30 or 40 and then tell us what happens.

Apologies for late reply.

I always presumed that, as the pump was 100 psi, the flow rate was measuring the pump pressure? Is the flow rate just a nominal figure?

When turned down to 30 or 40 I get very little flow, not enough to clean with.

I recalibrated using the auto-cal. it read C18. then when I turned the flow up to 99 I got hardly any flow. I recalibrated again. this time at auto-cal I got d/e. Just so I could get some work done, I manually set the cal at C40 and got on with my day's work. This kind of worked but by the afternoon I was getting the same problem I have been having - p/s switching on after I have turned the tap on. There were no air bubbles or kinks in the pipes. However, after a lot of hunting round I found that my aqua-stop connection leading into my hose reel was loose and possibly inhibiting the flow. I changed this connector and problem over, at least I hope so. Does that sound right?

Thanks for the advice

 

[Barrynoggins]

Could be air in the system as the pressure switch shouldn't really activate all the time it should flash up de when the water flow is off I'd run the pump flat out with the pole disconnected or if you are able to disconnect the hose from the hose reel inlet and run the pump flat out that should sort it.

Interesting that you say it should flash up d/e when water flow is off. It has always flashed up p/s when I've turned the tap off. What would that indicate? Anyhow I recalibrated and now it flashes d/e, so I guess I just should have done it a long time ago.

Thanks for your advice

 

[spruce]

Apologies for late reply.

I always presumed that, as the pump was 100 psi, the flow rate was measuring the pump pressure? Is the flow rate just a nominal figure?

When turned down to 30 or 40 I get very little flow, not enough to clean with.

I recalibrated using the auto-cal. it read C18. then when I turned the flow up to 99 I got hardly any flow. I recalibrated again. this time at auto-cal I got d/e. Just so I could get some work done, I manually set the cal at C40 and got on with my day's work. This kind of worked but by the afternoon I was getting the same problem I have been having - p/s switching on after I have turned the tap on. There were no air bubbles or kinks in the pipes. However, after a lot of hunting round I found that my aqua-stop connection leading into my hose reel was loose and possibly inhibiting the flow. I changed this connector and problem over, at least I hope so. Does that sound right?

Thanks for the advice

Your C18 could be called pressure. A Spring controller reacts to what current the motor draws. The higher the flow rate you require, the harder your pump has to work to provide that and the more current it needs. This C18 is a set power draw. If you go above that, the controller will cut power to the pump. By increasing the C value to say C45, you are increasing the amps the controller can draw before switching the current to the pump off.

So its an electronic control that translates into pressure.

 

[Iron Giant]

However, after a lot of hunting round I found that my aqua-stop connection leading into my hose reel was loose and possibly inhibiting the flow. I changed this connector and problem over, at least I hope so. Does that sound right?

More than likely that was the issue, I wouldn't use an aqua-stop though as these can fail the little plastic thing inside can cause issues years ago it completely stopped my flow and was stumped and after a lot of head scratching I noticed something wasn't quite right I removed the plastic stick from inside the aqua-stop and the water flowed freely so will never use an aqua-stop on anything again.

 

[Ian Sheppard]

Very late to this one apologies. Thank you guys for giving top advice to Barry, Spruce love that explanation of electronic pressure and current draw.

Barry it would seem that the Aquatap was creating high pressure in the system and the pump pressure switch activated in response. The Controller show PS to say the pressure switch has activated.

Usually when the controller is calibrated to the pump based on your preferred flow rate it would show DE (Dead end) in response to a pole tap closing. The higher the calibration the less sensitive the controller becomes. IF Cal and Flow rate are high the pump pressure switch activates before the controller can dead end the pump. As Spruce comment the controller expects to see high current draw so does not DE the pump very quickly. In that situation when the valve closes the control will show PS

Ideally you want to see DE when a valve is closed. Auto Cal can be run at any flow rate so if need be set your preferred flow then auto Cal.

This is a great video showing auto cal. Thanks to Dave Pedan.