Shurflo pump not pumping right?

Hi guys long time.. Having water flow problems got controller turned up to max on variflo digital but poor flow of water still could it be an air lock if so what's best to do? I've took connector off and tried running striaght through pump but still sputtering? Could it anything else? Tips much appreciated. Paul1

paul1 said:

Hi guys long time.. Having water flow problems got controller turned up to max on variflo digital but poor flow of water still could it be an air lock if so what's best to do? I've took connector off and tried running striaght through pump but still sputtering? Could it anything else? Tips much appreciated. Paul1

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If its spluttering then it sounds like its sucking in air somewhere from the tank to the pump. The seal around the filter bowl is a suspect and so is a crack in the filter bowl from frost.  The other places are the hose joins on the connector barbs.

What Spruce says, I reckon.

Much more difficult to find a

leak in the suction side unfortunately, and a tiny leak can be enough to cause havoc. I found I had two tiny leaks when I was checking the equipment to be ready to start back after Christmas. I found them in the last few minutes of daylight. The hoses had gone very hard with the time off work and were letting a very small amount of air in at the tee piece between the the tank and the two shurflo pumps. 

The remody in my case was to remove the hoses from the fittings one at a time, heat the hose ends in hot water to soften them and refit them very tight. In the case of the ones with hose clips I put two clips on.

Good luck. Please let us know how you get on. 

Would it be a feasible solution to turn the pump around and pressurize the suction side to check for leaks?

As above check every hose connection jubilee clips make sure they are nipped uptight also check Hozelock fittings haven't developed a fault and letting air in this something that I check every month as typically overtime jubilee clips won't stay nipped forever and this is usually the case if you haven't run your tank dry and caused an airlock yourself  

Nudel said:

Would it be a feasible solution to turn the pump around and pressurize the suction side to check for leaks?

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Trouble is, it's easy to panic a bit and start disturbing stuff that had been alright but may not be after being disturbed. You could run a spare piece of hose from the pump inlet straight into the tank at the filler opening. Disconnect the hose at the reel, hold it well above the pump height and pour water into it to prime back to the pump. Turn the pump on while keeping the outlet high. Try the pump at different flow rates, up and down the setting. Sometimes fast seems to work well, sometimes, I've found, less speed is better. Hopefully this will will help confirm the pump and its filter are ok. If that's the case, as several of us have suggested, it surely must be a connection not sealing fully. Once you sort it (and you will), I'd let it run for a minute to clear any air, then turn the flow down and connect to the reel while it's still running slowly. Turn it back up to normal settings and let it run for another minute to make sure all's well. If the pump is vibrating when it's all back together there's probably still some air in it. Undo hose from the reel, hold the end above pump level and let the pump run to bleed the air again. Slow it down again and connect to the reel while running. Then back to normal settings and test. This was what I had to do after the Christmas break to sort mine. 

Good luck. Please keep us posted. 

all sorted guy, tightened all fittings, new connectors and cleaned out filter, ran through pump on different speeds, working like a dream again great flow, cheers for advice guys, thanks

Great news. I was wondering if you managed to get it sorted. Thanks for letting us know the outcome. ??