310 has problems getting up to pressure in cold weather.

[MDrost1]

Greetings. I have a 310 pump that has issue coming to full pressure during cold weather. I can manually run it in the morning with 3 or so start and stop cycles and it runs fine.

Has this ever happened to anyone? Any fixes?

 

[Eric H]

It sounds like the water has drained out of the hose causing a lack of pressure. Could be as simple as a bad swivel out in the bay allowing air to get into the hose and the wwater to run out or a cracked fitting somwhere else. The pressure won't come up until the water gets to the tip at the gun. As soon as you get the pressure up on the pump in the morning there is enough water in the hose to make it appear that the issue has gone away until it drains out again over night.

 

[MDrost1]

I failed to mention it works fine during the warm months. When we are on the weep system, it happens. Sorry.

 

[cantbreak80]

Do you have a manual shut-off valve on the weep system that you close during warm months? If yes, than I'd be looking for a leaky high pressure check valve for that bay's weep inlet.

 

[MDrost1]

Just swapped out the check valve. I'll let you know tomorrow! Thanks for the help.
I noticed the check valve that was on the pump stand being a 1/4" stainless check valve. I didn't have one of those and used a 1/4" brass check from KR that was new. I checked the weep flow all seems good with no chatter. Will this be ok?

 

[cantbreak80]

Will this be ok?

Yep...no worries. It'll probably only last 1/2 as long as a SS valve, so...5 years?

So, this is being fed with warm water? Have you noticed soap suds in your rinse water tank? Does the rinse water tank overflow overnight?

If yes, then your entire water supply could be "contaminated" with soap/wax. That's because a leaking check valve sends high pressure water backwards into the facility plumbing...maybe all the way thru the softener(s) and boiler. About the only thing that stops the backwards flow is the backflow prevention device at the service entrance. This only happens when that particular bay (with the faulty check valve) is used in the soap/rinse/wax selections.

I've always found it to be good practice to use low pressure poly tubing from the weep solenoid to the check valve. This makes a mess when a check valve fails because the poly tubing will burst. But, at least you know you have a problem because the bay will be frozen and there will be weep water spraying all over the engine room.

 

[MDrost1]

Nope, no soap suds or tank overflowing.

The lp poly tube idea is good. Thank you for all of your help!!!!!

 

[MDrost1]

Folks,

I rebuilt the weep check/ball valve assembly going to my pump. Stainless check. Still have issue getting up to pressure in cold weather. It gets worse as the weep intervals decrease. More weep, less initial pressure. All other bays work fine. Any ideas?

Thanks!!!

 

[2Biz]

You might try taking your weep line off and start the pump to see if you have eliminated the weep CV as your problem. Do you have any LP systems above the bay Tee'd into the HP hose? This is another place to look for issues.... I would think the only way weep could affect pressure is its keeping air out of the HP hose and it doesn't take as long to build pressure. You sure your not sucking air into the HP hose and it just takes a few seconds to build pressure? What happens if you just start the pump and let it run, how long does it take to build pressure?

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Why not hook up a line with a gun to the pump directly in the equipment room and see if works.

 

[MEP001]

Have you checked the belt? It's not uncommon for it to slip when it's loose and start to grip better when it heats up. If it's a V-belt, it should be tight enough that it will hardly deflect at all.

 

[2Biz]

Hmmm....Sometimes we forget about the most obvious while looking for more sophisticated solutions! Another good idea!

 

[MDrost1]

Good advice. It is a direct drive 310. Today temps were above freezing and it only took a second to get it going. Weep was not running due to the temps. I am confused. I will try running a gun directly to it.

Thanks....onward and upward...

 

[MDrost1]

So after some studying, I realized that the CAT is a 340 oops. All of my other pumps are 310s. I don't think it should matter?

It looks to be plumbed differently than the others...Do these pics make sense? The weep is T'ed into the line feeding the HP gun in the bay. All of my other have the weep on the opposite side of the pump and the HP line is tied into the pulse dampener. Thoughts? Fixes? Still have the issue. Thanks!