Cat 3535 Valve Springs Keep Breaking

[MEP001]

Always nice to see how mep tries to correct/impress us with his knowledge. While he is correct in what he states, he again misses the overall picture.

Nope. Overall picture = he's got springs breaking, someone told him it's caused by cavitation. He's checking for air leaks, I stated a simple fact (not an opinion stated as such) that cavitation is caused by lack of water supply so he can check on what he was told to look for. But thanks for trying.

 

[MEP001]

Wait, so they are not factory pulleys? Or do you mean you still have the factory ones? I'm betting they are factory, as I wouldn't see any need to change... I think I would delete the HP soap option and save some money... I really doubt this is the case, but perhaps you have chemical working against the springs over time... Do you choke the pump with a ball valve? As far as stopping the pump, as long as the unloader is set at 1000 psi, the relief should open and the pump shouldn't feel any difference. Is there odd coloration of the valve springs as compared to new ones when you remove them? I have also seen this once where an electrician replaced a motor with a high speed motor accidentally... Wow! was that a mess! 2 or three valve springs broke, but the pump survived.

I'm not familiar with the Water Wizards, but "factory pulleys" aren't always right. All the D&S 5000 units I've worked on have the pump turning much faster than it needs to. I found that out when a customer changed his own regulator and screwed it all the way down and called me to find out why his motor breaker kept tripping. It was running at 2200 PSI.