Constant air relieving from air relieving regulator on Flojets?

[cityview]

This issue seems a bit odd to me and I've been struggling with it for months.

One relieving pressure regulator is constantly "relieving". Sometimes- for seemingly no reason- it stops for a few days, and then it starts again.

I thought it was a bad regulator, so I bought a new one. It didn't fix the issue. I thought it was THAT low pressure system, so I replaced both relieving regulators with non-relieving ones... problem "solved".

Come a few days later and now another low pressure regulator is bleeding air constantly. It is less than a month old, but I figured maybe I got a bad batch, so I bought a NEW one (the third one I tried) and it is bleeding air too, so I don't think all three regulators are bad...

Yes they are installed the correct direction.

This is perplexing to me because it makes no sense to me. This regulator is literally 6" below the flowjet air inlet. The flojet is not running, its bleeding air.

again- 3 different regulators, 2 different flojet pumps, same consistent issue... I could switch to non-relieving, but that feels like a downstream solution to an upstream issue that I don't understand.

(Image was from before product was running through just to show setup as installed)

 

[MEP001]

Water or compressor oil ruin an air regulator or a FloJet pump pretty quickly. Do you have an inline oil/water separator?

 

[cityview]

Water or compressor oil ruin an air regulator or a FloJet pump pretty quickly. Do you have an inline oil/water separator?

Nope.... I'll pick one up. Any advice on whether it's better to put one small one before each air equipment or one big one at the compressor outlet?

I run multiple compressors, so I'm tempted by the prior.

 

[mac]

My suspicion is that there is something else going on here. Yes oil can make these fail, but is your compressor low or out of oil? Find it hard to believe that many new ones failed. These things are designed to bleed when the backpressure gets too high, and that is what they are doing. Try swapping the Flojets and see if that does anything. Another thing to try is putting a check valve between the regulator and the pump. I've ran into this a lot with Ginsan equipment.

 

[JGinther]

Any chance it only does it when a bay is being used on another low pressure selection? If not, you may have a stuck air solenoid. I would go to each gun/brush and listen for air leaking through to the bay.

 

[Roz]

I have several new Air Logic LP equipment pumps and had the same ghosting issue with the Flojet where it came on for no reason without a customer in a bay. It seems to happen if the pressure is set too high. I spoke with Air Logic and KR - they both suggested that product be about twice the air level and to not set them too high as it can fake the Flojet. Air is set in the 10-30 range with product set in the 25-60 range depending on the function/chemical being applied. Lowering the numbers on the gauges appears to have resolved the issue (for now).

 

[JGinther]

I have several new Air Logic LP equipment pumps and had the same ghosting issue with the Flojet where it came on for no reason without a customer in a bay. It seems to happen if the pressure is set too high. I spoke with Air Logic and KR - they both suggested that product be about twice the air level and to not set them too high as it can fake the Flojet. Air is set in the 10-30 range with product set in the 25-60 range depending on the function/chemical being applied. Lowering the numbers on the gauges appears to have resolved the issue (for now).

I'm not familiar with faking a flojet, but i'm pretty familiar with fixing them. The problem you describe is the anti-stall feature of the shuttle valve. The shuttle valve works like a teeter totter that is spring loaded so that it can't 'stall' which is a common problem with diaphragm pumps. Due to this design, you will often hear a single exhaust pump when nothing is being used. However if you hear a second one, you have a leak somewhere (assuming you have a typical dead head setup). The leak could be the internal check, a leaky solenoid, or something in between.

 

[Randy]

Is air coming out of the muffler on the Flo-jet pump? If it is there is something wrong with the pump, not a good thing. We used this Parker regulator https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-21212-parker14f-x-f-air-regulator.aspx we’ve used it for years with no problems at all. You might consider installing a air shut off valve and an IDX MX-8 controller. We’ve eliminated all but one Flo-jet pump and that’s on the Foam brush system.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Nope.... I'll pick one up. Any advice on whether it's better to put one small one before each air equipment or one big one at the compressor outlet?

I run multiple compressors, so I'm tempted by the prior.

I have one line that feeds the Flo Jets . My separator is on that line as close to the flo jets as possible. Air heats as compressed and holds more water, As it travels away from the compressor it expands and cools so water will condense out. Having the separator away from the compressor allows the separator to remove moisture after air has cooled and condensation has taken place. If you are not there to drain it at least once a day get a separator with auto dump.