Electric motor needs an exorcism...

[RockyMountain]

I've searched the forum, but can't find any threads with this problem:

I have 3 self serve bays that work great, except when all 3 are on high pressure rinse (or soap) at the same time. Then, the 3rd bay's motor starts fluctuating and almost quitting. Turn either bay 1 or bay 2 off of rinse, and the motor acts totally normal again. The contactors seem to be working normally.

I've never had to troubleshoot motors before, so I'm not sure where to begin? It's an old Dayton motor, and I'm assuming it is fine, since it works 100% normally, unless all 3 bays are going at the same time...

 

[Earl Weiss]

Just a guess, but is the third bay water supply to the pump plumbed further downstream than 1 and 2? Any chance it's being starved for water supply if 1 & 2 are running?

 

[RockyMountain]

Just a guess, but is the third bay water supply to the pump plumbed further downstream than 1 and 2? Any chance it's being starved for water supply if 1 & 2 are running?

That is kind of what the pump is acting like. I couldn't tell if the motor was changing speeds or if the pump was having the issue.

The reason I didn't think that is the case though is that the pump stand has water supply holding tanks on both sides. I guess there could be a block or a restriction of flow coming from one side though. Thanks for the suggestion and that will be the first thing I check when I get back!

 

[borumrm]

That is kind of what the pump is acting like. I couldn't tell if the motor was changing speeds or if the pump was having the issue.

The reason I didn't think that is the case though is that the pump stand has water supply holding tanks on both sides. I guess there could be a block or a restriction of flow coming from one side though. Thanks for the suggestion and that will be the first thing I check when I get back!

I don't quite follow your set up when you say the pump stand has water supply holding tanks on both sides...which supplies the bay pump in question. On my setup all the bays pull their water from a single large tank each with its own supply line so for my set up if one is starving for water they are all starving for water.

 

[Randy]

Sounds like you’re starving the pump for water when all the other bays are running, if you let this continue to go on you will ruin the pump head. What pumping equipment are you using? We’ve never been big fans of tanks so we don’t have any.

 

[Kevin Reilly]

Rocky Mountain, you say the "motor is slowing down" like it's slowing down in revolutions?? or is the "pump" starving for water when you have 3 bays on?? Usually when a motor "slows down" a breaker is going to kick off. It sounds like a pump is starving for water when all 3 are on so it's quite possible you might have a partial blockage in the entrance area to that pump!

 

[RockyMountain]

I don't quite follow your set up when you say the pump stand has water supply holding tanks on both sides...which supplies the bay pump in question. On my setup all the bays pull their water from a single large tank each with its own supply line so for my set up if one is starving for water they are all starving for water.

The pump is definitely starving for water and it's not the motor. Thanks for everyone's advice on that.

Our set up includes two holding tanks on each side of our pump stand. There are 5 pumps in between them. One for a bay that has since been converted into an automatic. 3 that serve the 3 self serves and one that serves the outside bay which is closed during the winter.

A water line runs between the two tanks connecting them. Off this line each of the 5 pumps are gravity fed. There is a partial blockage in the line on one side. Life got in the way tonight so I haven't been able to take it apart and clean it out yet. I am confident that this will solve our issue though and thanks!

Can I simply directly plumb into each of the pumps from the hot water line and do away with the tanks?

 

[RockyMountain]

Problem solved- thanks to all. Water flow was the issue. I'm still somewhat new to this business, but I should have been able to recognize that one!

 

[Kevin Reilly]

Rocky Mountain You can go direct with hot water, however you would need a water pressure regulator for each pump, otherwise you wouldn't be able to siphon soap/wax. You would also need a solenoid valve for each pump. In my opinion keep doing what you're doing and learn your system especially if you're new to the business and then you can make changes like that later (but I wouldn't recommend that change!).

 

[RockyMountain]

Rocky Mountain You can go direct with hot water, however you would need a water pressure regulator for each pump, otherwise you wouldn't be able to siphon soap/wax. You would also need a solenoid valve for each pump. In my opinion keep doing what you're doing and learn your system especially if you're new to the business and then you can make changes like that later (but I wouldn't recommend that change!).

Good idea and thanks. It has worked well in the past, so I just need to keep learning and make it work better!