Intermittent Low Pressure Issue

[Jeff_L]

Okay, I have a gremlin in my lines and I cannot find him!

I use a Procon pump for my PreSoak which feeds all 6 bays via a manifold. Every now and then a problem happens in one bay, and it's always the same bay. It sounds like someone is turning the pump on and off, on and off, on and off. Almost like a pulsation but different. My initial thought was that my pump was going bad, but since it feeds all 6 bays and I don't have this issue with any other bay, I feel the pump is fine.

I replaced the electromagnetic valve on the manifold for the bay and still have the same issue. I'm thinking the problem may lie in the relay for low pressure option in the bay. Is this what happens when a relay starts to fail?

 

[Greg Pack]

What kind of "relay for low pressure option" do you have? My initial guesses are it could be the rotary switch, bad wire connection, or bad input on the IDX MX contoller (if so equipped)

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Check for any wires that might be pinched or a loose connection in the box.

 

[MEP001]

Does this system still have a bladder tank and pressure switch?

 

[Jeff_L]

The relay is a Dayton Elec Mfg, NO. 5X837 24V 50/60HZ. There is no IDX controller or bladder tank. It's a pretty basic setup. Meterbox has an 8 position rotary switch with a sensortron acceptor. The wires run back to the relay then to the contactor for the Procon pump.

Pinched wires? Good question, there might be, I'll take a look. I haven't opened that part of the meter box in awhile, so there shouldn't be any pinches. I haven't added anything along the wire run so nothing could have been bumpted.

Maybe the rotary switch is going out? Maybe the relay is going out? Thoughts?

 

[jjw]

It's that little green fellow that was at my wash last month. Was wondering where he went. jjw

 

[Jeff_L]

You can certainly have him back jjw!!

 

[Happycarz]

R
There is one more piece to this puzzle. What isolates one bay from another in the wiring going to the relay. If all bays are tied directly to the relay, any one bay on would turn all bays on at the same time. I bought one wash that used bridge rectifiers to isolate the bays and turn on the relay. Take alook and let us know.

 

[Jeff_L]

Thank you for your responses. I located the problem on Saturday. It was a simple valve on the solenoid. I didn't think to replace it because of the way the system was acting. The problem seemed to be electrical the way the pre-soak for that bay would go on and off repeatedly. I moved the relay to another bay, and the problem didn't move. Replaced the one way valve, still didn't fix it. So I pulled out the valve in the solenoid and replaced it. Viola, that fixed it.

Thanks again for everyones thoughts on the topic! Case closed...