mjwalsh
6 bay SS w/laundromat
We have always been a believer in having backup pumps & parts to avoid downtime. In fact, over 20 years ago we built a complete mobile pump setup with small tank etc with quick disconnect electrical & with quick disconnect tubing etc. to use as an extra for our extra volume multiple pump washdown manifold & for backup in case a pump would ever go down during a busy day.
We learned something new yesterday morning when we got around to replacing one of our Cat 310s that had developed a rare but serious shaft oil leak. We had a spare brand new Cat 310 that we thought we would have no problem with once installed. This probably applies to other pumps to be fair to Cat Pump Corp. We stored the pump unused for well over 7 years just sitting on the shelf.
Put pump on ... no water output at all. Called Eric at Cat Tech Support. He expertly told me that it can happen after 5 years of being idle ... that parts can stick & seals can be effected. We followed his advice to put up to 100 psi to the pump with all else plugged. We could hear the poppets click. Tested pump & it had output but only 800 psi maximum. Long story short we put brand new both low pressure & high pressure seals on the brand new pump & then it worked properly. We are thinking the air pressure possibly should have been less for getting the poppets to become free or we should have just removed the poppets. One hi pressure seal was moved out of position we found ... but it did not seem like the seals were otherwise in bad shape ... but we replaced with the two kits anyway.
I did a search on the forum & could not find anyone who had shared about a pump "being on the shelf" for too long problem or potential problem ... so here I am ... because I think it could be worthwhile to share the experience ... possibly saving some other operators from the same "gullee surprize surprize" unexpected problem.
Maybe some other long term operator besides myself can elaborate with a similar experience that they had.
mike walsh www.kingkoin.com
We learned something new yesterday morning when we got around to replacing one of our Cat 310s that had developed a rare but serious shaft oil leak. We had a spare brand new Cat 310 that we thought we would have no problem with once installed. This probably applies to other pumps to be fair to Cat Pump Corp. We stored the pump unused for well over 7 years just sitting on the shelf.
Put pump on ... no water output at all. Called Eric at Cat Tech Support. He expertly told me that it can happen after 5 years of being idle ... that parts can stick & seals can be effected. We followed his advice to put up to 100 psi to the pump with all else plugged. We could hear the poppets click. Tested pump & it had output but only 800 psi maximum. Long story short we put brand new both low pressure & high pressure seals on the brand new pump & then it worked properly. We are thinking the air pressure possibly should have been less for getting the poppets to become free or we should have just removed the poppets. One hi pressure seal was moved out of position we found ... but it did not seem like the seals were otherwise in bad shape ... but we replaced with the two kits anyway.
I did a search on the forum & could not find anyone who had shared about a pump "being on the shelf" for too long problem or potential problem ... so here I am ... because I think it could be worthwhile to share the experience ... possibly saving some other operators from the same "gullee surprize surprize" unexpected problem.
Maybe some other long term operator besides myself can elaborate with a similar experience that they had.
mike walsh www.kingkoin.com
