Well, no luck. I did record a video of the setup and issue. Here is what I did:
Belt Drive Machine - worked 100% perfect when feeding the pump with a garden hose / house water supply:
Replaced supply line with a short 4 foot section directly into a bucket to bypass all valves and connectors
Replaced my high pressure sections of hose with a the OEM 25’ section - I removed the DS injector, so it’s just the line into the pump.
I did notice when I put a vacuum cap on the built-in injector it did seem to help build pressure but still not to where it should be.
There is still not a super tight connection where the supply line goes onto the brass barb on the pump. I put thread sealant tape on it and it’s double clamped and torqued down good.
I’ve seen others mention the unloader being the issue. Thoughts? Can an unloader work 100% with a garden hose supply and not when drawing from a buffer tank?
I could really use any suggestions, I am getting super frustrated. Thanks!
Video: Sorry for the jumpy parts, it’s my huge POS phone.
First things first–idle that damn thing down until it primes up. Belt drive machines pull much harder at low rpm. You should always start your machine at low idle and let it prime before idling up. Start with that and get that hose barb/wrong size hose replaced ASAP. Even a small air leak will cavitate the pump seals in no time.
Not going to work out of a bucket. No head pressure. Get rid of the tape and goop on the king nipple. Get the right size nipple. Hook it to the tank. Cut about 80% of the length of of that wand. Six inches is plenty.
Also, where is your bypass to the tank. If it’s bypassing internally or thru a little 18in loop it’s spraying into your incoming water from the tank a that’s why you aren’t getting a prime.
what determines whether the pw sucks water or not is the pump.
buffer tank has no pressure, where as the hose does when fed directly.
i recommend using gravity feed if you want to use the pw with a buffer tank
It’s hard to help someone who doesn’t listen. No one suggested you do all of that. We all said make sure all your connections are air tight. The least bit of air leak, it will not work.
1- So get the right size nipple or hose. A 3/4 or 1" will work. With the right nipple and hose combo, you’ll need to heat and soap the the hose to get it to fit on the nipple usually. One clamp should be plenty because when the hose cools off it will shrink onto the nipple.
2- Where is your bypass?
3 - Initially start the machine with lower rpms at least till you get the problem solved as William suggested. Once it’s running and pulling any water let it run for awhile. Somethings it takes a min or so to clear out all the air
4- get rid of the wand and just let the water run out the whip hose or just shoot out of the pump. Your gun could have gone bad, though I doubt that’s the problem but stranger things have happened
5 - We’re trying to eliminate possible problems
6 - you said before you had great flow through what you had right up to the pump so not sure why you got rid of all that. Might not be how we would have done it but was working to a certain point.
7 - Have you messed with your unloader? If so, put the hose adapter back on it and get it set and then leave it. Switching to another water source shouldn’t affect it.
There are at least 50k people using a setup like yours - it can be done.
Looks like an unloader issue… if it’s working fine plumbed to a garden hose & not pulling on it’s own, must have cavitated too much… Damaging the needle head on the unloader…
I will get rid of the white supply hose I have and use the poly braid hose for a tight fit
I will lower the idle down to get the pump primed. I had no idea about this idle issue.
I will also remove the gun from the hose and just let it flow in order to help build a prime.
I am hopeful these steps will help.
To answer your comments above: Bypass - I purchased this machine used and highly suspect it’s completely stock so this pump does not appear to have a bypass.
Ricks comments: I am bummed to hear you infer I am not listening because I am troubleshooting based exactly on the feedback here. I felt running a hose directly into bucket would eliminate the comments around “too many valves and connections to allow air into the system” From a troubleshooting perspective i feel running a hose into the bucket ruled out a lot of potential issues. It was also suggested the hose is too long and the injector may be at fault, so I remove the high pressure sections and removed the DS injector. I do take your feedback seriously so thank you!
yes, my setup did work previously but did not allow for me to pull from the buffer which is needed in my area since I have well water homes nearby.
Unloader - I have not touched it at all. I guess I can consider the unloader if the steps I plan to take fail.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond. I will report back tonight.
Good luck with it. Without a way to bypass it, you may be out of luck except to use a hose or get another pump to put on it. Maybe it will gravity feed but some of the other guys will have more experience than I with that. I’ve always had belt drives and they’ve always sucked great.
There was not any sort f plastic ring. I did (wrongly) use LP gas thread tape to make the fit onto the barb more snug - it was only done for a quick experiment. Thanks for noticing that, but I still need to run out and buy some poly-braid 3/4" line and try it. I want to try this with Displaced Texans suggestion of lowering the throttle to let it build pressure.
If that fails, I will try to elevate the buffer tank.
If that fails I will just resort to putting the garden hose adapter back onto the pump and focus on houses with city water for now.
