Ran Pump Without Water

Residential
1

Hi guys I have a General Pump EZ 3045 4.5 GPM cold water direct drive with a Honda 13 HP motor. I had a situation yesterday where my buffer tank ran out of water and while I washing the gun went dry. I ran to the machine and turned it off, probably ran 30-45 seconds. I let it cool down while the buffer tank filled back up and then fired it up again and finished the job but when I came back to the trailer it seemed like the pump was louder than normal but then again I might be imagining things as the engine is already loud and it’s hard to isolate noises.

There are no leaks, and the pressure seemed the same but I have two jobs Monday and Tuesday and they are remote lake houses so I’m hoping that I’m not looking down the barrel of a major malfunction. Can anyone give me insight as to what if any damage might have been done? Should I take it apart this weekend and look at it or is it unlikely to have done any/much damage?

Thanks!

2

You may have aged it a bit but I would test it for pressure and volume and then line up some more work for it.

I doubt that any real damage was done.

3

Thank you for the help, I appreciate it!

4

I’ve done this a lot lately. As soon as I feel the pump lose water I stop the gun and walk back to the machine and wait for the water to fill up. I am using a 126 gal tank but on some of these older homes the water output can’t keep up to my 8gpm machine. I’m starting to show up with water on older homes or on wells now instead of waiting for the tank to fill when I am prepping for the job.

Britton Emerson
Emerson Exteriors
Victoria BC Canada

5

Get a float valve from bob a pressuretek.com

Sent from my iPhone using Pressure Washing Resource

6

Float valve is for water fill. What is needed here is a liquid level switch like the one Michael Kriesly posted a video about a few months back. I have 2 on order

Britton Emerson
Emerson Exteriors
Victoria BC Canada

7

Hey Steve-- like Tim says, if the pressure and volume are ok just keep booking work. A word of caution about a direct drive pump–try to be a bit more careful when in use because the pump is running at the same RPM as the engine which is in the 3600 range and they can heat up fast and then malfunction.

I had 1 direct drive Powerwasher I bought for an emergency and we burned out the pump the first 8hrs we used it on day one. Returned it and never bought another. First chance you can, upgrade from that pump so you have less of a chance being shut down while out making money.

8

I had the same pump on and ran it dry a few times, still running strong as my back up. It’s only a $300 pump. Buy a spare!