Flojet Hanging Up

[washregal]

I recently changed over product for my high pressure soap.

This pump is a Viton pump. I did not rinse through the pump any water on the changeover.

Now my pump is sticking. I need to back on it every day for it to kick over.. once it kicks over it works fine until the next day.

Anyone have suggestions?

 

[Earl Weiss]

I recently changed over product for my high pressure soap.

This pump is a Viton pump. I did not rinse through the pump any water on the changeover.

Now my pump is sticking. I need to back on it every day for it to kick over.. once it kicks over it works fine until the next day.

Anyone have suggestions?

How old is the pump?

Could there have been or is tere moisture in the air lines?

Is the pump dead headed or does the air supply to the pump open when needed?

Could there be some clogging at the jets or application side with the new product drying in there overnight?

 

[MEP001]

They do usually begin to stall when they get old. It's not the material or the chemical because the shuttle valve sticks and causes the problem, and it's isolated from the product. The fact that it began sticking after you changed chemical is almost surely a coincidence.

The usual cause of a FloJet stalling is water or oil in with the air.

 

[mac]

I have found that if you cut off the air supply to the pump and let it bleed down to zero, the pumps will start back up almost every time. Use a 3 way solenoid to do that.

 

[MEP001]

I have found that with FloJets they dead-head with no problems. If I were to add a control system to them it would only be to prevent mess and wasted chemical due to a leak. I've replaced only one with stalling problems, and it took five years of constant pressure to do that. A lot of air-operated pumps don't handle dead-head operation, but FloJets were designed for it.

If you do add a control system you need more than a 3-way solenoid on the air. You also need to bleed off the liquid pressure on the outlet of the pump.

 

[Jeff_L]

Sounds like you might have a bad pump, it happens. Flojets have a 1yr warranty. Return it with the information you've given and you'll get a new one to replace it.

I dead head my pumps as well. I find that when I'm monkeying around with them taking air away and putting it back the pump will jam up sporadically. Once I apply the air and product, exercise it, then I just leave it alone ready to go. Let's call it having the gun cocked and loaded. Yes, this can lead to a problem should a chemical line burst, but that has only happened to me a couple times in the past 4 years.