Tire Cleaner - Spitting air

[rshiggaon]

Hello everyone, I have a low-pressure tire cleaner that is spitting just air but no product for all bays. I have been having this issue for a few weeks now: -

- My tech mentioned the procon pump had an airtight (he called it a paper lock or something like that). Anyone can share more info on what this is.
- I replaced the check valve

Both times it started working but it stopped again after a week after the fix. Any pointers on what may be wrong here?

Also, how can I check if the plunger in the solenoid is bad?

Thank you for all the advice and information that gets shared here.

 

[MEP001]

He might have meant vapor lock, but if he actually said "paper lock" he's an idiot.

Either the pump has lost prime or it's bad. Turn off the air and see if it will reprime itself. It may be bad now anyway if it's been running for weeks without liquid in it.

Remove the check valve at the bottom of the solenoids. It can only cause problems by sticking closed or blowing low pressure lines if a check valve in a bay fails. Keep the air pressure the same or a bit lower than the liquid to prevent the air from backing up through the pump.

 

[rshiggaon]

Remove the check valve at the bottom of the solenoids. It can only cause problems by sticking closed or blowing low pressure lines if a check valve in a bay fails.

Where can I add this check valve? I don't want the liquid the go back to the product mixture tank if there is a bad plunger.

 

[rshiggaon]

Either the pump has lost prime or it's bad. Turn off the air and see if it will reprime itself. It may be bad now anyway if it's been running for weeks without liquid in it.

I am suspecting it is, as I can feel the motor gets hot when it runs. I will check it out. Also I did remove the hose that connects to the check valve, I could see the liquid getting pumped but maybe it does not have enough PSI.

 

[MEP001]

Where can I add this check valve? I don't want the liquid the go back to the product mixture tank if there is a bad plunger.

You don't need a check valve. If there's a bad plunger, nothing will "go back." It will flow to that bay with the pump running, a check valve won't change that.

 

[MEP001]

Also I did remove the hose that connects to the check valve, I could see the liquid getting pumped but maybe it does not have enough PSI.

The pump is bad.

 

[Randy]

The Procon pumps work best when they are run in a flooded state, meaning they have fluid on the pump all the time.I install them so they are slightly lower than the fluid level in the supply tank, they don't have to work as hard that way. try this disconnect the hose from the discharge side of the pump, install a longer hose onto the pump and turn on the pump to see if it is actually pumping. If it's not pumping the you have confirmed that you have a bad pump. the gray pump motor will get warm to the touch when the motor is running, the brass pump head should not get warm.

 

[MEP001]

The Procons on a Coleman system like he has are always flooded.

 

[rshiggaon]

It turns out that my tire cleaner mixture was not strong enough. My pump was pushing moist air as the product was weak. When I added more tire cleaner product to the mixture tank, it worked. So I increased the metering tip, thinking it will solve the issue.

But it stopped again yesterday and it was working today, no changes were made. I am suspecting, my hydro minder is not pulling the product correctly sometimes.

The pump cannot be an issue, as it works sometimes. I also checked the suction tube pulls the product when I manually activate it.

Maybe the inlet water pressure to the hydro minder is fluctuating? How can I make sure it is always above 25PSI? Any other ideas to debug this issue?

 

[MEP001]

You might have a leak that's diluting the tire cleaner. Remove the discharge hose off the Hydrominder and make sure it's not dripping. Check it multiple times to see if it isn't randomly flowing slow. One of the weirdest issues I've seen that caused a random loss of suction was when I replaced a Hydrominder and the jet of water was shooting straight through the yellow restrictor ring which wouldn't let it create suction. It worked fine after I installed it but it started doing this after I left.

 

[rshiggaon]

Check it multiple times to see if it isn't randomly flowing slow.

What should I check for this?

 

[MEP001]

Disassemble the valve and clean the diaphragm and parts, or replace the valve kit.