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Vibrating and no pressure wash.

C

carwashfng

New member
Hello all. I am still very new to the SS world. Been operating my wash for 14 months now. I have had to learn quite a bit on the fly. The business came with no instructions or guide book. I recently have come across 2 problems that I cannot figure out. One bay is vibrating pretty bad when spraying the gun. Pressure is diminished some, but still around 1000PSI. My guess is there is air entering the closed system somewhere. Short of dismantling everything, is there any sort of troubleshooting I can do? A glaring part I should be looking at or an area that most likely would be causing this?
Secondly, another bay has no pressure at all. Water comes through the gun at a slow piss. Electric motor is vibrating and making noise when the bay is activated...I assume it's working correctly, but I get the sense motor might not be operating at its full capacity. I'm not sure if that is even a thing having the electric motor operating at a reduced capacity. I really have no idea. The Cat pump blew seals a few months ago, which I replaced. Electric motor has a note in pen indicating it was installed in 2019.
I am struggling with this. I am handy and can work on these system, I just don't know how to troubleshoot. If anyone can pass along some suggestions, that would be fantastic. Thanks for everyone help. Much appreciated. Not sure if it matters, this is an old Futura model with 12k+ operating hours.
 
Bay 1 pulsating is most likely the seals, valves, or the pump is getting starved of water. Its always the seals for me but make sure the water flow to the inlet is good. If it is I would change the seals and then check the valves.

Bay 2 you say the electric motor is vibrating. Is it turning? If so is the belt to the pump from the electric motor broken?
 
Thanks for the reply Blanco. How would I check the valves? I have replaced the seals on a Cat pump. Never checked or done a valve. I will check out youtube and see what I can find.
I don't know if the electric motor is turning. The motor butts right up to the pump with no visible belt to check. I will inspect further and see what I can find.
Thanks again for your reply!
 
You have six valves. Three on the top and three on the front. Unscrew the caps and remove each one with a needle nose.

Inspect the spring and housing to make sure it’s solid and there is no debris. Also inspect the bottom there should be a plastic ring and a rubber o ring. Make sure those are are good.
 
If it bumps up to the pump on the side then it is not belt driven. I should have asked if it was earlier.

Remove the motor from the pump start it and see if it spins.
 
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Pump #1 problem. When you re[laced the seals did you check the pump head for any signs of head washout? If the head is washed out the seals that you installed are ruined by now. Another thing you can try is to disconnect the water supply to the pump, temporally install a hose on the connected to city water pressure and then run the pump if it builds pressure and doesn't pulsate you got a water starvation problem, if it still pulsates you've got a head or valve problem.
Pump #2 problem. Try the same thing as with the problem with pump 1.
Pictures are always a nice touch
 
Hi Randy. No, I did not check the head for any signs of head washout. I am not familiar with the term. I don't know what that is. Ok, I will get the city water hose to the pump and see how it goes. Thank you.
 
So all of the above is solid advice. CAT has some great videos on YouTube to change the valves and seals. First pump takes about an hour but once you get the idea it takes about 15 min per pump.

BUT the pump components may not be the issue. I did all of the above and still had a pressure loss issue with minor pulsation. I took apart the entire water line and valves from the HP rinse holding tank that feeds the pumps. Found some dead wasps and a tiny piece of plastic that partially clogged the lines. Removed everything and checked line flow, all issues disappeared on multiple pumps. Pressure in all bays is stronger than before. Pressure should only drop about 150 psi when handle is pulled.

Lastly check the line from the hose inside the bay to the tip of the wand. Sometimes a small piece of rust or dirt can clog a line and cause pressure & pulsation issues too.
 
Pump 2 motor vibrating....If the motor is 3 phase, one of the windings in the motor might be open or shorted out. The way to tell is put an amp clamp on each of the 3 phase lines and check current. All 3 phases should read the same amperage. This will quickly tell you if the motor is bad.
 
Good advice so far. The only thing I'll add is that the second motor vibration may be caused by the coupling used in direct drive applications to connect the motor to pump may be shot.
 
carwashfng said:
Hello all. I am still very new to the SS world. Been operating my wash for 14 months now. I have had to learn quite a bit on the fly. The business came with no instructions or guide book. I recently have come across 2 problems that I cannot figure out. One bay is vibrating pretty bad when spraying the gun. Pressure is diminished some, but still around 1000PSI. My guess is there is air entering the closed system somewhere. Short of dismantling everything, is there any sort of troubleshooting I can do? A glaring part I should be looking at or an area that most likely would be causing this?
Secondly, another bay has no pressure at all. Water comes through the gun at a slow piss. Electric motor is vibrating and making noise when the bay is activated...I assume it's working correctly, but I get the sense motor might not be operating at its full capacity. I'm not sure if that is even a thing having the electric motor operating at a reduced capacity. I really have no idea. The Cat pump blew seals a few months ago, which I replaced. Electric motor has a note in pen indicating it was installed in 2019.
I am struggling with this. I am handy and can work on these system, I just don't know how to troubleshoot. If anyone can pass along some suggestions, that would be fantastic. Thanks for everyone help. Much appreciated. Not sure if it matters, this is an old Futura model with 12k+ operating hours.
Click to expand...
In my 26 years running self serve car washes, 99% of the time these symptoms have been from a blown low pressure seal. This is the easiest thing you will replace on a Cat pump. Look to see if there is a water dripping from underneath the front of the pump - usually it will drip after someone has been using the bay and the pump is off. If it is dripping, note where - this will show you which of the three seals are bad. Look up a video on how to replace a low pressure seal, it’s super easy.
 
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