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Pumps

jrosbo

Member
172
5
18
Location
Vandalia Illinois
prime

I can not get it primed, so I rolled the whole thing off into the lake. Not really, I worked on it for a while when I got home, could not get it to fully open up. You don't have much time to play with it either. Since the cooling requires it to be primed it don't take long for it to heat up. When it gets going you can open the discharge valve part way and it blows water about 50 feet over the water but it won't hold it to open the valve all the way. Thats why I am beginig to think that I need a hose or something for back pressure to get the rest of the air out. There is a plug in the top of it, whats that for?
 

jrosbo

Member
172
5
18
Location
Vandalia Illinois
Here we go. I am at a loss. I can't figure out why it won't hold prime. It sucks alot of water up to the pump within seconds. It builds the 50lbs. of prime like the directions say, you open the discharge valve about 1/4 the way and you can feel and hear the pump take hold, the back of the trailer hunkers down and the water blows about 50 feet out the back. Now if you slowly open the discharge valve or close the priming valve you lose prime and the motor takes off because the lack of load. I tried to use only one hose to eliminate the possibility of an air leak there. I tried to listen for an air leak everywhere else. Then you have to shut down because the motor is heating up and the pump starts to heat up. then it is time to wait for about an hour for things to cool back down. I really want to get this thing going. I am at a loss. Thanks for all the help guys, I am really grateful for all the help.
 

Attachments

jrosbo

Member
172
5
18
Location
Vandalia Illinois
pump

If you look at the top of the pump you can see two outlets. They have the caps on in the pictures. They are the two round things above the inlet. You can see the black control knob for the valves sticking out to the left in the second picture and to the right in the last picture. Just to the right of the pump in the second picture you can see the blue handle for primeing the pump. And the blue handle behind the pump is for engine cooling. In the first picture if you look up and to the right you can see a lifting ring, just down and a little left is the exhaust diverting handle. I need to get a digital camera, all I have is my cell phone and it is getting old, it doesn't take the pictures it used too. The water comes shooting out of the discharge valves when you open them part way, but you can not open them all the way or you loose prime. I talked to some of the local firemen and they stated they don't have any pumps like this. Since all of their trucks carry water onboard above the pumps they stay in a constant state of being primed.
 

maddawg308

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
10,865
758
113
Location
Appomattox, VA
RE: Pump

Those are neat little rigs! Be great for making a new mug bog area for your local MV or offroading club. Keep us posted if you restore/repaint them!
 

jrosbo

Member
172
5
18
Location
Vandalia Illinois
pump

I plan on a complete restore of the yellow one if I can get it going. The red one is going down to the local water fowl area once we get it going.
 

NEIOWA

Well-known member
1,195
127
63
Location
NE IOWA
Are you filling the pump case with water before you start (plug located top center of the pump case)?
 

emmado22

Moderator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,058
147
63
Location
Mid Hudson Valley NY
Ask them if they have any portable pumps.... I bet they do.. Then find a guy that knows how to use one and show him what you have.. The principal is the same....
 

jrosbo

Member
172
5
18
Location
Vandalia Illinois
Pump

Ok I found someone I work with who used to do sales and service on pumps over here in the oil fields. He is going to be here either Thursday or Friday. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks for all the help.
 
If you didn't already know, it is very important to open and close all valves VERY SLOWLY!!!

Water Hammer is the enemy - it can destroy pumps, hose, nozzles, valves, and appliances. It can also cause you to lose prime if a valve is opened too quickly.

Make sure all valves operate smoothly, lube and adjust linkages as necessary.
 

jrosbo

Member
172
5
18
Location
Vandalia Illinois
Prime

Ok we figured it out. One of the discharge valves has a small leak and lets just enough air in to loose prime. If you screw the cap on one turn she will take off and pump like there is no tommorrow. I am going to take the valve apart today and see if I can fix it. Thanks for all the Ideas and help. I will post more when I get it restored.
 

OPCOM

Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,657
27
48
Location
Dallas, Texas
RE: Prime

Cool! I been watching this, once you have it restored and going, it would be neat-o to find a hose and nozzle and make a video of the machine being started up and running and water shooting through the air.
 
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