Cat Pump, need some help...

N

NeedClean

New member
Hi Folks, heres my first post. Thanks for any advice here. I've got a Cat belt drive pump. It shutters and produces very little pressure. Its almost like it isnt getting enough water but its a constant shutter. When I say shutter, it shakes the hose. I recently changed the oil and its still fresh looking, not milky at all. I checked the valves and they all appear to be good. I'm assuming I'll have to just replace it but I really love these cats and would hate to if its something simple. Thanks for any advice. I'm not sure what pump it is. This particular unit has been behind a honda 13hp. for several years. I think 5cp--- Again, thank you for taking the time to help.
 
That shutter is air in the system. After checking your filter tightness, feed hose clamps etc, Check all your inner and outer packings. You'll probably find one torn or worn. Since your already inside check all your brass and pistons for wear also. Water ussaully drips under the piston with bad packings.
Check for water restictions between pump and tank, check filter, I once found a lizard in my line, it had me stumped for a while. You can find air leaks by pressurizing the line with water. Where the water drips air gets in.
Confused yet?
Good luck
 
Thank you very much for the quick reply. When you say water drips under the piston when it has bad packings, do you mean drip on the ground or drip internaly? I didnt notice any water dripping on the ground. Again, thanks a lot.
 
NeedClean said:
Thank you very much for the quick reply. When you say water drips under the piston when it has bad packings, do you mean drip on the ground or drip internaly? I didnt notice any water dripping on the ground. Again, thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

It would be dripping under the pump between the head and the pump
 
Pumps will create a good vacuum so a pin-hole air leak will cause problems, one of mine did. I just caught another in the making. A brass "T" had corroded at the threads and just started to leak where the plug was installed and you could not fix it.

This pump from the factory was setup with an adjustable upstream injector on the suction of the pump and it had 2 brass "T" 's and I took all that junk off and ran a brass street L and new 3/4" hose barb to the supply hose and gave it a try, works great!

Sometimes those worm gear clamps will not get tight enough and they will strip out, the metal twists out of the way or the holes in the band will cut open.

If you have those clamps for your hose, get a ratchet and socket for the clamp, it works a lot better than a screwdriver and is a lot faster.

Good luck!






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Try to pressure feed it with the garden hose. That will usually expose any leaks or will allow you to see the dripping on the head. If it works fine under pressure you either have an obstruction in your tank feed line or an air leak. If you see any dripping from the pump you need new packings.
 
One other thing that can't hurt to check is your unloader. Shutter is not a typical unloader problem but anything can happen.
 
I always try to remember to let the customers spicket run for a few seconds before I hook up to my equiptment. You would be surprised at what crawls up someones water spicket or into their hoses. :eek:
 
Update: I replumbed all the plumbing with fresh tape. After that made no changes, I force fed the pump with a waterhose. That didnt work either. So, I took off the head, the plungers dont have any cracks but one does have a rough texture to it all the way around. I am led to believe this could be causing the loss of pressure? Thinking about what my options are, could I sand it down with some emery cloth or just replace the plunger?
 
Turns out, a seal kit was all it really needed. The plunger cleaned up real good on a wire brush. At first we were gonna replace it but it really wasnt all that bad after all. We've got some locals who only deal with Cat pumps and they've been around for a long time. Thanks for all your help guys. I tried everything everyone here mentioned.
 
Larry is definately right about hooking up to the house where the spicket hasn't been used for a while - usally plenty of rust- that can hurt a machine quick. We always run the h20 before hooking up.
 
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