Pressure switch and Unloader problems

[Clean County PW]

Here is a picture of an Unloader I have on my Mi-t-m hot water 8gpm Powerwasher. The Pressure switch which won't shut of when The heat is turned on needs to be changed out. If you look at the picture the Pressure switch is on an extra port on this unloader.

I just change the Unloader because it was on the way out. I replaced it with The YU-2140 green spring unloader rated at 21gpm @4500 psi with a 200 degree Temp rating. This Unloader has less ports then the one that was on my Powerwasher. I'm wondering if I set this one up wrong.

First off the Unloader thats on there if you look at the picture on the water out port of the unloader it goes up into the burner. Where it screws in there from the port there is a spring set-up in there. When I put the YU-2140 Unloader in at first I put that spring set-up back in. The problem was the burner was getting no water so I took it out and now the water runs good thru the burner. What is the purpose of that Spring in that connection to the pipe on the coil?

Also with the YU-2140 unloader since it has less ports I put the Burner pressure switch on a TEE up to the Burner because its a pressure switch. Still doesnt shut off when burner is turned on so I think the switch is bad.
Is this an OK spot for the Pressure switch?

I also put a TEE on the bypass where it spills into a tank and also goes back thru the Pump only because the other unloader was set-up like that.

Lastly there is a TEE further up that goes to the coil where there is a hose that goes Nowhere. I'm guess this is in case the pressure builds up in the coil it would go out of this TEE. Problem here is that water is seeping out of this hose. So I'm thinkin that TEE is going bad. Is there a Burst disc in there that might have gone bad?

The pressure on the pump is 2200psi so something is wrong. It could be partly coming from the pump but I'm thinking water coming out of this tee is causing the pressure to drop off.
Any Thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Cooper]

Hey John, the pressure switch needs to go between the pump and the unloader on the inlet side of the unloader. That way when it bypasses, it wont have pressure on it. It takes a certain amount of pressure to trigger the switch (depending on the switch) and on a trapped pressure unloader, if you put it on the outlet side it will always have pressure on it.

 

[Cooper]

I am not exactly understanding how the other unloader was set up, but all you need is 1. hose from pump to unloader (with pressure switch Tee'd in somewhere between there), 2. Outlet to the burner (not sure exactly what you are meaning by a spring, you may still have part of the old unloader still on there?) 3. Bypass back to the tank OR the pump (tank is better, more water to cool pump) 4. A "pop off" or burst disc type valve somewhere along between the pump and your gun (closer to the pump the better IMO)


As far as the low pressure, if your leak is big enough that will make you lose pressure. Also it could be time for packings. Also there could be something wrong with a check valve (the six big bolts on the front of the pump).

Get your leak fixed, then if you still have low pressure. I would pull those check valves out one at a time (prob 30mm socket and a breaker bar) and see if there is any trash in them or anything broken. If you suck on them from the bottom and they seal off good (can't suck much of any air thru them) they are ok. Also there is an O ring under them. Sometimes one of those O rings can wear out (usually from not enough water through supply line) and you will lose pressure there.

Give me a call tomorrow if I can be any help man.

 

[Clean County PW]

Hey Dave---What thru me off was the Pressure switch was staying on in bypass. It won't go on if you turn on the burner switch unless you turn the Thermostat on also which makes sense. But once its on as of late it won't shut off. The bypass water was getting hot and thats not good of course.
Because of that I figured I would try to put it on the outlet side.....but after reading what you just wrote it makes sense not to do that.

I'll have to re-do this Unloader again tomorrow morning since I need this machine up and running asap. Thanks for the help....

We are doing a large flatwork job in a couple of weeks and Tomorrow I should be getting the begining of a few days of parts to build a 10.5gpm 3500psi Hot water PW & I'm off to a rough start putting the pressure switch on the outlet side my other PW:speechless:

This PW will have a UDOR pump on it but not nearly as bad as that one I sold ya. UDOR pumps are great. My General pumps I like but where starting to go thru them to fast. Cat Pumps are way to expensive and a CAT Pump with the specs that your UDOR has is off the charts on price.

How's that Powerwasher working out for ya??

 

[Cooper]

The washer is working greak John! Its gonna pay for itself really quick! I have cut out fleet washing time in HALF with it! I am debating now whether to fix the generator on it or just put a 2021 pump in its place.

Any old generals you don't want, just hollar and I will pay the shipping to get em outta your way :grin::grin:

I do like this Udor so far and will probably try them on the washer I am bout to build. Generals (really most pumps) are fairly easy to repair/rebuild. I don't like Cats at all! They are good pumps but to me they are way overrated and overpriced.

Give me a call anytime you want or need help on a machine problem. I may not have all the answers, but usually can figure out the problem on one of these things.

 

[Russ Johnson]

John, you can mount the pressure switch on the bottom port of the unloader and it will work properly.

Put the "spring thing" back in, but put it in the right way. If you put it in backwards, the piston blocks off the water outlet. The piston should point into the unloader and the spring should point to the outlet.

 

[Clean County PW]

Hey Russ--Thanks for the advice. David was right about that spring. It was part of the other unloader and when I put the new one in its like I had 2 springs in the line now. Goes to show you while working on equipment and yapping on the phone while drinking a beer....doesn't work. Maybe the Beer was OK but the phone had to go:no:

 

[Russ Johnson]

Beer is lubricant.

 

[Kiloman]

Hey guys on these high volume udors are you feeding them with one line going in to the pump or running a tee and feeding the pump with 2 lines.I spoke with an udor rep today and he said he highly recomended 2 feed lines one on each side of the pump.I have mine fed with just one.

 

[Cooper]

Hey guys on these high volume udors are you feeding them with one line going in to the pump or running a tee and feeding the pump with 2 lines.I spoke with an udor rep today and he said he highly recomended 2 feed lines one on each side of the pump.I have mine fed with just one.

2 couldn't hurt! I have my 11 gpm pump fed with a 2" hose till about 2 ft. from the pump then its reduced down to 1 & 1/2" (pump has 1 &1/2" inlet). I have been running 8 gpm pums for years with 1 & 1/4" reduced down to 1" a couple feet before the pump with no problems.

If I was gonna run 2 I would run as large as I could and Tee it close to the pump. I am still running the square "caged" tanks cause I am cheap and had 10 of them given to me several years ago :grin:. Water comes out of those tanks really fast compared to some others.