Feed Pump

[maplwrks]

Has anyone ever torn apart a Gould feed pump on an R/O? I'm almost certain that I have something in there that is dropping my feed pressure.

[powerdub]

What do mean by dropping your feed pressure? Is it over time or right off?

[Russell Lampron]

Mike mine has a Grudfoes pump and it has a metal band around the housing where the impeller is. If yours is the same Just remove the band and separate the impeller housing from the pump body. You could have some crap in the impeller. You should also check your feed line to make sure you don't have any places where the pump can suck in air. I am assuming that your pre filter is new or clean.

Russ

[maplwrks]

It doesn't build any pressure right from the start, about 30 psi. Once the high pressure pump starts the feed pump pressure drops down and will shut down once it drops below 20 psi.
Mike

[HanginAround]

Not sure about the Goulds, but a lot of feed pumps have a plastic jet assembly (shallow well adapter/venturi/nozzle) within the housing. It could be cracked or broken, they fail frequently.

Also, some Gould pumps have a nozzle cleanout plug in the center end of the housing, so you might want to check that first.

If you want, let me know your pump model number, or at least series, and I'll see what there is on the net for diagrams and parts lists. I found lots of info, but no idea what pump you have.

[maplwrks]

Thanks for all the responses guys, 802 came down tonight and we tore the head off the pump and cleaned out the impeller. I found lots of stuff in there that didn't belong in there. Runs like a charm now!!!
Mike

[802maple]

Thanks Mike for taking a chance and letting me run the little evaporator that thinks it is big one. It is fun to run something that you don't have to run to the next county to check rear floats etc. It runs well with 26 percent sap and made fifteen gallons of syrup in less than 50 minutes from cold and we were done, just goes to prove you don't need a big rig to make alot of syrup.