I have a 10 hp Kinney two stage pump. It is a liquid ring pump with a oil reclaimer. My pump lost it's prime yesterday three times resulting in a loss of vacuum. I would wait 15 minutes and then turn the pump back on and all was fine and went right back up to 29 inches. The pump runs 29 inches and then 24 feet away at the releaser it is 28.5 inches. I talked to the CDL service man and he said to check the hoses from the reclaimer to the radiator and the hose going from the radiator to the pump. Both hoses were fine and not plugged. Then I checked the radiator itself and blew air through it. Everything seemed fine there. The pump looses it's prime but there is still oil in the pump. I was told there is a seal in the pump that might be the problem. The seal may not be allowing oil to pass through from the reclaimer but I don't think thats the problem. The pump is full of oil when it looses it's prime. Tonight when I shut the pump down I let it sit for 30 minutes and then opened the drain at the bottom of the reclaimer to see if there was water/moisture and I did drain about one pint to a quart of water. The pump was running since yesterday morning except for it's brief stops because of the loss of prime. Is it possible that the pump looses it's prime due to a pint/quart of moisture that built up over the last 30+ hours? The service man said a half inch vacuum difference between pump and releaser is nothing to worry about. With such a tight system I'm not sure how I am getting that much moisture in such a short amount of time. Last year the pump would run for weeks without any problem. So what I'm wondering is this. Is the pump loosing it's prime due to a small amount of moisture or is it something else like the seal? Until I figure this out I have to babysit the pump all the time. I hate babysitting. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
Spud