mini buffer tank

I had a local service tech suggest using a small radiator to prevent a pump from overheating when the unloader was bypassing. I never tried it, and would be skeptical about using something like that in direct sunlight during the day, but its an interesting idea. As for using a small buffer tank, I would only do so if it was a belt driven pump, or if you knew it would pull water without pressure.
 
I'm not sure if this is what you are thinking of. this is my 18hp 3000psi 22ltr/minute machine. the white tank is 40 litre capacity with a float valve in it. the supply water comes in through the blue hose from customer supply. The red hose is from the bottom of the unloader (dump side) and the pump is fed from an 1 1/4inch line from the bottom of the tank. when the unit is on standby the water just recirculates no heating of the pump.
 

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This thread has me confused, I am not sure what he is trying to do and why not just send the bypass to a tank?
 
This thread has me confused, I am not sure what he is trying to do and why not just send the bypass to a tank?

I think he just wants to dump the bypass water. IDK??? Might as well have a hose going on the ground. Thats an awful lot of water to waste. Everytime you use an injector you are bypassing some water.
 
I'm not sure if this is what you are thinking of. this is my 18hp 3000psi 22ltr/minute machine. the white tank is 40 litre capacity with a float valve in it. the supply water comes in through the blue hose from customer supply. The red hose is from the bottom of the unloader (dump side) and the pump is fed from an 1 1/4inch line from the bottom of the tank. when the unit is on standby the water just recirculates no heating of the pump.

You need to do what this guy is doing. Small 10 gallon buffer tank, you get a small buffer and your bypass situation is taken care of.

Personally I run a 30 gallon under tank and it really isn't enough at times.
 
Think about it, you are running 4gpm, if you let go of the trigger your pump is still pumping 4gpm but either back to the buffer tank, circulating back through the pump until you pull the trigger again or shut off the machine.

If you are bypassing 4gpm, a 10 gallon tank will be full in less than 3 minutes, when you let go of the trigger again, more water will go to the tank until it is over flowing and spilling on the ground. Sooner or later people will see liquid spilling onto the ground and wonder if that is water, some kind of chemical or is that normal or what?

I don't think you want to go and empty the small tank after you let go of the trigger every 5 or 10 times or have water spill on the ground.

You could put a longer bypass hose from the unloader to the inlet so the water does not heat up as fast but as long as you have water circulating back into the pump, it will get warm then hot eventually.

I am sure it gets old shutting down the machine every once in a while so that the pump has cool water going through it.

You could put a small buffer tank like 50 gallons with a hudson float valve so it does not over fill from the supply hose and then you can run your bypass from the unloader to that tank and you can bypass for a while and not get warm or hot water into the pump this way. 50 gallons of water will weigh about 417 pounds when full but I don't think you will haul a full tank of water around. You could also install a second float valve and have it at the 1/2 full mark so when you are about to finish working, switch over to that float valve so the tank will never fill more than 1/2 full and when you are done working, the most you will have will only be about 25 gallons in that tank.

If your machine will not pull from a tank (a lot of machines will not pull from a tank) then this will not work for you.

Just some ideas for you to think about.
 
I'm not sure if this is what you are thinking of. this is my 18hp 3000psi 22ltr/minute machine. the white tank is 40 litre capacity with a float valve in it. the supply water comes in through the blue hose from customer supply. The red hose is from the bottom of the unloader (dump side) and the pump is fed from an 1 1/4inch line from the bottom of the tank. when the unit is on standby the water just recirculates no heating of the pump.
The only time I have issues with the 40 Ltr (10.57US Gal) tank is when the customers supply can’t keep up with my machine running full noise. I have had a couple of occasions when I have been working off a deep well supply that was barely adequate for the normal household. After the tank filled I at least go a couple of minutes of washing time. Normal town or city supply keeps up very well with the machine consumption. Sometimes, very rarely, and usually only when I am doing a flat wash, does the machine beat the supply and the tank runs out. If this happens I just knock back the washing pressure a little until the demand from the machine is matched by the supply.
Why would you want to put the water into a tank from your unloader then let it run to waste?????? Doesn’t add up for me. Here, where I live in New Zealand, we pay for every drop of water we use. My customers accept that I am using their water to wash their home and that they are paying for it. If they saw gallons of water running off down the drive or onto the lawn and it was running to waste they would be complaining to me quick smart.
With my set up I cart the 40 litre in the supply tank from one job to the next. It’s only an extra 40 Kg on the trailer. At the end of the day I take the drain plug out of the bottom of the tank and THEN it goes to waste. In effect I dump 40 ltrs /10 Gal once a day.
With regard to the machine not drawing from a tank,
If the pump has a flooded suction, that is to say the pump inlet is below the level of the bottom of the supply tank the pump has no choice but to suck up the water. If you are trying to suck the water out of the top of a supply tank then it is conceivable that the machine may break the suction and draw air if the water supply gets below the level of the uptake hose then cavitation will occur.
As I have stated before my pump has an 1 ¼ inch supply to the pump and it is a flooded suction.
 
...................................... As for using a small buffer tank, I would only do so if it was a belt driven pump, or if you knew it would pull water without pressure.
my pump is a direct drive off the motor through a reduction box and I have no issues with the supply tank. Why do you state " I would only do so if it was a belt driven pump,". Just interested in your statement.
 
I think the gear box with the cat pump is the difference. Never had a issue on any cat pump models.


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