Good morning!!!!

[toppop52]

I ended up spraying and dressing the driveway and taking out an old pine stump. Removed some dead flowers and generally piddled around. Wife got BBQ chicken from a firehouse, supposed to be the best around, we will see.

 

[Thomas]

67F clear sky.

Was good day for trimming and mowing even snuck in short nap with kittens finding me.
Not much for this evening other than joining Roy from distance.

Boo out for one of his morning strolls.

Enjoy the evening all.

 

[Engineer42]

yeah, but I didn't know what I was talking about...
It's been over 25 years since I ran a pumper and only did it for two years.

It's like riding a bike. Ya never forget the basics.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Firetruck update:

The relief valve was screwed all the way in and the switch below it was set to off for the previous round of tests, so I left it that way. The Waterous manual sez in that setting, the pump will develop maximum pressure. So I left the discharge closed and ran the engine RPMs up to 2800, and was able to manage 80 PSI. There's a plaque on the side of the truck that indicates it should be making 150 PSI at those RPMs.

When I opened the discharge valve to the hose reel, and opened the nozzle, I got a pretty good stream of water, but it lasted less than 15 seconds before it petered out to almost nothing. I shut the truck down and took the nozzle inside. When I disassembled it, flakes and chunks of rust came out, some as big as a pea. I blew it out with compressed air, reinstalled it, and got a repeat performance of the running and clogging.

Brought it back inside, found some fine stainless steel mesh, and cut a disk to fit in the base of the nozzle. Took the nozzle back apart and blew it out. Put the mesh in, put it back on the hose, and got a really good stream for maybe 30 seconds before it choked off again.

Took it back inside, disassembled, and found that the mesh had torn along one edge and there were rust flakes up inside the nozzle again, but fewer of them. Put it all back together, made a bigger mesh disk and folded a rim around the edge and gave it another try. Except this time I forgot to put the draft hose in the tank. Got a good stream initially, but it crapped out when the water in the hose was exhausted. At that point I'd had enough for the day anyway.

So some progress, but the pump never really did develop the specified pressure, even when all the discharge openings were closed and the relief valve was disabled. The stream it put out was as big as I've ever seen it coming out of the truck, even from back a few years ago when my neighbor and I were using it to keep burn piles under control. Regardless, I need to figure out how to get the scale out of the pump so it quits clogging up the nozzle.

Any suggestions?

I also need some kind of spanner wrench to work the collars on the hand line and on the suction line. What do the pros use, and where would I get them?

Thanks again!

 

[Engineer42]

Man I wish you were closer. The attached pics show a spanner for the booster hose, and a standard spanner. . This one is a hydrant wrench with spanners. Id open the lowest discharge and flush the pump, with it in gear. But I'd also shoot a bottle of ivory soap in the pump first, and let it circulate. This should help pull the rust flakes out. Take the nozzle off your hose and flush the hose too.

Amazon has them, or The Fire Store, Grainger, etc.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Firetruck update:

The relief valve was screwed all the way in and the switch below it was set to off for the previous round of tests, so I left it that way. The Waterous manual sez in that setting, the pump will develop maximum pressure. So I left the discharge closed and ran the engine RPMs up to 2800, and was able to manage 80 PSI. There's a plaque on the side of the truck that indicates it should be making 150 PSI at those RPMs.

When I opened the discharge valve to the hose reel, and opened the nozzle, I got a pretty good stream of water, but it lasted less than 15 seconds before it petered out to almost nothing. I shut the truck down and took the nozzle inside. When I disassembled it, flakes and chunks of rust came out, some as big as a pea. I blew it out with compressed air, reinstalled it, and got a repeat performance of the running and clogging.

Brought it back inside, found some fine stainless steel mesh, and cut a disk to fit in the base of the nozzle. Took the nozzle back apart and blew it out. Put the mesh in, put it back on the hose, and got a really good stream for maybe 30 seconds before it choked off again.

Took it back inside, disassembled, and found that the mesh had torn along one edge and there were rust flakes up inside the nozzle again, but fewer of them. Put it all back together, made a bigger mesh disk and folded a rim around the edge and gave it another try. Except this time I forgot to put the draft hose in the tank. Got a good stream initially, but it crapped out when the water in the hose was exhausted. At that point I'd had enough for the day anyway.

So some progress, but the pump never really did develop the specified pressure, even when all the discharge openings were closed and the relief valve was disabled. The stream it put out was as big as I've ever seen it coming out of the truck, even from back a few years ago when my neighbor and I were using it to keep burn piles under control. Regardless, I need to figure out how to get the scale out of the pump so it quits clogging up the nozzle.

Any suggestions?

I also need some kind of spanner wrench to work the collars on the hand line and on the suction line. What do the pros use, and where would I get them?

Thanks again!

I think your zeroing in on the problem. You're just going to have to flush every line in your system. You have three outlets for hoses plus your hose reel.

Open the three hose connections, on your panel, one at a time and pump thru that circuit. Don't hook a hose to your outlets .. no sense pumping crap into your hoses / nozzles. After you clear the internal truck circuits .. you can flush your hoses.

Pump thru your hose reel .. without the nozzle.

If you're by yourself .. all you'll ever use is your hose reel. You can't handle a 2 1/2" hose .. at reasonable pressure .. by yourself. To handle a big hose .. you need at least 2 men on the line and a third operating the truck. Trust me on that.

Here's a good source for your hose spanner wrench. Buy two.

Fire Hose Spanner Wrench

 

[sodamo]

RNG, sounds like progress

 

[lostcreekranch]

One dead tree cleaned up today.

 

[sodamo]

Our grilled steak and garden veggies were so good couldn’t help myself but to jump on the tractor and mow a couple of hours.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 66F for the start, partly cloudy, calm wind. Light wind today, partly cloudy sky, and high temp was 86F. Bike ride this morning, just two of us rode and with the cool weather averaged close to 16 mph for 50 miles, and did not sweat out anatomy off Did get nap in and stepdaughter made lobster for dinner ! :licking:
Covid update: Cooke 358 confirmed cases, 21 active cases, Montague unchanged, Grayson unchanged.
Drew sorry about the rental, hope you work out where the megabytes are going.
Billy good to hear Coco went for a hike today good luck with planting
Roy sounds like good way to end day.
Buppies any ideas on Texas?
Thomas you too with the trimmer?
Chuck, switched from ATT to Verizon due to unreliable signal, and unresponsive customer support.
Phil glad you had light day.
Ron sorry about neighbor's SIL my condolences. Need to figure out how sparrow leaves. Loving cooler weather, not sweating as much, can slow down on salt.
Billy sorry about the weather
Don Thanks for warning about smoke, glad your wife loves the total gym.
Rick sorry that was me that stole the cool
RS busy as usual
Ted good score on chicken and pork roasts. Does your Craftsman have a fuel pump? My trim mower had one, and dust would build up on it ( sintered brass spot) and reduce it's capacity
Randy hope the Drs get the afib thing worked out.
Kyle glad you got some work to keep you busy,
RNG sorry about lack of info, hope this get better.
Dennis glad you got blades sharpened, I need to do mine.
RNG good to hear you are making progress, glad you are getting help.
David glad the grilling was that good
prayers for all, especially Drew/move, Jay/Peg, Kyle's daughter, Mike, David(moss)/move/sale, RNG/fire, and Country
sat safe and healthy you all