Pompco Horizontal Piston Pump problem

Hello. Perhaps someone has experience with the Canadian Pompco horizontal piston pump. I bought the stainless model as the water is a bit salty. My problem is that the drive wheel is extremely tight and hard to rotate. The dealer said that he'd be worried if it wasn't tight and it will loosen up. But the electric drive motor simply spins its pulley without making the pulley belt turn. Everything is set up ok, but its clear the pump is tight. Is that normal? I'm in Australia not Canada and my emails have not been answered by the company. Thanks for any advice.

Brian Edward wrote:Hello. Perhaps someone has experience with the Canadian Pompco horizontal piston pump. I bought the stainless model as the water is a bit salty. My problem is that the drive wheel is extremely tight and hard to rotate. The dealer said that he'd be worried if it wasn't tight and it will loosen up. But the electric drive motor simply spins its pulley without making the pulley belt turn. Everything is set up ok, but its clear the pump is tight. Is that normal? I'm in Australia not Canada and my emails have not been answered by the company. Thanks for any advice.

Brian, try loosening the screw on fitting where the shaft enters the piston head. When new the bushings are too tight. There eventually forms a sort of carbon layer that act as a lubricant and in makes for a smoother motion. You want it tight so there isn't too much sway on the piston shaft or leaking water but loose enough so it can move. It could also be vapour locked. Some models had an air precharge on the side of them to balance out the two sides to get it started...
Hard to know without seeing it.

I'm not sure how to reply to respondents except this way, but thanks to David Baillie for replying with advice. Not sure which parts he refers to be loosened so the exploded view of the pump can be found at https://pompco.com/docs/048-0170-manuel-pompe-piston-s-s-5.5-x-8-2014.pdf

Thanks

Hi Brian;
Locate the packing nut #75 and loosen it up.  See if that helps.

thomas rubino wrote:Hi Brian;
Locate the packing nut #75 and loosen it up.  See if that helps.

Thomas beat me to it. Re-reading my late night reply I apologize it was jumbled up. If loosening the packing nut(75) does not resolve it you can lower the turn on turn off pressure of the pump to reduce startup torque. Its usually just until the packing (33) wears in a little. In the old ones it was sometimes rubber, sometimes a carbon block sometimes leather. Eventually a film of carbon built up on them (graphite) which allowed the piston rod to slide easier.

Hello again. I loosened the nut but it made little difference. My conclusion is that because the diameter of the drive motor pulley is so small - in order to get the motor speed reduced and restrict the piston action to a safe recommended speed - there is insufficient contact area or friction to turn the tight pump pulley. So it spins. I am going to use a larger twin V drive pulley to increase the contact. And use a double V pump pulley. The only trouble with this solution is that it is quite costly. That's life. Thanks for the advice. Regards to all from the deep south of Western Australia. Brian

Brian Edward wrote:Hello again. I loosened the nut but it made little difference. My conclusion is that because the diameter of the drive motor pulley is so small - in order to get the motor speed reduced and restrict the piston action to a safe recommended speed - there is insufficient contact area or friction to turn the tight pump pulley. So it spins. I am going to use a larger twin V drive pulley to increase the contact. And use a double V pump pulley. The only trouble with this solution is that it is quite costly. That's life. Thanks for the advice. Regards to all from the deep south of Western Australia. Brian

hi Brian, if you increase the diameter of the motor pulley you will increase the power it needs to provides. You could try some fan belt resin. Is there no tensioning device on the motor? Rigging something there might work as well.

Hi all thanks for the advice. I really tightened up the pulley belt and it no longer slips and now pumps regularly. The only slight concern is that the piston rod camshaft part sitting in the splash oil bath gets hot enough eventually to remove your hand. Hopefully it too loosens up in its bearings. I might run a by-pass water drip over it