Winter pump problem

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Originally Posted by Catch22

I hadn't really thought about relocating ours until I read your post. Thanks for putting something else on my list of things to do. ;)

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You can blame the builder for where the sensors are located and plumbed. If you have access to the installation instructions for the sensors, FRC recommends putting the sensors in the pump housing.

I assume they don't plumb them directly to the pump housing so they can be serviced more easily if they fail off the pump panel. We discussed about relocating them after finding this out, and the powers to be said to leave them where they are.

As for our failed sensors, all of them (4) failed during the summer. Never had a one fail due to the cold.

FM1

You can always crack the tank refill valve and circulate water without making a mess. That would tell you if the pump was moving water.We alcohol our pumps which about everybody here thinks is a BAD idea. We don't have any problems with them freezing no matter how far the run. T.C.

I definately take a look at relocating the sensor to the pump housing.

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Originally Posted by mitchkrat

Dealer talked convinced us that the digital guage was all we needed - buyers remorse

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Asked above but not answered. Do you have heat pan on bottom of your pump house?

"Globalwarming" is history and apparently cycle is in a cooling period. May need to make SOP/design changes.

Adding a master discharge guage is not a bad idea if you have room on the pump panel. Strange to omit. Guess that's typical Central. You have a master suction/intake guage?

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Originally Posted by fireinfo10

Asked above but not answered. Do you have heat pan on bottom of your pump house?

Adding a master discharge guage is not a bad idea if you have room on the pump panel. Strange to omit. Guess that's typical Central. You have a master suction/intake guage?

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I'd fathom a guess that 50-75% of the engines/pumpers built don't have the heat pan.

It would be almost 90% of those with the IC3OO that they don't have the suction/intake gauge installed. If it doesn't have the master discharge gauge, then it doesn't have the intake as well. And it isn't just a Central omition, but something omitted from the build up/spec'ing.

FM1

I believe that compound and master discharge gauges are not normally supplied when the InControl governor is used. They would have to be separately specified. Since the ICs have digital gauges already built in, separate traditional analog gauges would be redundant (not necessarily a bad thing, as experience is showing). Omitting them also saves real estate on the pump panel, which may or may not be at a premium.

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Originally Posted by chiefengineer11

I believe that compound and master discharge gauges are not normally supplied when the InControl governor is used. They would have to be separately specified. Since the ICs have digital gauges already built in, separate traditional analog gauges would be redundant (not necessarily a bad thing, as experience is showing). Omitting them also saves real estate on the pump panel, which may or may not be at a premium.

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That's been my experience with other trucks I've seen spec'd. You have to specifiy you want a the standard master intake/discharge gauges to go along with the InControl.

To be honest, it's not that big of a deal until the sensor goes out. If it's the discharge sensor like ours was, you can revert back to the individual discharge gauges. If it's the intake, though, you're hosed other than feeling and watching your hose react.

However, the non-digital gauges are also susceptable to freezing if you don't take precautions. That was evident in the fire I mentioned in a previous post where every engine on the fire but two had gauges locked up and inoperable, assumably due to frozen water lines to the gauge.

The truck doesn't have a heat pan.

Added a section to our SOG's and training documents to include switching to rpm mode if we ever have a failure in pressure mode again.

We install heat pans (which you I see you don't have) on all our trucks in the winter months.
We also have a pump compartment heater that circulates hot engine coolant through the pump compartment and we also leave our pumps wet year round. We have never had a problem with our pumps or related equipment freezing up on us with the average temperature here being 20-30 degrees in the winter. Another thing we ALWAYS do once on scene is engage the pump and circulate water.

Removed on 2-18-10

You know all this new electronics on these trucks seems to take alot of pressure off of the operator, which inturn means that he is not in total control the computer running that part of the truck is. A biodegradeable anti freeze can be used a lubricant on gate valves, another good thing for the pump is a belly pan under the pump with a front wall but the pan incorparates the muffler does help.