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Roof Cleaning Katy Texas (281) 392-2304 · May 4, 2013

RE: Delavan 5850

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee · Guest

UPDATE:

I took the batteries out of parellel and just hooked the pump up to a single battery like I usually have it. The pump has been running fine. Not sure why that would make any difference.

Roof Cleaning Katy Texas (281) 392-2304 · May 5, 2013

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee wrote:
UPDATE:
I took the batteries out of parellel and just hooked the pump up to a single battery like I usually have it. The pump has been running fine. Not sure why that would make any difference.

Strange... Putting the batteries in parallel would increase the current for the motor to draw so long as your wiring was gauged properly. Make sure you have a circuit breaker between the battery and the pump or the wiring can become your fuse if th motor should ever use more current than the wiring is gauged for.

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee · Guest

I'm with ya Marcus. Having multiple batteries in parallel should not have nothing to do with my issue at all. It's how my trolling moter is set up. Same way a golf cart is set up. More batteries that are run in parallel equates to longer run time not more power.

The thing that is driving me crazy is that last week up on the two story, it was cycling like crazy .... I moved down to the first story roof and one story garage and it was minimal. On the ground, re-shooting some bad spots above the gutter line, it was fine. After that I switched out the batteries and just hooked up to just a single and it ran fine on the one story (not from the ground but on the roof, one story up.)

I have gone through a few pumps and know this one is on it's last leg but just want to know if it was the switching to the 1/2" hose brought it to it's untimely death or might it be the pressure switch or should I just shut the hell up and run it to failure and switch it out and bury it in the Delevan graveyard!!!

I'm just anal about what the final straw is that break's the Delavan's back! Ed has the best solution though ... buy a case of them and when one Chit's the bed, change it out!

Stay Clean · Guest

So if im correct here when you first noticed this problem the pump was wired to a single battery. But you said it still happened when you put two batteries in parallel. Then you went back to a single battery and it was fine. This all happened with 1/2" hose on the pump and with the nozzles you have been using. So how can this be a battery or hose or nozzle issue? Although all of these things can cause problems, it sounds like in this case the pump is acting up because its on its last leg. It's acting stupid for no rhyme or reason. Just run it until its death then hookup the new one and start fresh. If that one does the same thing right away then address the problem again and narrow it down. If you still have 5/8" hose hook both pumps to both hoses and see what happens. If you want to know what breaks it tear it apart and see all the salt and whats left of the parts inside.

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee · Guest

No... I have always ran just one, single battery and 5/8" hose. THAN, I went to a 1/2" poly a few months ago with no issues. Then a few weeks ago, after running out of 12 volt juice and me having to make a Walmart run for a new deep cycle battery and leaving (paying) my ground guy to sit on his butt, I decided to run two batteries in parallel.

It wasn't until this job in the sticks and it was so far off the beaten path that I could hear my own thoughts and I could also hear the pump running ... crystal clear. Normaly, I never hear it (the pump not my thoughts) and only hear it when I'm flushing it (the pump not my thoughts) at the end of the day.. It could have been cycling all along on some other two story jobs but I just couldn't hear it?

Whatever!!! ... It's still pumping my luv and when it decides to bite the big one .... I'll send it to anyone who want's to disect it.

Roof Cleaning Katy Texas (281) 392-2304 · May 5, 2013

I do not know about the Delavan 5850's pressure switch but the one on the Delavan Fat Boy only costs $1.25. One symptom that occured to me when the Delavan Fat Boy's pressure switch failed was that the pump would not turn off.

If you are going to run two batteries it is best to isolate the two with a marine battery switch. You do not want to run two batteries in parallel unless you wire is gauged for that current rating. When one battery runs out of power you just switch over to the other battery. Keep your batteries charged with a marine battery trolling motor charger.

May 6, 2013

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee wrote:
Chris and Marcus, BOTH great, point but not to inturupt your conversation and keep this thead going, I'd like to hear more about head pressure and two story and above pump failures fro Delavan 5850 users.
I thought it might be a battery issue and have (since posting this thread) have run two deep cycle batteries together in parallel instead of just one but get the same results. Pump cycles like crazy on the second floor roof but it is fine when shooting the garage from the ground. The flow is fine but I can hear the pump cycling.
Not that I'm worried because I allways carry a back-up pump but I'm just puzzled why it's doing it and how long the pump will last shooting two story roof while cycling like this. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for all 5850 users and I can report back with some scientific data...LOL

Did you try what I told you above? It will probably solve the problem!

" You need to readjust the pressure on the pump with an allen wrench, with the pump running. Best done with one guy spraying on the roof and another adjusting the pressure up or down until it stops cycling."

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee · Guest

Not yet Chuck. But once I get another two story, I will try it out.

May 6, 2013

Roof Cleaning Tallahassee wrote:
Not yet Chuck. But once I get another two story, I will try it out.

I see. That cycling will burn up the pump switch.

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