Hi David,
Fantastic video. The seal I took out of the Villiers/Alcon pump was all covered in crud and breaking up. Vulcan Seals asked if I could send it to them so a replacement could be identified and also they would have a record of it on their database. Just looked it up and it was in 2011 when I got the new seal. I cannot recall what the old seal’s construction method was. But they said the one I sent was probably a John Crane type from around the 1980’s, so not the original seal. The ungovened pump certainly revs away, a testament to the quality of JAP’s, which I think are better engines than Villiers. Believe this is from their heritage of high performance engines.
Noted the increase in pressure when you hooked up both pumps. When I tried it, it only raised the pressure by about 20%. What I did was pump from a more powerful Honda/Clark pump through the Villiers/Alcon set. The Villiers had a duff seal at the time and even if it would have been a good one. Think the difference in pump design and specification would have caused a degree of conflict within the system. It may have worked better if the Villiers pump supplied the Honda and that would have boosted the pressure more.
Vulcan Seals were very helpful in identifying a replacement seal for both the Alcon and Clark pumps. Leaks through the impeller shaft is very common, with wear damage and corrosion to the shaft being the problem. They have bellows type seals that help to overcome this and it is that what I fitted to the Alcon pump. But the corrosion over the length of the shaft I think meant it did not fully seal. I was going to get a stainless steel shaft repair sleeve to fix it. But it’s way down on my list of priorities because even if it performs as it should. It will still be not as good as more modern pumps. The Villiers engine is a good one, but is more thirsty and noisy than the Honda and Robin engines, the Alcon pump delivers a lower pressure. Did note that every pump I took apart had a degree of damage to the steel drive shaft. It was one of the reasons I swapped the engines over as the seals were then in contact with the shaft at a different position. If the stationary and rotary faces of the seal starts to create a lot of friction. It can partially seize and then the drive element will then start to turn on the shaft, causing damage, wear and finally a leak. It’s why a pump should never run with no water in it. Also pumping dirty water will wear the seal contact faces out quickly as well as scoring them. This roughens it and can lead to the surfaces gripping, again causing the seal to rotate on the shaft. An old boy who once installed irrigation systems for Evenproducts told me that even a tiny leak on the suction side significantly affects pump performance. It can cause cavitation and he has seen damage to the aluminium surfaces within a pump from it. Think some of the trouble with seals is also caused if there is a steel shaft that then rusts over time. The Villiers engine’s shaft was very pitted and although I sanded the rust off, think the amount of material removed and the still rough surface. Has enabled a small amount of air to get through. I do drain my pumps after each use, but when storing them now am going to blow them through as well. Great advice and thank you.
In summary, the Villiers/Alcon set had a well seized drain plug, I think water was left in it permanently, causing the engine shaft to rust. The Honda/Clark pump was brand new, got in case of flooding and started every couple of months, running dry. The sealing surfaces gripped, causing the seal drive to turn on the engine shaft. The Robin/Koshin (it was a Koshin SE-50X pump I got for the higher pressure, it’s was not a Honda pump as previously stated) was from a plant hire fleet and had a hard life with a strong possibility of being used for dirty water. The seal was very worn, with evidence of the drive element turning on the shaft. All of the above could have been prevented with better user understanding and care of the equipment. Hope my experiences will help others in the use of pumps. It’s all worked out very well for me because I purchased broken pumps cheap, repaired them at little cost and have some cracking kit now. Was enjoyable learning about them too. Makes me think I must have been soft in the head when I put my hand up at last week’s auction. It was in part because of your descriptions of your pumps was at the back of mind when there were no bidders. Seeing your video has given me impetus to get the new acquisition going again.
Did some watering yesterday evening and took some (not very good) pictures of the Evenproducts Oscillating Sprayline. In the Vale of Evesham when I was growing up most market gardeners had this setup. You do not see them now as traditional market gardening has died out. The oscillating system is really simple, with the tank filling from a nozzle and as it gets heaver it moves downwards against the effect of the counter-weight, twisting the sprayline (anti-clockwise in the photo). When the tank is near the ground the pendulum swings (to the left in the photo), the water from the nozzle is stopped by the 3 port valve and the water in the tank slowly drains out through the valve, the falling counter-weight twisting the sprayline in the opposite direction (clockwise in the photo). When to tank is nearly empty and raised up, the pendulum moves again, the tank starts to fill and the cycle starts over again. You can adjust flow rates and the pendulum stops for oscillation speed and irrigated width. The downsides are they are more labour intensive to move around, the irrigated area is small and precipitation rates low. None of this is a bother to me though, because it has upsides too. It is quiet, the application more even than sprinkers and they are better suited to pumping from a well with a limited volume.
Best wishes,
Grahame
