The Lamar register., 1910-06-08
TROUBLES OF PUMPS
Cause of More Worry Than Any
Other Farm Machinery.
Yet Il Would BE Hard 20 Find ImpIe-
msnt Doing as Much Work and
Simpler In Construction
Few Reasons Cited.

simpler In Construction -
Few Reasons Cited.
By p. n LANGRIDGE- COLORADO
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE)
Pumps can cause more trouble and
worry for the least apparent reason
than any other piece Of machinery in
the power plant and yet II would be
hard to md q machine doing as much
work and simpler in construction
We see the expression. BE sure
the water end is all right before dis
turbtng the steam end In q great
many Manufacturers catalogues. and
Why should not such an expression be
used. for what is IN the steam end of
= pump. Simply the piston and
valves. and IT Is almost impossible
for anything to go wrong there Take
the steam engine as an example. It
Is very seldom that anything goes
wrong unless TIE valves are worn out,
and 50 II is With the steam end Of a
pump.
But the water end Is where there
are . thousand and one reasons why
the pump should nos work Here are
q few
II . pump begins to slow down with
4 valve open and the pump In good
condition. the trouble nay be an OBJ
struction in the feed pipe. such as
scale II dirty water Is used. the
check valve should be frequently ex-
amined-
II a pump pounds when starting up.
It may be due to lack Of water sup
ply. the water piston may be tight at
one point Of the stroke-due to un-
equal wear in the cylinder. II SO. the
cylinder will have to be rebored: the
foot valve may leak. the water pis-
ton may be loose on the rod: II It is
a duplex pump II is sometimes due to
improper setting Of the valves
II a pump fails to lift water. the
trouble may be leaky valves. an OBJ
struction in the suction pipe. the lift
is too high, the suction pipe is too
small. air may be leaking into the
suction and thus spelling the vacuum.
the water valves may refuse to lift
due to a heavy column Of water above.
or because the springs are screwed
down too tight.
The packing in the water piston
should receive careful and frequent
attention, and as soon as II shows
signs Of giving out. It should be re-
newed- Sometimes pumps are kept
running as long as they will pump
water. and when they do refuse to
deliver any more water they are ex-
amined for the trouble and IL Is found
that the packing in the piston has dis
appeared. and quite often II will be
I t<.A1 hAr ha .r.-A
or in the feed pipes next to the waive
or checks.
The water valves should be ex-
amined frequently and II they show
signs Of wear. IL the valves are Of
hard composition. as used In pumping
hot water. should be refaced at once
by rubbing on a sheet Of fine sand
paper. the latter being FIRST placed on
a fiat board. Sometimes the valves
leak. yet on examination appear in
good order. In such a case look for
scale on the valve seat.
II Is often found dinicult to get the
water valve with its spring and stud
In place on account OF the location of
the valve. This can be done by com.
pressing the spring on the stud and
passing q string under the valve and
over the washer above. The valve
can easily be screwed into place and
the string cut and removed.
Do not allow the pump to run 60
Tong In bad condition that It finally
refuses to supply water enough. for
this may cause a shutdown Of the
plant. but begin to look for trouble
rs soon as 1t begins to show itself. NOT
before
In types of pumps using the poppei
valve for reversing. the stem of these
valves will occasionally get upset
caused by constant use or high speed
SO that the piston will get at one end
of its stroke and refuse to go back
The remedy is take out the offending
poppet valve and file down the stem
until It will again work freely. but moi
D To- t.