[rednick]

Going down the diy trolley route,thinking of getting a streambox-40 psi pump,is there anyway other than varistream (budget) of altering the flow without harming pump,would a simple tap on hose work ? Also would pump cut out when closing tap.

[williamx]

Sometimes slowing the water rate is false economy.  I use a 100psi pump and it comes out like a jet engine but I find that it cleans better and faster than if I had slowed the water rate.

[matt]

Going down the diy trolley route,thinking of getting a streambox-40 psi pump,is there anyway other than varistream (budget) of altering the flow without harming pump,would a simple tap on hose work ? Also would pump cut out when closing tap.

cheaper to build your own pump box

i use a by-pass valve, its a gate type valve with water returning B4 the pump

pics on DIY forum of how its made, along with links to all the parts needed

[Ian_Giles]

Even without the varistream you do have a little scope for varying the flow of water without comprimising the pump.
Up until I've always used fan jets and got on great with them, but the pressure needed to get a decent flow needs to be fairly high, or rather not the pressure but the flowrate, and that also depends on the jet itself I might add.
For some time now I had dispensed with the return setup on the pump box, preffering to let the water blast out at full pressure.
All well and good, everything suited me perfectly thank you very much, but I was starting to go through a lot of water on a busy day.

Last week I upgraded to to a superlite pole and brush from Gardiners, the brush is fitted with 2mm fan jets, but the flow of water from my pump was way too much!
Alex had fitted the pole hose with a valve, so I could of course restrict the flow of water should I wish too, I was worried that by restricting the flow my pump would start to stutter, shutting off and then starting again as maximum pressure was reached.
If I only open the valve a little then that is exactly what happens, but I found that I was able to turn the flow down to just the amount I needed, and the pump just kept working smoothly, as a result my water usage has dropped markedly.
As a result of which I'm now very impressed with needle jets!

Nowt wrong with fan jets, but for my own situation, the needle jets combined with the lightweight superlite brush works a treat.

And yes, with all these pumps, when you shut the flow off the pump cuts out and stops when it reaches maximum pressure, when you open the flow again the pump starts up again.

what you don't want is a stuttering pump, cutting in and out constantly as you'll damage the pump, usually the pressure switch burns out.

Ian

[pjulk]

For some time now I had dispensed with the return setup on the pump box, preffering to let the water blast out at full pressure

Thats exactly how i work i used to use a varistream but did away with it as i didn't really like it.

Now i use minibore hose my pumps are 60 psi and just have it on full all the time.

Im about to buy a new pump probably a 100 psi pump and will probably then need to turn the flow down for that pump but i have flow control valve's on my system so i will just reduce it a bit until im happy with the flow and forget about it.

I do have a bypass on my trolly but stuck a flow control valve in and do not bother with the by pass anymore.

I do not have my pump stuttering as i just have it up full all the time.

I like to keep things simple far less to go wrong and less downtime.

Paul