[Richard Groves]

Today my digital controller started playing up.  My flow was cycling on and off. I tried recallibrating it. After less than a minute it would read error. Its a new month old shurflow pump ( pentair badged ) but just to eliminate a fault with that I swapped it out for my old one.  Its the digital flow controller with auto fill function from Gardiners ( although I don't use that bit ). Any ideas as to whether its faulty or I am doing something wrong ? Bought and fitted last xmas holidays and worked faultlessly up until today.  TIA 

Just to add . As per instructions I recallibrate with pole extended full height and flow on at 30. When I auto callibrate it sets callibration at 99. If I try to up the flow or manually adjust cal I get err ( error )

[Richard Groves]

I don't think its the controller.
I've removed it completely.
Tried both pumps just pos and neg to battery.
2 different batteries both good.

Seems the problem happens as soon as connected to reel.
50 meters of 2 month old microbore with gardiners green pole hose on the end ( tubeless set up )
Proloc  reel, previously had 100 meters of gardiner green pole hose on it with no problem ( just too lightweight across roads ).
No kinks in hose, unreeled it all, no damage.
You cannot get any more simple and bare bones than pump direct to battery and reel.
Pump pulses or cycles ( whatever you term it, I dunno  ) and flow drastically restricted, disconnect reel and it blasts out !
I have an inline filter and its clean as a whistle, full tank, no air lock.
I'm stumped, I really am 
Its like something is blocked in the reel hose but I can't possibly see how ?

Not looking forward to working with a backpack tomorrow 

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Are any of your connections Hozelock type with the water-stop feature built in?  If so check that they are working correctly.

I've had a couple of these connectors where one of the teeth in the female part has broken and caused the little device inside to malfunction so that when connected up it won't unseat correctly and therefore wont let water through or restricts it.

Also,  could your hose have a kink somewhere on the reel?

[dazmond]

I don't think its the controller.
I've removed it completely.
Tried both pumps just pos and neg to battery.
2 different batteries both good.

Seems the problem happens as soon as connected to reel.
50 meters of 2 month old microbore with gardiners green pole hose on the end ( tubeless set up )
Proloc  reel, previously had 100 meters of gardiner green pole hose on it with no problem ( just too lightweight across roads ).
No kinks in hose, unreeled it all, no damage.
You cannot get any more simple and bare bones than pump direct to battery and reel.
Pump pulses or cycles ( whatever you term it, I dunno  ) and flow drastically restricted, disconnect reel and it blasts out !
I have an inline filter and its clean as a whistle, full tank, no air lock.
I'm stumped, I really am 
Its like something is blocked in the reel hose but I can't possibly see how ?

Not looking forward to working with a backpack tomorrow 

change all your connectors.......i reckon one of them is dodgy.....

[Alex Gardiner]

I don't think its the controller.
I've removed it completely.
Tried both pumps just pos and neg to battery.
2 different batteries both good.

Seems the problem happens as soon as connected to reel.
50 meters of 2 month old microbore with gardiners green pole hose on the end ( tubeless set up )
Proloc  reel, previously had 100 meters of gardiner green pole hose on it with no problem ( just too lightweight across roads ).
No kinks in hose, unreeled it all, no damage.
You cannot get any more simple and bare bones than pump direct to battery and reel.
Pump pulses or cycles ( whatever you term it, I dunno  ) and flow drastically restricted, disconnect reel and it blasts out !
I have an inline filter and its clean as a whistle, full tank, no air lock.
I'm stumped, I really am 
Its like something is blocked in the reel hose but I can't possibly see how ?

Not looking forward to working with a backpack tomorrow 

It might be worth testing the new hose on its own. Connect up just the 100m of Mictobore to the pump with no hose reel & no end connector fitted to see how it pumps through it then.

Should help you find where the issue is.

[Dave Willis]

I would hazard a guess at the spindle connection on the reel. Maybe the hose is flattening there but can’t be seen when unwound again?

[Richard Groves]

Thanks for replies and Daz was right !
What a prize plumb I've been, If I were blonde I may have had an excuse 

It was the female rectus fitting on end of reel / pole hose. 
I'd overlooked it because it seemed to be doing its job, but when connected something in it damaged or worn must have been restricting the flow and causing the symptoms that made me think I had a bigger problem.
Amazing what a nights sleep and fresh eyes can do. I wasted hours last night and now have to put everything back together 
Been wfp over 15 years but still don't know  everything ! that was a first for me but lesson learnt !...start with the basics and just replace connectors as matter of course, don't just assume its a bigger problem than it is.

[Ian Sheppard]

Glad to hear your have found and sorted the issue. Just a quick note when using Auto cal the controller can be set to your preferred flow rate 30 , 40 ect, We use 30 in the guide just to give a common start point. I suspect the reason you were seeing err on the controller when trying auto is that the damaged connector was restricting flow, The controller needs a flow to be able to calibrate.

[Richard Groves]

Glad to hear your have found and sorted the issue. Just a quick note when using Auto cal the controller can be set to your preferred flow rate 30 , 40 ect, We use 30 in the guide just to give a common start point. I suspect the reason you were seeing err on the controller when trying auto is that the damaged connector was restricting flow, The controller needs a flow to be able to calibrate.

Thanks Ian, that makes sense.
The benefits of mistakes is you learn from them 

[dazmond]

glad you got it sorted.....i had the same problem a few years ago......always go for the simple things first....(airlock or dodgy connectors usually!)

[jonny thompson]

Why is it when the water gets low , you have to turn the pump control up, we had this yesterday, and this morning neither pumps where working until we disconnected the hose which runs to the reel ?

[Richard Groves]

Why is it when the water gets low , you have to turn the pump control up, we had this yesterday, and this morning neither pumps where working until we disconnected the hose which runs to the reel ?

If you drive or park up or downhill and water level low, air gets in to the tank outlet pipe causing air lock. By upping flow and removing the feeding hose from reel you are bleeding the air out. If you run a low level of water often consider fitting a one way non return valve between tank outlet and pump.