[billozz]

we bought a new pump 2 weeks ago, we could not get a flojet quickly enough so we went for a shurflo. it packed up yesterday, when we contacted the supplier they asked if we had a controller on the system like a varistream etc when we said we hadnt they told us that the pump would not be returnable under warranty as it wasnt designed to be used without one. over the years we have been wfp we cannot recall anyone saying this including the above supplier, when we ordered the pumpdoes anyone know if this is correct thanks
bill

[NWH]

Williamsons will want you to use a varistream only otherwise they won`t cover it,they won`t guarantee it if it`s used with mini-micrbore either they recommend you use 1/2 hose although nearly everybody uses 8mm at the most.Even if they change it they will want the carriage plus handling charges i`m told,get a varisteam my pump works perfectly with it and has given no problems at all since going 8mm.

[billozz]

thanks for the reply nwh, but my point is we had a pump that worked perfectly for maybe 2 years without a problem without a varistream fitted and this one lasted 2 weeks. it was a different pump however and i am trying to discover if others that dont have a varistream have had their pumps lasting a while or not. or maybe its the case that the flojet pump is made to a higher spec and can handle the job better than a shurflo

[alanwilson]

seems odd - we have used shurflo for years and never ever any probs.

surely the supplier should replace it for you or at least fix it?

probably pressure switch, although it still should last longer than that

[NWH]

I had pumps ie shurflo fitted without varistream and 2 pumps lasted about 3 months,hence i keep a couple spare but since the varistream i`ve had no problems.

[Wayne Thomas]

I have no trouble with shureflow pumps (without a pressure switch) whilst connected to a varistream flow controller whilst I'm using cold water for WFP. No problems using hot water for WFP because I'm still drawing cold water through the pump and it's heated at the water heater unit just before the hosereel.
Where I get problems with the pump is if I recycle the hot water back into the storage tank to pre-heat it and then run warm or hot water through the pump for long continuous periods of time because the pump becomes too hot and stops working.
Moral of this short story is don't draw too much warm / hot water through a pump otherwise when it gets too hot it stops working until it's cooled down again.
Only use hot water on new cleans, rainy days, stubborn windows and if I'm pushed for time.

[macmac]

Had a shurflo for 3.5 years without any varistream & never had any probs.

Had a varistream 3 months & had nothing but problems since.

If you require a constant, equal flow whatever the height, don't buy a varistream.
"intelligent pump control" yeah, right. It should read- " switch on & get what you're given!"

Tony

[Spursboy1972]

If you speak to varitech there are only certain model numbers of pumps they will cover or recommend for use with the Varistream. They offered me the numbers without prompting and advised me to check before fitting them.

[LWC]

just a quick question

should the pressure switch be taking out of the circuit. because when ive got mine connected with the digi varistream, and theres no leaks the pump still cycles every 30 seconds or so. ive tried setting the thing where you hold down + and - but just cant get it right

[Spursboy1972]

The digital varistream comes with instructions. It has a built in pressure switch and as part of the instructions says you must bypass the prwessure switch on the pump.

[Londoner]

Anything that only lasts two weeks is defective.  You should have said yes when they asked you about the varistream. They would never have known.

I'm going to regret saying this but my Shureflo 100psi is well over two years old and is used all day every day.

[Alex Gardiner]

2 weeks is just not long enough regardless of whether it is fitted with an electronic controller or not. The manufacturers have basically come up with a get-out clause for WFP work. No cover unless you use 1/2" hose and unless you use a electronic controller. Doesn't sound like they have much confidence in the product anymore. All of these pumps used to give years of service on non electronic set-ups.

Unfortunately faults do happen in manufacturing of pumps, but the suppliers/importers should have a decent warranty scheme, not just a list of what they do not cover.

Faced with this situation we stopped selling pumps about 18 months ago, we could get no decent back up service from any of the major suppliers (including Flojet). From what I hear there seems to be as many problems with electronic flow controllers as there does with pumps. I have been using Flojet pumps on a personal basis now for 7 years and have always had a great lifespan out of them (with no electronic controller and on microbore). The shortest I have ever had out a pump was 2 years, the longest was 5 years. My latest pump did need a new pressure switch after 1 year, but to be honest the first pressure switch was temperamental from day one, the new one is perfect.

We are working on a solution with a manufacturer, whereby we can supply a pump with a decent warranty back-up, on a pump that is rated to deal with microbore, as we consider this essential in a WFP environment.

[Xline Systems]

there should be a years warrenty with every shurflo pump the only part thats not is the pressure switch

[dd]

I have heard you get problems wwith shurflo on a 2 man set-up without varistream, but OK with 1 man set-up. I use flojet.

[Nathanael Jones]

I've got a flowmaster controller from pure freedom. Its a much simpler "non-intelligent" controller, and it works with the pressure switch on the pump still connected.
I can't praise it enough,.. no matter what hose I've used, no matter what jets, or what height I'm working at,.. it does what its supposed to do every time.
The Varistream is quite fussy about what model pump is use apparently,... I'd always recommend buying pump and controller together the first time (Most suppliers give a discount on the set) and should the pump die at anytime in the future, try your best to get the same model number.

I was told that the Varistream controllers are specifically designed to work with Shurflo pumps tho,.. not flojet?

[Peter Fogwill]

I supply Shurflo pumps with all my systems, and if anything goes wrong with it during the systems 1 year guarantee period a new one is on the way instantly, with no waiting for the old one to come back for checks first.  Likewise anyone selling an individual pump should do the same.

I bear all the costs of pump replacement, and posting the new one out, as the main pump suppliers warranty is non existent.

I would get back on the phone to whoever supplied the pump.  I would have thought a water pump being used to pump water should be under warranty, if all you were doing was pumping water.  If a controller was necessary it should be built into the pump. 

Did they tell you before you bought it that you had to use a  controller?

Peter

[Alex Gardiner]

I supply Shurflo pumps with all my systems, and if anything goes wrong with it during the systems 1 year guarantee period a new one is on the way instantly, with no waiting for the old one to come back for checks first.  Likewise anyone selling an individual pump should do the same.

I bear all the costs of pump replacement, and posting the new one out, as the main pump suppliers warranty is non existent.

I would get back on the phone to whoever supplied the pump.  I would have thought a water pump being used to pump water should be under warranty, if all you were doing was pumping water.  If a controller was necessary it should be built into the pump. 

Did they tell you before you bought it that you had to use a  controller?

Peter

I admire what you do Peter and this is exactly how we were running the support for our pump sales but at the end of a year we calculated that we had actually lost money selling pumps and were left with a supply of second-hand pumps (returned from manufacturer following warranty repairs) that had very little retail value.  We had to make the decision to pull out from the supply deal and source a better warrantied pump.

[billozz]

thanks for all the replies, so the concensus of opinion seems to be that regardless of whether we were using a varistream etc or not it should have been replaced f.o.c. which is what we thought.

 i am a bit surprised that the company we bought it from did not offer to do this, as they are very very well known to most of us on here, although they were very helpful and did, in the end, supply a pressure switch at a reduced price.

i think they were aware that they might have the same difficulty that alex has mentioned with regard to the manufacturer replacing it for them, it would have been nice if they had taken the same attitude as peter fogwill and stood by the manufacturers warranty regardless of the implications for them.

and no we were not informed that we had to have a controller before we purchased the pump, when i raised this point i was told that the spec sheet suplied with the pump also mentioned the correct circumstances in which the pump should be operated, i have to admit i didnt read that as i dint think it necessary, the only thing i did was to post on here asking which way up the pump should be fitted, i could not find a reference to this on the spec sheet
thanks again for all replies
the lesson we ahve learned from this is be careful where you buy from and to buy from people you have used before and had good service from unfortunately as has been mentioned the company we used in the past has stopped suplying pumps.