keep losing pressure on SW and black soot

[Captain Morgan]

I completely lost water pressure on my Steam Way 1150A a while ago. I finally save up the money to get it looked at by my mechanic.

Discovered my filter had a fair amount of scale in the filter. Tried to flush out the lines out with tons of black water, (the color of oil) would come out and then the line would clear.. over and over and then it finally was just clear.

He told me the kero fired burners have this problem and that flushing the line prior to beginning any cleaning is required.. understood, easy enough. That was Tuesday and I had my first cleaning since I got back from the shop. As my luck would have it... I flush the lines, have clear water, burner firing, all set to go with water temp set at 200 not wanting to push it. I start on the second bedroom and you guessed it.. no pressure. I run to the truck, grap a spare female QD and bucket. I couldn't get the line to completely clear... the water would be slighly rust/brownish or light grey colored with little salt sized black granuals then it would clear. I would get about 10-12 decent wand strokes and then water would stop... I think my jet is now plugged or the QD on my wand.

My question is.... is this something more serious than what I've been told it is? Are my pump seals or water pressure lines on my machine disintergrating or something? The previous owner only fresh water rinsed when he cleaned, nothing else so I was surprised to see so much scale in the filter. He was on flitered city water but would occassionally hook up to custy's water in out lying areas where there are areas with hard water. Also the machine sat for about a year without being run while I was working to save up the money for other repairs.

Anyone got any ideas what's going on? Should I descale the system or does my pump need rebuilding? My mechanic's helper was fidgiting with my pump. He was turning the inside section, (the belt spins/turns outside of it) and said it seemed loose... he said it shouldn't turn that easily.. and mentioned it might need a rebuild but was over-ruled by the owner/head mechanic. I'm in too deep with repairs to give up now and start over with a newer machine. I've got to ride this one as long as I can so I can make enough $$ to upgrade.

Any suggestions or assistance in troubleshooting this would be tremendous!!! Thanks in advance for your help. I tend to ramble... a lot so if you need me to clarify anything PM me and I'll respond directly or here so others can see what I've tried.

Thanks again,
Bill Morgan

 

[Dolly Llama]

Bill, who is your mechanic ?
(and I use that term loosely)

your strainer was full of scale.
You have gunk and scale coming from lines

and he didn't suggest it needed descaled???

That, and some of the other things he said tells me he's an idiot and should be working as a Wal-Mart stock boy, not working on TMs

If you're using Goodyear steel braid line, that's where the lions share of black water is coming from.
That hose will blow at any time.
If it's 3/8, dump it and buy 1/4" line.
yes, you'll need to buy new QDs, , but in the long run, it will save you money, cause 1/4" hose and QDs are le$$ than 3/8.
Which is WAY over kill for a single wand TM at normal hose run lengths.

Here's what I suggest you do.

DESCALE IT!


I'm going to go in to detail here.
you may not understand what I'm talking about.
if not, PM me your phone number with best time to call and I'll walk you through all the components on you Powermatic


Open the water box, (it's behind the tank you put soap in) vac out all the water.
Use a crevice tool to vac out all the loose chunks of scale/mineral deposits that are in there.
Now follow the water box pump feed like to the brass block it's plugged in to (called the plenum)
Near the top right side of the plenum, you'll see an in-line strainer
It's looks like vanilla colored plastic.
Unscrew the bowl and clean out the strainer.
Fill with water, and screw it back on.
Make sure the rubber gasket is in place.

Now you're ready to descale.
Get a 5 gal bucket.
Mix your descale acid in the bucket.
I like MasterBlend's and Prochem's descale powder.
Mix it double strength (my guess is you'll need it)
You can substitute with muratic acid, but that's some wicked chit.

You'll wnat to descale your sol line too.
So roll it out, and plug in to TM.
Plug in an empty QD on the other end

Now you need a short piece (6-8ft long) of garden hose with a male end.
I cut an 8ft piece off the end of an old garden hose to use.

Connect the fitting you use to plug in your fresh water line to front of TM.
Plug it directly into the #7 port on the plenum.
That's the port the water box supply hose connects to.
Unplug it, and plug in you short garden hose

Put the other end of the hose in your bucket of descale solution.

turn off your soap tank flow meter and ball valve.
start the TM, turn on the pump and with in 20 seconds to a minute max, you should be pumping juice out of the end of the sol line.
Continue to pump solution out (in an environmentally responsible manner) which means my 200ft long gravel drive....
Pump til appx 3 gal of descale sol is gone from the bucket..
The idea is to purge any alkaline detergent in the system..which holds a fair amount or water..especially in the heater coils.

Once 3 gal has been drawn from the descale bucket, turn off the pump, mix another gal or two of double strength descale juice.
NOW you're ready to get 'r done.
Start the pump, turn on the heater, put the sol line into the bucket and recirculate til the temp hits 150-160 or so.
Then shut it down and go have a Pepsi, or Moutain Dew.
Let the descale sol sit in the TM for a good half hour or more.

While you're waiting, mix up 3 gallons of warm water with a whole cup of "alkaline" emulsifier .
You'll pour that into you empty water box.
That's how you'll neutralize any remaining acid in the system .

is you half hour/45 minute dwell time up yet?
Good, cause were almost done fooking around.

Now, plug in the water box line where it goes.
Plug in your fresh water supply line.
Open the soap tank flow meter and ball valve

start the TM, engage the pump and flush-flsuh-flush.
Let flush for a good 10 minutes or more.
Keep an eye on your water box water level.
Cause some home water pressure/out put can't keep up with the 5gpm pump


Clean the strainers on your wands.
At start up from now on, flsuh the lines with an empty QD for a minimum of 30 seconds and a whole minute would be better.
Cool down temps before shutting down.
We use that time and hot water to fill sprayers, soap tank, spray off the wand, and rinse the inside of vac hoses.

Do thos two things, a flush at start up and cool down at shut off, and you'll much less headaches in the future


Lastly, cranking the heat to mega temps will often result in chunks/debris breaking loose from heater coils and sol line when not descaled regularly


if the descaling doesn't get, youi may need another round if it was REALLY bad.

once we get it completely descaled , then we can move on to other possibilities "if" your problem persists


..L.T.A.