Kunkle VS Traditional "Vac Releif Valve"

[AshleyMckendree]

I'm truly perplexed,

Ive heard magical things happen for people with smaller blowers when they switch to a Kunkle... How does it do anything different than a vac relief that opens at the same HG level?

My understanding is It lets the blower breath just like a simple rod with a spring and nut on it that is pulled by the force of the vacuum.

 

[Walt]

Greenie can probably explain this better.

In theory, the valve doesn't open until it reaches the set amount of lift. This means there isn't an air leak until you've reached capacity. Unlike a simple spring relief valve which seems to always be leaking some air.

As far as breathing easier? I think that would be a 2.5 upgrade thing.

 

[Out of Character - 0]

Put your machine under a normal load but not at your max. If your relief is set at 14hg then restrict your blower to about 12-13. Now put your hand over your existing relief valve, How much air is it taking in? A kunkle would be 0 at that point, my white magics leaked enough to run an upholstery tool jj. If your current valve doesn't leak (it probably will) then you don't need a kunkle. If it leaks quite a bit then buying a kunkle will give you more hg's and cfm's at the wand, you'll also notice a quicker response time.

 

[Jay D]

Psst......Hey buuddy......Search FREE Flow...... thats all i'm gonna say. Before I'm attacked. :|

 

[AshleyMckendree]

Psst......Hey buuddy......Search FREE Flow...... thats all i'm gonna say. Before I'm attacked. :|

I'll experiment... If i don't like it I can just tape over it.

I'm running a #5... how many holes do i need?

 

[KevinD]

Psst......Hey buuddy......Search FREE Flow...... thats all i'm gonna say. Before I'm attacked. :|

I'll experiment... If i don't like it I can just tape over it.
I'm running a #5... how many holes do i need?

Start with (3) 5/16" holes
I have five but generally plug one or two with a bolt depending on what type of carpet I am working on.

 

[Greenie]

A "leak" is still a leak.

That is the biggest benefit to a Precision Vacuum Relief valve, Like Walt said, there is no "maybe", you ARE getting 100% of the vacuum to your wand, you aren't "wondering" if you have some lost vacuum or bleed off, until it hits the High Set Point, and "pops" open breathes, closes and resets the Cycle, this keeps your vacuum optimized.

Using Free flow is equated to a leaky waste tank gasket.

And...you don't have to "adjust" your vacuum releif to the type of carpet you are cleaning, or if you do Uph.

btw: We prefer Bayco Brand over Kunkle these days, no rust, and a more precise valve on average.

 

[John Watson]

Jeff, isn't there some restrictions or limatations of what type of unit they could be used on??? I believe I remember you saying they are not realy workable on shaft drive units ??

 

[gasaxe]

A "leak" is still a leak.

That is the biggest benefit to a Precision Vacuum Relief valve, Like Walt said, there is no "maybe", you ARE getting 100% of the vacuum to your wand, you aren't "wondering" if you have some lost vacuum or bleed off, until it hits the High Set Point, and "pops" open breathes, closes and resets the Cycle, this keeps your vacuum optimized.

Using Free flow is equated to a leaky waste tank gasket.

And...you don't have to "adjust" your vacuum releif to the type of carpet you are cleaning, or if you do Uph.

btw: We prefer Bayco Brand over Kunkle these days, no rust, and a more precise valve on average.

once it "pops" how far does vac fall before it resets. The way your describing it, it loads and unloads in a constant fashion...??

 

[floorguy]

Who needs a fookin relief??? not me.. 8)

yeah havent you ever heard them suckers pop on & off...its like pop...hisssss, snap, pop, hissssss, snap

I run my relief closed...very few times would i ever hit 15-16, and if i did, it was with the small tool for stairs..(i watched as the chimpy cleaned) so it was brief times it was doing it....

besides with a glide, hose connectors and other things in the system, your gonna have leaks...

dont recommend it with out watching your system a while

 

[Out of Character - 0]

On most commercial carpets our's remain open most of the time, some residential carpets will pop here and there, usually if a chop stroke is made or a matted traffic area which restricts the airflow a little further.

It all depends on the cfms your pulling, a 300 cfm unit with a high hg setting will pop less than a higher cfm unit or one with a lower hg setting.

On the kunkles you can restrict the valve to minimize the drop in hg's when it opens. Ours usually fell to about 12-13hg when it would open, now since restricting them they pop at 14 and still creep to 14-15hg. By restricting them you can make it very accurate.

 

[Greenie]

Exactly, the relief valves have a 2" intake, if you allow the full 2" to vent it will rapidly pull air in once the valve opens, so placing a pvc cap over the intake with a few small holes drilled into it serves both as a debris strainer, and a restrictor.

Larger blowers that are operating at near the maximum CFM for a given 2" valve tend to hold the valve open a bit longer, where as a 36 blower opens and closes fairly rapidly.

There is no debate, Kunkles and Bayco valves improve vacuum at the wand.

And to answer one question below, the biggest difference between a traditional spring releif and a Bayco is the top end lift, a bayco tends to keep you in the 13+"hg range more seconds of every minute, where a spring will vary more and tend to leak more steadily as you load it.

And for John, it's not so much shaft drives that we don't suggest valves on, it's any unit that can't support a higher lift setting, so either you unit (and tank) can support 15"hg or it can't.....some bog a little at those loads, some flex tanks pretty good.