Vacuum Gauge

[Louis]

So do these things go bad often? I put new belts on my machine and then the vac gauge was reading 17. I loosened up the vac relief and now I'm dry time issues. The gauge is hooked up right next to the blower. My relief valve is on the waste tank. It's a hydramaster gauge.

Thanks

 

[Jim Martin]

clean the vac relief...............

 

[dealtimeman]

Clean and lubricate if applies to your relief.

 

[Louis]

my relief valve is working. When I loosen it and it is sucking a lot of air the gauge is showing 15. My little 22hp is not sounding like it even has a load on it. this is why I'm questioning the gauge.

 

[GeneMiller]

I've replaced one in 25 years but that's because the mineral oil leaked out. The glass somehow broke.
Pretty reliable item. Maybe the new belts are slipping.

Gene

 

[Louis]

Well found the problem. Went out there to clean the relief valve and noticed the gauge was stuck on 7. Time to get a new gauge. This one is less than 2 years old. Hydramaster gauge from Jon Don. They don't make things like they used to.

 

[dgardner]

Louis, there is one thing you might try before replacing the gauge. I had a vac gauge that read funny. I found a little rubber plug on the back of the gauge. When I pried it gently to one side with a tiny screwdriver the gauge needle returned to zero. Apparently the pressure inside the gauge had got out of kilter, and allowing the pressure to equalize fixed it. If your gauge has a similar plug its worth a try...

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Auto Zone or NAPA.

 

[Louis]

I ordered a new liquid filled gauge. This one was not filled.

I will check the back of it tomorrow and see if it has that plug. At least it might get it to work until I install the new one.

 

[Russ T.]

clean the vac relief...............

How do you clean the vac relief, Jim?


The Clean Machine

 

[Jim Martin]

How do you clean the vac relief, Jim?


The Clean Machine

normally they just unscrew off where they are mounted above the blower....once I get them off I normally take the nuts off the springs and disassemble the entire thing...clean it up really good..little lube/grease...and put it all back together and reset it back to where you want it.......

 

[dealtimeman]

Or you can just put a 2 or 3 pipe cover and drill some holes in it "free flow" as it was coined.

 

[Louis]

I put the new liquid filled vacuum gauge on today. Wow was that other gauge off. Now I want a bigger motor to drive this blower. I have a 22hp kohler with 45 blower. Now you can hear the motor working. Thinking of buying a 25 hp write off before the end of the year.