Water blowing out exhaust of Apex

James N

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I just changed my throttle cable and wanted to make sure it’s set to the right rpm. The original cable was set way to low. 1600rpm full throttle suppose to be 2700. So I put to 2700. Did first job a 2 bedroom apt and seemed ok. Heat great vacuum seems the same. When I was winding up the hoses water started back feeding into my blower causing it to blow smoke and smell. It came out the front of my exhaust also. I cleaned up the blower filter and little belly water pools in my recovery tank and tried it on the next job. Even worse. More water more exhaust. So I had to clean at 1700 rpm. Anyone know what could be the problem ? It’s 9 years old 8000 hours and now issues like this before. Prochem haven’t helped much or my distributor. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
 

Jim Martin

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Off the top of my head......as the water rises in the water tank.... it's getting closer to the blower and it is probably causing a vortex inside the tank and sucking the water into the blower and out the HX....more than likely.. if you dumped often..or ran an APO it would not happen....
 

James N

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It did it on first job. I have a 100 gal recovery. Maybe used 20 gallons of water for the apt. I’ve ran it over 2.5 hours before dumping it on bigger jobs. It’s only happened when I turned the rpms to 2700 what the manual says.
 

Andy

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Is there a baffle or an elbow inside the recovery tank that isn't there right now? With increasing RPM and airflow, with nothing to redirect it, it could easily be sucked right into your blower.
What of type heat exchanger, could that have cracked? You are in the northeast dealing with cold temps.
 

James N

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I have 3 HX no cracks or leaks and it only happens when I’m running it at a higher rpm. 1700rpm no issues. The way my recovery tank is set up I have a 100 gal tank. 2 towers on each end. 1 with the basket filter other with a slide screen blower filter that’s vertical. Behind the blower filter that connects to the blower there is a pool of water is building up when it’s at a higher rpm. The water is getting sucked into the blower but only when I have it to the recommended 2700 rpm. Not at 1600-1700rpm.
 

sassyotto

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Heat great vacuum seems the same.
I owned a Apex so I am very familiar with the machine. But your statements of going from 1600 RPM to 2700 RPM and heat and vacuum stays the same doesnt make sense. If the RPM increases that much you should see a difference in performance somewhere.

Only thing I can think of is what Lee said - the holes in the upper part of the waste tank baffles are clogged.
 

James N

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I only used the machine at the 2700 rpm for 1 job. The heat did seem like it was steady at 230 it was around 23 degrees out and the vacuum seemed the same to me I was running 150 ft run not my usually 100. I couldn’t use it again at that high rpm because the water kept getting sucked back into my blower. Did you ever check what your apex ran at ? 2740 rpm ?
 

sassyotto

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Did you ever check what your apex ran at ?
I took my Apex to Jon Don every year and they make sure its running properly including RPM. I knew what it sounded like (you can hear it run while cleaning at a house) and it was at the same pitch all the while I owned it.
 

James N

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Problem with mine is it was always set at 1700 full rpm from when I first got it 9 years ago. So I only know how that sounds. It had a throttle limiter on it from the factory so it couldn’t go any higher. I never messed with it until I just replaced my throttle cable. That’s when I realized it wasn’t to the right rpm speed. But now that I did this I’m having the recovery water getting sucked through my blower.
 

Cleanworks

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Could be your float switch in the waste tank isn't working. Now that you're running at full capacity, the machine is bypassing a lot more water to the waste tank, causing it to fill up prematurely.
 

James N

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Could be your float switch in the waste tank isn't working. Now that you're running at full capacity, the machine is bypassing a lot more water to the waste tank, causing it to fill up prematurely.
The machine would shut off and I can see in the tank it’s not full. It was less then 1/4 full. The water is being pulled into and past the blower filter and through the blower while running. It never shuts down.
 
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Shane T

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Have checked the baffles as Lee suggested. I had a similar issue with another manufacturer once. They were using a recovery tank that was designed for a much smaller blower. I had to make more openings in the baffles to allow for more equalization of air flow through the tank.
 

BIG WOOD

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The only way that’s possible is if the gasket isn’t lined up correctly and water is being sucked over the middle baffles
 

Dolly Llama

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SWAG.. you're sucking air somewhere lower in the tank to cause turbulence



Problem with mine is it was always set at 1700 full rpm from when I first got it 9 years ago. So I only know how that sounds. It had a throttle limiter on it from the factory so it couldn’t go any higher.

Not familar with the Peak, but they've been around for awhile.
and if they're made to run at 2700 rpm, you have a waste tank problem that needs diagnosed and fixed.

Did you buy it new or used?
and has any mods been done to the tank you know of?

..L.T.A.
 

Jim Pemberton

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Did you buy it new or used?
and has any mods been done to the tank you know of?

I was thinking the same thing. Your description of the recovery tank seems to be different from the one that came with the unit.

Could you post a picture of it for us?
 

James N

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Have checked the baffles as Lee suggested. I had a similar issue with another manufacturer once. They were using a recovery tank that was designed for a much smaller blower. I had to make more openings in the baffles to allow for more equalization of air flow through the tank.
I haven’t I will definitely do that. Like I said it’s worked fine up to now when I replaced the throttle able. And found out it wasn’t set to the correct rpm. It’s frustrating because I believe I’m not getting the most out of the machine. I mean I ran it like this for 8 years but I wish I would have know it was set to the wrong rpm then.
 

James N

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Have checked the baffles as Lee suggested. I had a similar issue with another manufacturer once. They were using a recovery tank that was designed for a much smaller blower. I had to make more openings in the baffles to allow for more equalization of air flow through the tank.
SWAG.. you're sucking air somewhere lower in the tank to cause turbulence





Not familar with the Peak, but they've been around for awhile.
and if they're made to run at 2700 rpm, you have a waste tank problem that needs diagnosed and fixed.

Did you buy it new or used?
and has any mods been done to the tank you know of?

..L.T.A.
I bought it new. 100 gal prochem tank upgrade from the 60. I haven’t done any mods to tank or machine except I use 4 to the door on vacuum hoses.
 

James N

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I was thinking the same thing. Your description of the recovery tank seems to be different from the one that came with the unit.

Could you post a picture of it for us?

7A9AC04D-4C1B-45C5-B149-2C7A8F9512AA.jpeg 2B636595-AB1F-42E3-9F84-E10D0C3750F2.jpeg B7FC17D6-84DA-4113-828A-8BA07A6B179A.jpeg CCFB27B7-1ECC-4FDD-A3AE-0C82380F51F0.jpeg
 

steve_64

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Sounds like the extra airflow is pulling water either directly to your blower or pulling it off the bottom of waste tank. It would explain why you didn't experience better vacuum at the wand.
Just run it where it was set before. The extra Rpms will reduce the life of certain parts like belts and bearings.
 

Andy

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I noticed on your lint basket one end is perforated and the side is not. If the other side is not perforated turn your lint basket so that the solid side is facing the outlet side of the tank. That will force the air down instead of going towards your blower.

The difference in how the machine ran before and is running now is that you have more air movement. The more air is causing the problem, figure out why then you can solve the problem. So stop thinking about what it did before and focus on what it is doing now.
 
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James N

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Sounds like the extra airflow is pulling water either directly to your blower or pulling it off the bottom of waste tank. It would explain why you didn't experience better vacuum at the wand.
Just run it where it was set before. The extra Rpms will reduce the life of certain parts like belts and bearings.
I might have to. But it’s a beast of a machine and if I can’t get what it’s suppose to give me it’s a waste.
I noticed on your lint basket one end is perforated and the side is not. If the other side is not perforated turn your lint basket so that the solid side is facing the outlet side of the tank. That will force the air down instead of going towards your blower.

The difference in how the machine ran before and is running now is that you have more air movement. The more air is causing the problem, figure out why then you can solve the problem. So stop thinking about what it did before and focus on what it is doing now.
basket is solid on both ends. More air is being caused by higher rpm which is The correct rpm for the machine. Before it didn’t suck water through the blower at the wrong rpm and now it does.
 

Andy

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More air is being caused by higher rpm which is The correct rpm for the machine
If you want to run your machine at a lower RPM then do it. If not then you need to figure out how to disrupt the airflow in your tank so that it will dump the water in the tank and not carry it to the outlet port.
 

James N

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That’s why I posted this question. I want to run it at the proper operating speed and get the most from the machine. And I can’t figure out why it’s getting sucked back into the blower.
 

Cleanworks

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You're going to have to look at some one else's similar machine and see what the difference is. Could be a simple as having a 90 degree elbow inside the tank redirecting the incoming flow.
 

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