Hobart AM14 losing pressure during rinse

[mrwebbin]

Hey guys,


I am working on a Hobart AM14 and the things runs great except during fill and rinse when the fill valve/solenoid opens the water pressure drops from 25 psi to 15psi then 10psi within 2 seconds. I have tried adjusting the Watts water pressure regulator (model say 10-40 psi) when the solenoid is open and I still can't get it to 20psi. There seems to be no leaks in the the piping. when the solenoid closes and rinse stops the pressure slowly sneaks back to 25psi. Any ideas?

PS this machine is set for chemical and no heat booster.



thanks

shawn

[EjBreeze]

Your description sounds like a classic failing regulator. The flow is reduced from usually scale build up and dirt.

[mrwebbin]

Ej,



So I changed the water pressure regulator twice now and same thing. It doesn't matter if i set the regulator to 75psi or 20psi when the rinse solenoid/fill valve is closed, it will still drop down to 15psi then 10-11psi within 2 seconds when the machine goes into rinse or fill and the solenoid is open. Any ideas? can the water pressure just be low at only 11psi when the tap is open or could it be the fill/rinse solenoid or anything else? any help would be appreciated. This thing is driving me nuts!!!



Thanks

shawn

[EjBreeze]

Did you check the line strainer or any check valves inline with the solenoid? Have you taken the solenoid apart to check scale/dirt conditions?

[mrwebbin]

ej,

line strainer was on the pressure regulator and its clean cause its new. also the solenoid is old, but it magnitizes just fine and lets the wAter in.... i did open it and its crudy but not really dirty... also how can the solenoid contribute to water pressure loss? i figure as long is there is water flow through it it should be fine right ?

shawn

[mrwebbin]

ej,

can the solenoid be opening up too much and reducing the pressure?

[EjBreeze]

I don't think you have a pressure problem rather a flow problem since your static pressure after the regulator is reading 25 psi. I think I would want to start removing these fittings to see what is restricting the flow. Please clarify do you have rinse pressure? Is your rinse arms spinning?

[mrwebbin]

Ej,

There was a crap load of hard water build up in the fittings which I opened up and cleaned out and still had the problem. I changed the vacuum breaker housing, water pressure regulator, and all the pipes are clean. the only thing I didn't change out was the solenoid. I get fill water when the solenoid opens and it takes about 3 minutes for the machine to fill. Also during rinse the bottom spin arm spins slowly and the top one barely moves if that. Any ideas what I should check next? Any possibility this glow problem could be from the solenoid? But even so would that drop pressure like it's doing?

[EjBreeze]

When you had the regulator off did you open up the water line to visually inspect the flow?

[mrwebbin]

Hmm no I didn't you think it might be a flow problem before the regulator ?

[EjBreeze]

You need to identify were the problem is. You have looked at the obvious. This will tell you what direction the problem lies.

[mrwebbin]

Ej,

Thanks I will start looking again come Monday. I'll keep you updated. Thanks again for your help.

[chrldwlf]

So we are loosing pressure, rinse arms are not spinning but the unit fills up within a semi reasonable amount of time.....Have your chemicals eaten a hole in one of the inner rinse pipes? This would explain the pressure loss and the reasonable fill time. I start with pulling the rinse arms off and inspecting the pipes and the jets for obstructions. Then I pull the upper inner rinse pipe and inspect for obstructions. Then I pull the guts out of the solenoid and check for improvement. I have locations where I have had to pull the regulator to achieve correct rinse pressure, particularly where hard water is choking old plumbing....

[Den-Batch]

Sounds to me like the booster heater is full of scale.

[saltnew1]

If you set the reg for 75 psi and only get 15psi flow pressure then the problem is before the regulator not after.

[mrwebbin]

for someone in the future. It ended up being flow issue.

mrewbbin

[VanMan812]

I love a happy ending Even if it took us five years to get there

[mdhomeservices]

I have same issue. Where was the flow problem at? The supply plumbing or the dishwasher? I have 45 psi at the faucet. Regulator is all the way in.

[Turtleman]

I had intermittent issues with a building at dishwasher, sodas , juice and coffee machines, could not duplicate the issue standing at the equipment.
then one return call, used the restroom there was a stuck flush kit on the toilet, just dumping water. Needless to say that is where I start on water flow problems.

[flangatang7]

Yep quite possibly!

Have you opened up all the wash and rinse solenoids?
You can get repair kits for them.