Alky Control Pump Losing Pressure FYI

[StealBlueSho]

Ran into a weird issue and Julio over alky assisted with getting things back on track.. just thought I would do a brain dump incase anyone else runs into a similar issue..

Symptom: Stopped building pressure and the LED would cycle red/green even though there were no leaks and the pump was getting a full 14V DC according to my voltmeter. The pump would build pressure for a run or two as I upped the voltage but it would then stop building pressure again.

Solution: According to Julio to pump needed more power to establish pressure. I originally had the initial set to around 11:30 and gain set to 6.5. Also ran into the same problem with initial set to 12:00 and the gain set to 6.5. After some trouble shooting this seems to have fixed the problem.

-Moved pump down about 2 inches.
-Backed out the Allen head screw a 1/4 turn, this sits at the head of the pump.
-Adjusted the initial to 12:45ish on the PAC
-Adjusted the gain to around 4.7.

End Result: I was now able to repeatedly get the system to build pressure with the test button on the gain controller. So far after several run I am able to maintain pressure successfully.

Questions: Why would the pump settings have been good for over a month all of sudden need so much tweaking? I am still at loss on this one. Thank goodness I wasn't running a tune that relied on the meth for fuel to prevent a major knock situation.

[ZSHO]

Did you try to purge the kit to get any air out?  Z

[StealBlueSho]

Did you try to purge the kit to get any air out?  Z

Yes, tore the front end off and inspected the setup front to back. No loose ground connections or positive connections. All meth lines in the high and low pressure side were air tight with no leaks. It acted almost like either the diaphragm was torn inside the pump or my electrical system was slowly loosing voltage...

Alt and battery both checked out ok.

Not sure why the changes Julio had me make worked but they did. The only 2 things that were honestly changed was the pressure screw on the top of the meth pump and I dropped the pump a couple inches from it previous location.

Adjusting the initial and gain are really just chasing after each other.. I upped the initial and dropped the gain. Which in theory is spraying the same amount of meth..


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[StealBlueSho]

Julio who is by far an away one of the nicest guys I have had the privilege of working with said that each car is slightly different... so my current setting are within the normal range he has seen.


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[jims2015]

Julio who is by far an away one of the nicest guys I have had the privilege of working with said that each car is slightly different... so my current setting are within the normal range he has seen.


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Totally agree. He was always there on the phone whenever I had a question and was generous with his time giving explanations.

[bpd1151]

Couple of things......

Meth pumps (all of them, regardless of mfg'er) have a "duty cycle". The pumps typically last 2.5-3yrs in duration. So keep that in mind as it relates to the diaphragm in the pump.

Regardless of no leaks, and being tight as you say, air can still be introduced into the lines, as a result of filling your supply tank/source for meth. Not a lot, but it can/will.

Also, not sure how you verified alt/battery were/are ok, but I have seen on my application, if I drop to a flat 13.0 volts or less (I monitor voltage in my application due to massive audio upgrades) then the system will alternate red/green as you've described.

So the above may all be contributing issues that caused your experience.

Glad Julio was able to rectify it for you though and I will echo same sentiments expressed by you and others, in that Julio is (& has) ALWAYS been super helpful.

I worked with him directly to come up with the check valve for our application many years ago.

Enjoy your ride on the Meth train.

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[jbeez]

Have you recently installed a large stereo system?

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[StealBlueSho]

I took the car to the shop to have the battery and alternator checked. It's a free service. They hook it up and test it...

No stereo systems. All stock in that regard.


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[StealBlueSho]

Couple of things......

Meth pumps (all of them, regardless of mfg'er) have a "duty cycle". The pumps typically last 2.5-3yrs in duration. So keep that in mind as it relates to the diaphragm in the pump.

Regardless of no leaks, and being tight as you say, air can still be introduced into the lines, as a result of filling your supply tank/source for meth. Not a lot, but it can/will.

Also, not sure how you verified alt/battery were/are ok, but I have seen on my application, if I drop to a flat 13.0 volts or less (I monitor voltage in my application due to massive audio upgrades) then the system will alternate red/green as you've described.

So the above may all be contributing issues that caused your experience.

Glad Julio was able to rectify it for you though and I will echo same sentiments expressed by you and others, in that Julio is (& has) ALWAYS been super helpful.

I worked with him directly to come up with the check valve for our application many years ago.

Enjoy your ride on the Meth train.

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All very good information! Thank you.


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[ZSHO]

FWIW -would also have a Battery Parasitic Draw Test performed to verify all the modules are going to sleep and all. Z

http://youtu.be/ES-rjFfuxq4