Watern Pump Problems

I don't seem to be getting the pump to get water into the boiler. (and at first I couldn't get the injector to work either, resulting in hurried dropping of the fire!).

I found that the measurements given for the check valve clearances and settings, both pump and injector, didn't add up and I adjusted accordingly. That got the injector working, but still no joy with the pump.

I have taken the pump off to check it, blown air through all the connecting pipes to make sure there are no blockages and now examining the pump to see if I've assembled that correctly.

I followed the instructions but I do wonder how critical the ball bearing spacing is, can anyone advise please,
Are there any other tricks of the trade to make the pump work?

I remember with my previous engine, a STW Agri, if the check valve was closed the engine would stop, such was the power of the pump and with a bit of water hammer you can feel confident that its working, but no such luck so far with my DCC.

So I would be pleased to hear of anyone else's experience with this matter, thank you....

First things first: does the pump work in the first place? i.e with the delivery pipe removed (connector loosened is enough) there should be water coming out of the connection, means the pump does work.  Else check the suction pipe if all the connections are air tight. You might consider adding copper rings as additionsl seal, maybe softened by heating.

With Pied Piper it took me several trys to get it working, this winter I replaced the SS balls by hard rubber balls (Grafsil) as I assumed the seats are not 100%. Now it seems a lot better, the pump easily keeps up the water level in the boiler up to a point of overfilling.

Never tried to stop the engine as you did with your agri   so I cannot say.

Hope this helps

Elwood

Yes as Elwood says, pull the delivery pipe off the clack and see whats going on, it should pump just by turning it over by hand, if not try and pop a bit of tube on the delivery pipe and "suck" the water through and then see if it will pump by itself.

I know the agri after a winter lay up can need a bit of coaxing, normally its a air lock in the delivery pipe.

Hi, I've also been having pump issues, but hopefully sorted, My findings are,
When supplied the cross drilled passage between the pump chamber and the outlet side was missing, all sorted by STW, but worth checking,
I found the isolating valve was blocked in the clack valve restricting flow,
The bypass valve was passing water so got very reduced flow into the boiler.
Hope this helps

Well, after several goes of checking pipes (I thought!) checking the pump and the adjustment of the ball valve clearance then checking the Check Valves and their clearances (which did need some adjustment) the only thing left was the feed pipe in the tender tank. I had sort of forgotten about this part, being tucked away below the "floor". Anyway when I took it out at first it looked ok but on closer inspection I could see that the brass sealing ring fitted to the pipe on the connector to the pump inlet was not fully soldered and when I put it in a bowl and blew into it bubbles came out. So the pump was sucking in air - no wonder it didn't perform! I reflowed the solder, retested it in my bowl and it seemed ok. Steamed the engine yesterday and lo and behold it worked!! In fact before I knew it the engine was priming because the boiler was getting too full - that's a problem with living on a slope, you're never quite sure if the water gauge is telling the truth. Anyway, much relieved to have solved it, and now I can progress to getting the boiler inspector to do his job and get a boiler certificate. After that it will be get it registered for the road. Anyway grateful the comments here on the forum and from the various folk I have spoken to at rallies.    Note to STW - please inspect your pipework before delivery.