couple question on alcohol

michael evans

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Talked to Julio about the off season and how to make the pump last longer.

His thought was to remove all the M1 and fill the tank part way with window wash fluid (blue alcohol fluid ) and activate the pump until it come out of the pump.

Is it because it is less corrosive than M1 ?

The other question I forgot to ask him was: When testing the pump does the needle alway jump like it did when testing my new pump ?

When I tested the new pump from Alkycontrol following the directions, the needle was jumping from 110 to 120 psi fast.
 
Washer fluid has far lower concentration of methanol also if there is a little left in it mixes right in. The needle will jump around quite a bit with undamped gage. Just need a good idea where you’re at and then watch for any drop.
 
More testing today looks like I need to replace the gauge.


Video-
 

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My gauge did that also. Brand new first time I used it. I just deal with it. Never contacted Julio about it.
 
I would be curious myself to the reason to put the washer fluid in for winter storage versus just leaving the M1 in there all winter. I left my reservoir full all last winter with the same alcohol I run all summer and didn't have any issues come spring time.
 
I would be curious myself to the reason to put the washer fluid in for winter storage versus just leaving the M1 in there all winter. I left my reservoir full all last winter with the same alcohol I run all summer and didn't have any issues come spring time.


I was trying to look at ways to get the pump to last longer.
 
I get all that...just wondering how the washer fluid would make it last longer during storage over just keeping the standard alcohol in the reservoir. That was it.

I need to send out my back up pump to Julio for a rebuild this winter so it's ready to go when needed.
 
Everyone thought was that it is less corrosive on the pump while it is just sitting there. But enough to keep the system from drying out.
 
Use some windshield washer fluid. Simple. I siphon out the alky and then just add a third of tank of ww fluid. Run the tester and you're good. Come spring just siphon out the ww fluid and fill with M1. The pump pulses are not linear so you will see the pulses in the gauge. I've looked a dampers for the alky pump line but haven't found one that can resist M1 and pressure the line sees. There was a company that had an alky system that did have a damper on but they went out of business and I couldn't find what part number or manufacturer the damper was.
 
are you talking about an inline pump dampner if so they have brass ones for 85 bucks, funny i use the same shurflo pumps most alky kits use on my spot sprayers 90 bucks have the viton valves and the santoprene diaphrams
i have also used a simple pvc pressure reducing valve which helps keep my spayers evev and smoother flow so the pump isnt kicking on and off so much just a thought
 
Yes, I've looked at the brass ones. They are meant for water lines. They don't say they are resistant to alcohol or the pressure. Radiant makes a pulse damper but they aren't rated for that much pressure either.
 
i meant to say a constant flow control valve, will bring your 60 psi down to 30 psi thats what i use on my spot spraying wands , ill look more into the dampner at my chemical pumps suppliers
 
yeah i dont know what psi yall run your alky at or what is the norm or what type of nozzles you guys use which is critical just trying to help with the pulsing problem and helping maintain the life of the pump
 
But 30 psi boost and 30 psi of methanol = no net flow. Not good.
dont quite underatnd that, if you spray a liquid into a pipe that has 30 psi of air going through it the liquid is still there depending on the volume of liquid, i bet the nozzles you guys use have a pretty big droplet size to deal with the boos pressure
 
To have flow something has to have higher pressure. Say I have 2 tires one big and one small both have 30 psi in them. If we connect them with an air hose there will be no flow. Its equalized. If one had 100 psi it would flow then obviously. You need a lot of alky pressure to get flow at higher boost levels.
 
not really the same situation because there is already flow in the system going into intake ,like if you had and air hose going into a bucket or just into the air its flowing and you took some water and injected it into the air hose at a lower psi its not going to come out ??? , but gas and liquid are different forms of matter right ,different physical properties,
I do get that you need more volume of alky at higher boost pressures so it doesn't get atomized right, but higher pressure does give you more volume of liquid (alky) the 60 to 30 was just an example and not meant to be what the system actually preforms best at, another question is does the alky spray constantly or is it spurts , then the psi of the spray is only momentary
the tire analogy is in a closed system
 
30 psi of boost is trying to push the alky back to the pump. So the first 30 psi the pump makes has no flow it has just broken even. After 30 psi you will get flow. This is in my example of a turbo car running 30 psi. The tire analogy is true.
 
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