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Update: That day on the Willamette when the suction line jammed solid
We were pulling gravel near Portland, running steady for hours. Then the pump started screaming and the pressure gauge spiked past 80 psi in a second. Shut it down, pulled the line, and found a solid plug of clay and roots about fifteen feet in. We spent half the day cutting it out with a sawzall. Now I'm debating... do you guys run a camera down the line as a regular check, or just wait for the telltale signs and react? What's your move?
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singh.wren5mo ago
You mentioned the pressure gauge spiked past 80 psi. That's actually the relief valve setting on a lot of pumps, so if it went past that, your relief might be stuck shut, which is a whole other scary problem. I'd get that checked before you run again. On the camera thing, we only use one after a major clog to check for line damage. Waiting for signs works, but that relief valve is your main safety, so that reading has me worried.
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willow6725mo ago
Respectfully, I've seen gauges read high without the relief valve actually failing.
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the_dylan5mo ago
Yeah, a stuck relief valve is the scary part of that high reading.
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