ECM Mechanika III Possible Pump or Air Problem?

#1: Post by **DerSnap** » February 12th, 2015, 1:10 pm

Greetings,
I have my ECM Mechanika and lately when pulling shots it has been a bit loud. On top of this the actual pump gauge has been bouncing all over so fast you can see it till the point it broke the needle. I suspect either the adjustment for the pump pressure could be off or the valve to allow air in the line. Problem is I can not find any literature on these valves and how they are adjusted. I can spot them easily enough but ECM won't share the information.

Anyone?

At the very least it looks like I will now need to purchase a new gauge

#2: Post by **ira** » February 12th, 2015, 1:22 pm

A gage should see a damped signal, commonly this happens because the pipes are set up so a column of air is trapped between the gage and the source. If that air got bled out and the water reached all the way to the gage you might see that kind of result.

Ira

February 12th, 2015, 3:31 pm

I sort of thought the gauge was on the water line? Will have to double check, but the air is most suspect in this case..

#4: Post by **ira** » February 12th, 2015, 7:17 pm

I was just looking at a picture of the insides of another machine, in that one there was a large coil of thin copper tube between the gage and the the connection, that coil of tubing keeps the water from ever getting to the gage. You can see that in picture 3 on this page:

https://www.chriscoffee.com/Cimbali-Jun ... junior.htm

The gage needle flying around like that should mean it was seeing those pressure fluctuations and the only time I've see that was when I bled the line to the oil pressure gage on the dash of my Lotus. Draining all the oil and letting it fill back up with air solved the problem.

Ira

February 14th, 2015, 2:52 pm

So I pulled the gauge and it is running clear water with pressure straight through the thin copper.
No air.

I am wondering if it is really a pump issue but I can't seem to figure out which adjustment on this setup should adjust pressure and air flow?

Anyone seen anything similar?

I know the white plastic hose is coming off the pump,
The skinny thing copper tube is going to the pump gauge.
Going straight up is the water return that goes back into the water reservoir.

Valves:

Pump On Right: