Concrete pump hopper cleaning is an essential and important step after pumping, a good cleaning method can clean the pipeline, but also can transport all the concrete in the pipeline to the pouring site, not only does not waste concrete, but also economic and environmental protection. There are three commonly used washing methods for pumps with S Tube Valve, which are described as follows.
Dismantle discharge pipe method
1) After pumping the concrete, reverse pump 1 to 2 cycles to eliminate the pressure in the conveying pipe. If you pump upward, you must first close the stop valve to prevent the concrete backflow, and then remove the discharge pipe.
2) Open the discharge door in hopper, and the reverse pump will wash the concrete in the distribution valve, concrete cylinder and hopper.
3) Take out some of the concrete at the mouth of the first 6B or 5B conveying pipe and plug the water-soaked cleaning ball or cylindrical cleaning piston into it.
4) Close the discharge door of the distributing valve, open it if there is a stop valve, and pump water until the piston is pumped out from the output end of the conveying pipe.
Advantages and disadvantages of dismantle discharge pipe
Advantages : The pipe cleaning is cleaner, the flow rate of the water source can be lower and can be suspended.
Disadvantages: It is difficult to connect the discharge port again after disassembling, laborious.
Piston method
1) Roll 10 to 20 cement bags into a cylinder with a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the conveying cylinder, with a slightly pointed head and a length of about 400mm, tie it with fine iron wire, and lightly tie the cleaning ball with iron wire at the tail of the cylinder, and soak it with water.
2) After pumping the concrete, reverse pump 1 to 2 cycles, eliminate the pressure in the conveying pipe, and press the button to make the concrete cylinder piston retreat to the last point. If it is pumped upward and there is a stop valve, it must be closed first to prevent concrete backflow.
3) Remove the discharge pipe, open the hopper discharge door, and flush the concrete in the distribution valve, concrete cylinder and hopper with the reverse pump.
4) Close the hopper discharge door, add water to the hopper, when the water is added to 2/3 of the diameter of the concrete cylinder, load the cylinder head towards the direction of the distribution valve, and use a wooden pry bar with a length of about 1m and a diameter of about 30mm to hold the cylinder, and continue to add water to the height of the center line of the mixing shaft.
5) Remove the pry bar, quickly start pumping, and continue to add water until the cylinder is pumped out from the output end of the conveying tube.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages: The pipe cleaning is cleaner, the flow rate of the water source can be lower, and also can be suspended, and reduce the trouble of disconnecting the outlet and bending the pipe.
Disadvantages: High operation requirements, the distribution valve is easy to cut off the cylinder.
Add water directly
1) Check the wear between the cutting ring and the eye plate. If there is no serious wear between the cutting ring and the eye plate, the distance between the cutting ring and the eye plate is less than 0.1mm, and there is no groove over 1mm between them, you can directly add the water.
2) After pumping the concrete, pump a certain proportion , then fill the distribution valve with water, start pumping, and send the affordable pump to the pouring site until the output end of the conveying pipe flows out of water. If the pipe is short and the cleaning effect is good, the cleaning processwill be ended.
3) When the pipe is long or the cleaning effect is not good, open the hopper discharge door, open the reverse pump, and wash the hopper and distribution valve. If the pump is pumped upwards and the height is greater than 20m, use a wooden hammer to tap the bottom bend of the vertical part. If the tapping sound is low, disassemble the bend and pour out the large aggregate that may be stored.
4) Close the discharge door and pump water until water flows out from the output end of the conveying pipe.
Advantages: no need to remove the outlet pipe and add cleaning ball, saving time, easy to pump successfully, especially convenient for cleaning short pipelines.
Disadvantages:
1. The water consumption is large and the pump water must be continuous, and the water is easy to be placed at the pouring site;
2. If there is a vertical upward pipeline, it is usually necessary to diselbow the pipe;
3. When the pipeline is long, there is easy residue in the pipeline;
4. Strict requirements on the sealing of the distribution valve.
The above three kinds of washing methods of concrete pump have advantages and disadvantages, of which the most reliable is the Dismantle discharge pipe method, the simplest is the piston method. If the transport distance is short, the direct water method is a good choice. The specific method should be determined according to the actual situation of construction, in short, it should be effective and economical.