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25MAR10 - When I learned about "cycle stop valves" last year, I knew it would help our irrigation well pump so this spring I installed one. The name, "Cycle Stop Valve" is a copyright for the first outfit to invent and market one a few decades ago and mine isn't a true CSV, it's a product from another manufacturer who created their own product once the patent time period expired.
Nonetheless, the original name conveys the exact purpose of the device, i.e., to stop pumps from cycling. This cycling occurs when the demand on the pump is less than its maximum output so pressure gradually increases until it hits the cut OFF pressure of the pump control. Then, as demand depletes the water in the bladder tank, the pressure eventually begins to drop until it finally reaches the cut ON pressure and the pump starts. This cycling is not only detrimental to the pump but, the resulting pressure variance causes the radii of sprinkler heads to vary.
So, the flow control valve pictured here (brass fitting with black dome,) uses a spring-controlled orifice that increases or decreases volume to maintain a constant pressure and the result is that the pump runs continuously. And now, I not only have higher pressure at the sprinkler heads but, it's a constant pressure and they spray to their maximum radii all the time. |
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