Sprayer question of the day

[Hamloc]

2015 Case ih 4440 sprayer with Aim Command pro. Square field full tank sprays out to 1270 gallons. Field with many obstacles like creek, sloughs, oil leases full tank sprays out 1325-1330. Using 06 nozzles. 8-9 gallons per acre depending on field size. New product pump, about 10-12 hours on it. New flow meter with 150 hours on it. Had one wire harness from boom to sprayed was assembled with stretched wires has been repaired. Less than 2200 hrs on sprayer. Any thoughts?

[furrowtickler]

Liquid cal numbers off a bit ?

[biglentil]

I’d bet on air getting into the suction side or flowmeter during rough/obstacle spraying. Can you hear pump cavitation?

[poorboy]

Do you have a recirculating boom? I have a deere sprayer with the nozzle ninja boom recirculation and I forget to flip the switch to spray it puts spray out the nozzles and measures the recirculation product both through the flow meter.

The Case sprayer that I had would often count high at times also. I wondered if it was foam and the flow meter spun real fast at the end when is started sucking in the foam/water mix.

[Hamloc]

Poor boy yes I have the boom recirc system from nozzle ninja, was installed before I bought it. Yes the switch in the cab is off and I manually close the valve at the back. The difference in total volume between a square field and a more complicated field has been replicated about 4 times each. As far as the cal number was input to match the new flow meter when it was installed. I discussed with my tech guy the possibility of the turn comp calculation in the computer being off and whether there was a software update. He asked if the Pro 700 was using the radar or gps for speed. I told him radar. Has been set to gps now but weather hasn’t cooperated to try it. Also noteworthy we use rangepoint gps as opposed to Waas.

[LEP]

It might be how your look ahead is set for sectional control. More obstacles means more area of potential overlap.

[Hamloc]

It might be how your look ahead is set for sectional control. More obstacles means more area of potential overlap.

Yes I discussed look on and look off with the tech guy. There are settings for both in both the Pro 700 and aim command monitor. No doubt in a square field there are less times this comes in to play. Certainly speed sensitive as well. Easier to set look on and look off on a seed drill than a sprayer. I was wondering what the default settings were.

[poorboy]

Speed or sectional timing should only increase the area sprayed. Volume sprayed should remain consistent between loads.

It is either no pressure after the flow meter and it races when the boom fills or air/foam being sucked in and causing it to read higher.

Maybe you need to turn your sparge down or off sooner in those cut up small run fields as you might be getting more sloshing and more foam at say the last 400 gallons vs 200 gallons in a field with longer runs

[biglentil]

Did the problem start after the new pump was installed or was the new pump installed in an attempt to solve the problem? Did it get worse or better? If its a new problem, might want to recheck their work, if not when did the problem begin? Cracked fitting, loose clamp, improper seal alignment, boom recirc recounting.......unlikely to be software unless maybe monkey'd with? Sounds like flow meter is seeing air, depending on the amount of sparge better or worse? foamy? any drips? did you tighten every hose clamp? inspect every fitting and hose? Maybe froze this winter and hairline crack? Focus on the suction side. Are you verifying the siteglass on the tank matches the tank level on your screen before and during you job? Sounds like your Cal number is too low adjust up by the same percentage amount its over counting. Its detective work, like trying to diagnose a wiring issue without being there.

[Hamloc]

Did the problem start after the new pump was installed or was the new pump installed in an attempt to solve the problem? Did it get worse or better? If it’s a new problem, might want to recheck their work, if not when did the problem begin? Cracked fitting, loose clamp, improper seal alignment, boom recirc recounting.......unlikely to be software unless maybe monkey'd with? Sounds like flow meter is seeing air, depending on the amount of sparge better or worse? foamy? any drips? did you tighten every hose clamp? inspect every fitting and hose? Maybe froze this winter and hairline crack? Focus on the suction side. Are you verifying the siteglass on the tank matches the tank level on your screen before and during you job? Sounds like your Cal number is too low adjust up by the same percentage amount it’s over counting. It’s history detective work, like trying to diagnose a wiring issue without being there.

Quick history. Bought the sprayer last July. I have had issues with the sprayer under applying since I bought it. Talked to previous owners a couple weeks after purchase and they had the same issues and never found a solution. They had installed the recirc system but couldn’t remember if the problem existed before they installed it. One day I was changing fields, lowered the booms and the pump quit, raised the booms it would start again. Determined one of the wiring harnesses was assembled with some of the wires stretched, it worked much better after fixing that except I still had the same problem as today where field shape affected application rate.

The new pump was installed because the 90* fitting going into the pressure sensor had washed out causing a leak. There wasn’t enough threads left in the washed out casting to put in a new fitting. I could have just replaced the housing but with over 2000 hours I elected to replace the whole pump. I haven’t found any hairline cracks and applications rate is consistent with last fall. As I mentioned I changed the speed source from radar to gps. Sprayed first field that way last night. Made the problem worse. Out by 6% now instead of 3%. So I will go back to radar and start playing with the Cal number for the flow meter. This in my opinion still won’t solve why in odd shaped curvy fields the sprayer under applies at 3-4% and on square fields it under applies at roughly 1 to 1.5%. As I read that one would assume this is a look on look off problem or a turn compensation problem or a combination. What does everybody set their look ahead and look back(I think it is called) on their Pro 700? Both of mine are set at 22 feet. On my aim command console look on is set at .5 seconds(line 30 I believe) and line 31 is set at 4 meters. Thanks.