Setting up the Dredge Engine

Something that is important to keep in mind is that all new engines are delivered without fluids. In other words they do not have any gas or oil in them. The manufacturers are usually very careful about highlighting this factor in bold face type however, it is important you know this before hand. If you have acquired you dredge from a friend etc, make sure you check it too because there might not be any oil or gas in it either.

Almost all modern engines that are used on dredges do not need any break in or only need a little bit and this can in most cases be done under the load of a pump. Make sure you talk to the manufacturer about this though especially if there have been any problems because of improper break in as this is probably an issue the manufacturer has had to deal with before.

After the engine is on and the pump is primed, the going is very quick. Once the centrifugal pump starts discharging the jet is set up and the jet pump begins to pull water through the suction tube. There are certain jet pumps that need to be primed however, before going over that we should go over something else that consists of the final check on setting up the jet.

The first check should consist on examining the discharge of the pressure box through the sluice. If everything is running smoothly and as it should it will fill the sluice around two thirds of the way and will be moving at a good rate. (However this differs if the suction tube needs to be primed and only the jet is flowing through the pressure box, so this needs to be done before measuring the amount of water through the sluice).

If the water is not flowing in the right amount and velocity, or if it stops almost right away, the pump will need to be primed again or the engine will need to be turned off so it can get checked. When this occurs there is not any time to look for anything else, you should focus on either getting the water running by priming it again or simply shut the engine down.

If the water is going through the sluice at a good speed, you can presume that things are running smoothly and that the pump is obtaining enough water in order to lubricate and that it will not become damaged. After this you can then move on to the next part of the inspection and this has to do with the high pressure hose.

Right before, you took care of priming the pump, the intake hose, pump and high pressure hose contained air. Any gas or air is the worse thing for a centrifugal pump that has been created to pump a liquid. So before the centrifugal pump can start to produce the results you were expecting, all of the air will need to be evacuated. There are a number of manufacturers that suggest loosening the clamps of the high pressure hose so that the air is able to escape. However, we do not suggest doing this and there are some reasons for this.