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Volvo FL E-Pumps


CaptainFlack

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GMFRS are in the process of replacing their fleet with newer, greener, modern appliances. That modern in fact, all the pump controls and ancillary equipment are operated from a TV screen at the back door via a simple push of a button. You want 5 bar on a branch? No problem just hit the button and it's there within a matter of seconds. It is so advanced that if you have 2 branches working and suddenly shut one down it will compensate the flow and pressure so the person on the other branch doesn't notice a thing.! Quite remarkable really.

As a proud member of the original playstation generation I embrace new technology and never a luddite but part of me feels maybe for this instance we have gone too far.?

The screen is the lifeline for the truck and more importantly the firefighters. There are no extra gauges around the back of the pump above the deliveries should the screen suddenly fail. No overriding mechanical lever to adjust the throttle.

I'm sure the designers, mechanics and indeed the brigade have tested every scenario to the Nth degree before putting a vehicle out there but what happens to the noble art of pumping? It's a skill all on it's own, taking years to fully learn and understand. Every firefighter who has walked through the door knows never to take your eye off the pump or the man where the water is flowing but these new pumps seem to take all that away. Learning how the compound gauge works lifting from open water. Looking and listening for overdrawn supplies will no longer need to be taught as the machine will do all this before you even think about it. "Just press a button and watch the readout, it does everything for you" - Yesterday we did a drill in the yard involving an open water supply, lengths hauled aloft and working from the tower and a make shift ground monitor in the open and me being the pump operator talking with my WM of the next steps, what happens if this stops working and signs I should be looking out for whilst being at the back. However if our station had one of these new pumps I'm sure pressing 3 buttons would be sufficient and it's a case of standing back and watching the machine do it's part, trusting that any errors would be soon resolved by the computer.

How do those in other brigades feel about the new e-pumps, that have them? Are they as good as they say they are? Have you had any screen failures? 

Maybe I'm Saul on the way to Damascus and need to be converted.

Either way I'm glad that I have 2 traditional pumps on my station at the moment 

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Who is the pump manufacturer ?  We have rosenbauer sounds the same, hit the button does it for you, so far no pump failures, and when we had a potential failure with cooling loop not being engaged, if gently shut itself down, so as not run the pump dry, however it does dump large amounts of water through the thermal cut out if you havent got it engaged, which it didnt come as standard set up, we have reconfigured the computer to remove human error.

The pump is mega efficient, triple stage impeller on HP side. When you look at the power curve on the literature,  nothing we have ever had before comes close.

I like it, some don't !

Yes you are right, some of the old skills are not required- is the the old pumping a skill we need to retain, only time will tell.

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Sounds very much like an Emergency One "standard" appliance, Volvo FL chassis, plastic composite body, Godiva pump and e pump control. We've had them for a number of years and got to say I like it. Can't recall any major problems with them. You can use in a more traditional manual form if you wish without using the presets.

If you also have the latest Smart Cafs screen as well, an old school pump operator, would probably take one look into the pump bay and close the doors, which even LFB fit now.🤣

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Couldn’t we say the same about lots of other things now consigned to history? I remember my first Dennis appliance was a manual and to engage the pto was via a sliding gate. Forever losing the prime and quite a handful at times. 

Why retain skills we no longer need? 

 

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A proper pump operator doesn't bother with gauges, so take them away and save money and weight.

Simply tread down on the hose and as long as the soft suction is as hard as the delivery hose, the job's a good un :)

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23 hours ago, Keith said:

Sounds very much like an Emergency One "standard" appliance, Volvo FL chassis, plastic composite body, Godiva pump and e pump control. We've had them for a number of years and got to say I like it. Can't recall any major problems with them. You can use in a more traditional manual form if you wish without using the presets.

If you also have the latest Smart Cafs screen as well, an old school pump operator, would probably take one look into the pump bay and close the doors, which even LFB fit now.🤣

They are indeed Emergency One machines with the Godiva pump. I'm detached into a station that has one tonight and had a chat with a few of the personnel about it. Some like it, some don't - the tv screen at the back is the least of their worries when you get chatting to them!

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Common with most appliances these days weather it be built by Emergency One, Angloco or Rosenbauer. 

Personally I think its over the top, I've raised it before on here I think, nothing wrong with touch and feel.  I have known a number of them lock up and be unable to deliver water at an incident, never had that before.  Yeah they might look good but why do you need something so over the top for such a simple task and has been done the manual ways for years with no issues.

Why do you need a computer to deliver water when you can turn open the delivery by hand.  

Sorry for anyone that disagrees but its a case of technology too far.

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Hope I not divulging state secrets posting this picture but for those who don't quite understand what we're talking about, see the pic below.

Diaphragm or bourdon tube compound gauge anyone ??

20190829_192345.jpg

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@Matt we live in a world now where everything is ‘fly by wire’. E-pumps are just conforming to this trend as it delivers arguably more efficient results. Yes there are pitfalls with such technology but let’s not pretend that old pumps were perfect by design.

I was at a high rise incident recently where I did question in my mind why the initial crews had chosen the ‘05 plate pump to charge the riser when there was a brand new (and far more capable) pump sat right behind it. 

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