Mike Blanchard writes:

> I'm having a problem with the carbonator. Once I pressurize the
> system with CO2 up to 80psi as the manual suggests, the carbonator
> pump won't pump the water into the C/W tank.

Unclear. The pump motor doesn't run? It runs but doesn't pump? It
works properly when the CO2 is off?

> I've also noticed that i I don't pressurize the system, the tank
> will fill up with water (the psi of the source is approx 60psi), it
> will come out of the C/W outlet without the soda gun hooked up, but
> the pressure doesn't increase when the moto/pump is running, is that
> the way it's supposed to work?

That sounds like your pump has failed. This is new or used?

> Now it's obvious to me that a 60PSI water source isn't going to be
> able to enter a tank that's pressurized to 80psi, but I would think
> that the motor/pump would kick in and increase the pressure of the
> water going into the tank so the CO2 can go into solution.

The water pump is a booster type, increasing the tap pressure to well
above the 100 psi or so which is in the tank due to the CO2 connection.
Yes, this is needed to get the water to enter the tank at all, but more
importantly, to flow fast enough that the tank fills quickly during the
running time of the pumping duty cycle.

> Another quick question, should the carbonator pump be able to suck
> water up from a bucket? I'm told that it won't, but that just seems
> odd to me, isn't that what a pump is supposed to do?

Who sez it won't? While some pump designs require a positive input
pressure, and cannot self-prime from a negative-pressure source, I would
expect the carbonator pump, being a piston type, could apply suction.
The problem, however, is that you will pump some air into the tank,
which is going to lower the CO2 pressure, unless you take care to
somehow purge and always keep purged the air from the lines, not easy.

You do purge the tank of air, right, when first filling the system?