Soft Start Unit When pumping slurries, after the pump has been turned off sediment can settle in the lower half of the liquid chamber. If air is supplied at full pressure instantly, the diaphragm is forced rapidly into the chamber, upon encountering the solids, the lower half of the diaphragm and plate is restricted but the upper part isn't, this causes a bending of the shaft, diaphragm rupture, or the breaking of the diaphragm plate. By introducing air slowly on start up the diaphragm has time to gently push the solids up from the bottom and into the liquid, once this has occurred the unit can build up to full flow. | | | | | | | | | | | | |