Tips on Working With Concrete Pump Accumulator Bottles

VIDEO POST – You must properly charge accumulator bottles with nitrogen to avoid damage to the bladder and ultimately the main pump. The video below answers some questions from one of our JED Alliance customers. Comment at the end of this post with your tips on handing accumulator bottles on concrete pumps.

Hello everybody, this is Edward Salazar with JED Alliance. I have a customer asking some questions about accumulator bottles on their concrete pumps:

• What kind of accumulator bottles are they?
• How easy it is to remove the nitrogen from them?
• What are the consequences of running a pump without nitrogen on the container?

Nitrogen Pressure is Important for Concrete Pumps

One of the things that you always want to do is to make sure you have Nitrogen and that you have pressure on the accumulator. There are different kinds of bottles. One of these is normally used on the model BPA450, BPA500, TK50, TK70’s. Those models have a different kind of accumulator bottle which will look a lot smaller than a regular container and is displayed in the video above. Normally, they go inside of the pump, within the frame, or underneath the pump. They are charged with nitrogen, because it is an inert gas, and it doesn’t explode the way oxygen can.

Removing Nitrogen from an Accumulator Bottle

The way you remove the nitrogen from an accumulator bottle is much the same way you remove the air from a tire. Basically, in this video you will see a picture of different containers and a couple of bladders. This bladder or diaphragm has a tire stem at the end just the same way you have a stem on your car’s tire, as simple as that.

Do Not Run Your Pump Without a Nitrogen Charge

You don’t want to run a concrete pump without the accumulator bottle properly charged with nitrogen, especially on models like the one in this video. The bladder can rupture from the hydraulic fluid pushing against it.

You never want to run a pump without nitrogen, because you will for sure damage the main pump. The second model displayed on the video, is the Putzmeister TKB45. These pumps use the bigger container on the back of the hopper, which is also charged with nitrogen. These are exactly the same as the other ones, but the nitrogen removal method is a little different. I am going to show you this quick video so you can check it out.

Thanks.