I run a 33m Alliance and lots of the time i have a problem sucking my ball back. I can hear it take off but it seems to get caught up in the 30 degree elbow[s] on my 3rd stage. The Schwing I used to run I never had a problem. Curious if anyone else has this problem. getting sick of always having to stand it straight up. Any suggestions??? Thanks.

I saw a guy coat the outside of his ball with grease then sucked it back.. maybe you should try that

How do you water-wash??

little to add here. I currently am buying my balls from "TOYS R US" when they have the right ones.  have found 2 slightly different size.   I realy have to work to get it in and other thing i started is istead on soaking just before inserting the ball, i leave it soaking in water all the time in 5 gl. bucket.  balls seem to last longer when the dont dry out and harden. 

  Also Wife found pretty soft foam ball somewhere once and wanted me to try, I did once and gave them all to kids next door to play with.

are you sucking the sponge back through a 5 inch hose? some guys suck back through a 4 or 41/2 inch hose by squeezing the sponge tight , this makes it come back fast and leave residue as it doesn't have time to expand after it overcomes the resistance of the hose .you may have some build up in those elbows . as the other poster said bad mud cups or lots of leaky gaskets. shake the hose some befor you put the sponge in so any concrete setting in the flat spot where the elbows meet falls out that way the sponge isnt trying to pull concrete uphill you might try different sponges. on water washing i just pump the hopper all the way down fill it to the top and pump it down this is enough to get the concrete over the top gravity does the rest i leave the water running and as soon as i have 1/4 to 1/2 hopper more water i pump a couple strokes turn off the water wait 5 sec. or so and hit reverse comes back good if it doesnt want to come back pump it down again plus 1/2 stroke or so to move the rocks a little then hit reverse . ive had problems pumping the hopper down and then till its spitting all over as the compressed air will ride over the top of the concrete  in the deck pipe leaving a path for the water to go over the top also not getting a good seperation between the water and concrete makes it wash out sometimes and rock pack well gotta go have a sales call to make hope to score a big account will write more later on washing into the trucks

Use a hard rubber bullet and air, I have for 11 yrs, thousands of jobs has never failed, just make sure you blow from the tip back, into the s tube be careful not to chop the plug, and never take a clamp loose when your under pressure

Just a few questions.

Why do you waterwash if it can potentially cause these problems?

How do you blow the bullet through into the tube without cutting it? Could you please explain your process and would this work on a rock valve?

first you pump hopper down as far as it will go stroke some air, put pump in reverse,but don't pump. make sure all the couplings are on, put the plug in the last jib elbow, you  have to take off the placement hose, on my trucks I have a cap with an air fitting(that hooks to a hose that attaches to the trucks air tank with a shut off valve in line) that I clamp to the end I just put the plug in. Hook up the air line, make sure the end of the boom is not near anyone, I boom it to the side between my outrigger and deck, hook up the air hose from your air tanks to the cap on the end of the boom,clear everyone away including yourself , open the air valve, now there's pressure against the plug, dangerous time be careful, now stroke in reverse listening to the concrete sliding back, tap on the deck pipe with a hammer you will hear a thud,thud,thud, then ding, ding , two more strokes then stop the pump shut off the air, disconnect the air hose, not the cap this will relieve the pressure,the plug will then be in your swing tube, or the elbow just after it, if you keep stroking after 2 strokes the plug will be chopped by the swing tube,(not a good thing) I recently went to Houston and a large pumping company was removing pipe from 2  boom's the sponge was stuck in both cases they said it was company policy to suck a sponge back, blowing a plug back was not allowed for insurance reasons. It's dangerous only if you have weak couplings, or thin pipe and elbows, or you remove clamps with air pressure on, but it cleans that pipe beautifully, we have done it for 10 years with 6 booms and only once a problem. The pump went into forward with the air on The operator was in a hurry and did not relieve air pressure by removing the hose from the fitting, the clamp was opened and KABOOM, very unforgettable, If you need a few pics of the equipment(cap) just let me know. We had an operator who used a oversized nerf ball and sucked it back, it left concrete lining all through the boom which caused alot of headaches, water washing the boom causes rock jams, a hard rubber plug can be sucked back easily provided the gaskets in the clamp are tight and the wear plates and wear rings are good, giving you suction, so all in all I choose air it works for me and keeps my boom clean

i water wash so the extra concrete goes into the mixer not on the ground to pollute then move to the washout pit to void the rest of the concrete no pollution of the ground water no mess for the contractor to clean up all part of the service in socal i compete with bone merli conco western fleming you dont make them happy there is a line waiting to replace you for the crew its performance for the bean counters its price a thin wire to tightrope on !

We have long cylinder sponges and square ones. which is better

You'll hear as many different responses to this question as you would if you asked po's what their favorite pump is.  Basically it is what your comfortable with or how you were trained.  Here's what I teach all my guys.

1. Use a 5" med ball

2. Store ball in a 5 gallon bucket of water on your pump.

3.  If mud is 5" slump or better just suck it back at idle speed.  If mud is 4" slump or less, try to save enough concrete in hopper to recirculate with water to increase slump.  If it's not possible to increase slump I tell my guys to take hose off, put water in tip section, stuff ball then raise boom before putting pump in reverse. (I also have sucked back balls by A-Framing boom and 'bouncing' stiff concrete out until it quits free falling then sucking back ball)

I have tried orange sponge balls (soft, med, hard), nerf footballs, octoganal sponges, cylindrical sponges, I've even used newspaper and duct tape when I had no choice, the above method though works best for me and my guys. 

PS

One of your problems could also be excessive build up in you boom from previous pours.

Good Luck

I prefer cylinder sponges.  But either will work.  Here's what I used to do before balls.

1.  Cover one end of sponge with silicone.

2.  Store sponge in 5 gallon bucket of water.