A couple of months back I shared with you three all too common mistakes I see our clients’ maintenance teams make that damage their pumps and shorten their lives, leading to costly repairs, more downtime and unnecessary replacement.
So if you have budget to burn and really want to give us the money to prematurely replace your pumps then by all means do the OPPOSITE of what I’m advising you to do here.
Otherwise – if you want to minimize your downtime and maintenance costs while maximizing the life of your pump then I suggest you avoid these pump ruining ‘tricks:’
Letting Your Pump Run Dry
Don’t do it. When your pump runs dry it can quickly cause pump cavitation and mechanical seal damage – Mechanical seals can get so hot when a pump is running dry that it can shatter in about 30 seconds.
So if a pump is running dry for any reason - shut it off as soon as possible - but RIGHT NOW would be better.
Blocked Balance Holes and Vanes
When solids that are too big get pulled into the pump they can block up your balance holes and vanes. When this happens your pump is at risk of having unequal pressure which creates and an impeller imbalance.
You’ll see priming issues and high vibration. If this goes untreated you’ll eventually sustain bearing and seal damage to your pump.
Regular maintenance and proper filtration of your fluids will keep the risk of this happening to a minimum.
Using the Wrong Sized Impeller
I don’t know why this happens but I’ve seen pumps that have had the wrong sized impeller put back in them during a routine service. We provide the impeller when we install or supply our pumps, for a reason:
Optimal efficiency.
If you’ve replaced the specified impeller with one that is too big, the pump will begin to work harder to pump your fluids – causing premature burnout.
If the new impeller is too small then it will probably not generate the flow or head you need for your system. That sounds frustrating doesn’t it?
If you’ve got a pump that is consistently down for maintenance or not lasting like you expected it to then there may be an opportunity for improvement. You can get some help just by giving one of the team here at Pye-Barker a call at 404-363-6000 or drop us a line sales@pyebarker.com.
