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We thought we would keep you up to date on our building addition – even though the construction part is done there is still a lot of work to be completed on the inside! The picture below gives you a look at some of the work that has been accomplished in between manufacturing pumps and hydraulic power units and everything else that goes on at Hydra-Tech Pumps week in and week out. The 8000 square feet of new space will house a combination of production space, warehouse space, finished product testing space (including our new pump test tank), our loading dock and ground level doors and shipping and receiving department.
As the birds begin to make an appearance and spring is threatening nice weather soon in Pennsylvania, we are excited to continue to work on this space and make it work for us when we’re done. We will provide additional updates and pictures as we make progress.
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The hydraulic motor. It works hard to convert the flow and pressure of hydraulic oil into work. In the case of Hydra-Tech’s dewatering pumps, this work is pushing a column of water out the discharge and through the hose / piping to its intended destination.
Every hydraulic motor has a pressure inlet and a return outlet (and sometimes a case drain port – but that’s a subject for another time). At Hydra-Tech Pumps we try to stamp P for pressure and R for return on all motors on all pumps built, and on all motors sent as spares. Hydra-Tech Pumps does use some hydraulic motors on our pumps that are bidirectional and the direction in which the impeller spins is determined by which port you connect pressure to. This too is a subject that we will cover in another blog.
In this post we’re going to focus on unidirectional hydraulic motors which are the majority of what we use on our pumps. These hydraulic motors are not symmetrical, and as you will see below, we reference the heavy side of the motor (as you look at the back of the hydraulic motor). Knowing which port is the pressure inlet and which port is the return port is important, as switching the pressure and return will result in many potential problems from spinning the impeller in the wrong direction, spinning the impeller off of the shaft, and blowing motor lip seals and mechanical seals while dumping lots of hydraulic oil into the body of water where you are pumping.
To help avoid such problems, when you buy a complete system from Hydra-Tech Pumps the quick disconnects / oilfield connections from the pressure connection of the HPU reservoir to the pressure inlet of the pump’s hydraulic motor and return connection from the pump’s hydraulic motor back to the return connection at the HPU oil reservoir are set up to prevent misconnection.
The following statement is true except for the hydraulic motors we use on most axial flow pumps, all 6000 series pumps, slim line pumps, screw pumps, and the S3CML, S3CHL, S4CHL, S8T and S10T. To help yourself deal with a problem in the field, there is a way to tell, on a hydraulic motor used on any Hydra-Tech Pump with a unidirectional hydraulic motor – it has to do with what we refer to as the heavy side of the motor. If you needed to identify the inlet (pressure) and return ports of a motor for any Hydra-Tech Pump (except for exceptions listed above) you would refer to the following drawing:
This drawing is on our website at http://hydra-tech.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Motor-Port-Orientation-.pdf
There are many other helpful technical and troubleshooting references at www.hydra-tech.com that answer common questions and provide support to our customers. Please check out:
Our FAQ page: http://hydra-tech.com/support/faq/
Our Pump and HPU Troubleshooting Guides: http://hydra-tech.com/support/trouble-shooting/
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Last year went by quick – we talk about it every year, but it felt like it went from February to November in the blink of an eye and on through the holidays and the end of the year. Granted, we were busy and when you’re busy time always seems to move more quickly.Although we didn’t hit our budgeted sales goal for 2019, we did manage to beat 2018’s sales number to achieve Hydra-Tech’s best sales year ever. We shipped orders all over the United States and all around the world. In the 12 years at our current location we have averaged export sales of about 20% as a percentage of total sales. We appreciate our customers’ loyalty to our products and the service we provide.
The other major thing that Hydra-Tech accomplished in 2019 is that we increased our manufacturing space by 44% – adding 8,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space to the 18,000 square feet we have been working out of since moving the business to its current location in September of 2007. With ever increasing sales volume over the last 4 years, one of the challenges that we have faced was space. Our new space will be a combination of warehouse space and manufacturing space that will allow us to increase efficiencies related to our production.
We’re three weeks into 2020 and yes- it seems to be moving faster than 2019 already. But we have big goals. 3 trade shows, and lots of customers to satisfy. The World Pumps Us for Solutions – and we have to be on our toes and ready to find solutions for those customers new and old.
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As a business, here is a list of the things we are thankful for as we get ready to close down Thursday and Friday so that our co-workers can travel near and far to spend time with their families.
- Hydra-Tech Pumps is thankful that through the efforts of our employees we have been able to grow the business consistently since our move in 2007 to the point where we are putting the finishing touches on an 8000 square foot addition. We expect to be using the space in January 2020.
- Hydra-Tech Pumps is thankful that we have never been in a position to have to have layoffs.
- Hydra-Tech Pumps is thankful for our customers, big and small, domestic and international – your loyalty to our pumps and hydraulic power units has helped us to have fairly consistent growth through the years.
- Hydra-Tech Pumps is thankful for our vendors who have supported our efforts and contributed along the way.
- Hydra-Tech Pumps is thankful the our founder, Ken Reim, is still very active on a daily basis and involved in Research and Development, Sales, Technical Support and is such a valuable resource to our whole group.
- Hydra-Tech Pumps is thankful for our employees. As we try to stress at any company event, Hydra-Tech Pumps succeeds or fails based on the efforts of every employee no matter the title or responsibility – we are all tied to the success or failure of the business based on the quality of the product we make, the communication with the customers, and the customers’ perceived value of what we provide to them.
A recent email to some friends who visited Hydra-Tech Pumps and toured the business included the following statement: “Our growth and success is the result of a lot of things, some hard work, some good fortune, and lots of good people (employees, vendors, customers) who have helped us along the way.” For that statement Hydra-Tech Pumps is thankful.
So to anyone reading this we would like to remind you to enjoy the time off this week with your family and friends. On a personal level, the things that I am most thankful for are family, friends and health – I’d be willing to bet that your list is similar if not the same. (Jeff Whittaker, VP Sales and Marketing)
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As we celebrate Veterans Day today, I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that most people know at least one veteran. A family member, friend, former classmate, I bet that everyone knows someone who has served in a branch of our great country’s military. Hydra-Tech Pumps currently employs 22 people and our group includes four veterans.
Kyle Whittaker, Hydra-Tech’s President, served in the Army for three years and spent time in both Korea and Vietnam. Andy Falco our VP of Manufacturing spent 4 years in the Marines. Darryl Cunfer the Manager of Product Development and Training spent 4 years in the Army. Tim Frye, one of Hydra-Tech Pumps’ machinists, spent 3 years in the Navy and 2 years in the reserves as a Corpsman.
On Wednesday November 6th the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate for the Philadelphia Flyers hosted Military Appreciation Night. Because of our ties to veterans, Hydra-Tech Pumps sponsored 50 tickets for veterans to attend the game. In all, there were over 3,160 tickets donated for veterans to be able to attend the game.
Because we participated in the sponsorship, we were provided 4 tickets to use for the game. We chose to send our own veterans down and three of our four veterans were able to attend. Rounding out the group was Darryl’s grandson, who got to enjoy his first Phantoms game. The Phantoms provided a win for all in attendance, they beat the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins by a score of 4-2.
We would like to thank all active military personnel who are currently serving and all veterans for their service to our country. We are proud of your sacrifices.