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Centrifugal pumps, whether submersible or not, are designed for the most part to operate in one direction only.
When liquid enters the center or eye of the impeller it is subjected to centrifugal force that moves the liquid towards the discharge port on the pump.
The path for liquid to flow is determined by the shape of the impeller and the design of the pump body or volute.
If the impeller is run in reverse direction the liquid may still be discharged from the pump due to centrifugal forces overcoming the normal flow path.
This is very inefficient and can cause serious problems including cavitation, loss of performance, bearing and seal issues.
If the impeller is on a threaded shaft it may unscrew the impeller.
It is always good practice to check impeller rotation before you start pumping.
Most (but not all) Hydra-Tech Pumps rotate in a counter-clockwise rotation (looking at the impeller inlet from the bottom).
We mark the Pressure and Return ports when the pumps are shipped.
This assures proper rotation when properly connected to a hydraulic power source.
Click on this link to see how to properly connect our pumps to your hydraulic power source:
Hydraulic Schematic Customer Supplied
Click on this link to see a pump impeller rotating properly:
As we all head back to work after New Year’s Day, we close the books on 2017 and start over with a fresh year before us. Based on conversations with many people in the industry, we don’t think there are many who aren’t glad to put in a good 2017 sales year after a down 2016! We were fortunate enough to have our best sales year ever in 2017, the same year we celebrated Hydra-Tech Pumps’ 40th year in business – thank you to our customers for helping to make that happen. As with the beginning of any year, we reflect on 2017 and look forward to 2018.
We started 2017 off with a change in our pump warranty – moving from a 1 year warranty to 2 year warranty. We made some moves internally to strengthen our manufacturing group and ended the year with a solid group of employees, some seasoned including 3 “originals” and a couple of new hires who are settling into their roles here. Maintaining personnel is a seemingly never ending battle, but we finished the year in a happy place with our group. We built our first 30” axial pump, and with the completion of a 400 horsepower HPU in the first quarter of 2018, we will get it tested, confirm the curves, and have it available in our arsenal of axial flow pumps. Throughout the year we participated in 4 trade shows, numerous customer trainings, and traveled to see as many customers as we could. We also developed a brand new catalog (let us know if we can drop one in the mail to you!). We continued to make improvements to our new website and we are updating and adding information all of the time.
So what’s in store for 2018? One thing that we are discussing is an addition to our building to further improve work flow, receiving and pump testing. We are early on in the discussion, but we all agree that we need additional space to continue to grow and improve our manufacturing techniques for you our customers. For those of you who don’t know / haven’t been to our little corner of the world for a visit, we are in a former banquet hall that we converted into our light manufacturing operation. It has served us well but it is time for some additional space. We have some casting patterns that have challenged us in the last year – we will be investing the money for new patterns where required to address some of these challenges. As with any year, our crew at Hydra-Tech Pumps will work hard to help our customers resolve their problems, whether simply placing a parts order, application help in choosing the right pump or system, or working through a pump rebuild or repair. We are always working to improve our catalog, manuals and other marketing literature, our website, and our products and services.
There is only one trade show on the calendar at this point – will we see any of you at the WWETT Show in February? www.wwettshow.com – we will be in Booth #4104 – please stop by and say hello if you make it to the show. So cheers to a happy, healthy, and successful 2018!
As we continue to celebrate 40 years of business at Hydra-Tech Pumps since Ken Reim started the company, we are celebrating some service milestones at our Christmas party next week. After the ownership of Hydra-Tech Pumps changed in 2005, the business moved in October of 2007 from Mt Holly, New Jersey 123 miles north to Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania. It goes without saying that with the exception of Ken Reim, the founder who continues to contribute in all facets to the business, we completely started over with employees.
So in addition to celebrating 40 years in 2017, we also celebrate 10 years (and one month) in our new home. We have 19 employees, 8 of which have been here for the full 10 years since our relocation to Nesquehoning. Across the 19 full time employees we have an average of 7.4 years of service. That means that the people in the office taking your calls, fielding your questions, quoting your needs have the experience to get it right the first time. It also means that the people in production fabricating the frames, machining the volutes and other pump parts, painting, assembling and testing the equipment we provide to you are going to get the job done right.
They say knowledge is power, and while we would never claim to know it all, we certainly have worked hard through the years to learn about you, our customer, your industries, and how and where you use our products. Our job, as individuals and collectively as a company, is quite simply to help you. We want to solve your problem, figure out how to get you the right pump, hydraulic power unit, or complete system to do what you need done. How can our talented group of employees help you today?
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Tips for storing your hydraulic submersible pump so when your pump is needed you’ll be ready to go
- Clean any dirt and debris from the pump head
- Check the hose tails and quick disconnects for damage
- Release any pressure trapped in the quick disconnects thus leaving room for expansion
- Remove hydraulic motor and inspect motor lip seal
- Remove top cover from volute and inspect wear parts (order worn parts as needed)
- Check the bearing housing oil level and the condition of the oil
- Store pump in vertical position
Preparing your power unit for cold weather usage/storage
- If your unit uses diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and you plan tostore your unit for the winter you will need to winterize the system, DEF freezes at 12° and expands by 7%.
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Switch your fuel to the winter blend to prevent the fuel from gelling, there are also plenty of additives available
- Replace your fuel filters
- Check your coolant level, make sure the engine coolant will work in your expected winter temperature
- Top off your fuel and hydraulic levels to prevent condensation
- Change the hydraulic oil and filter and don’t forget to clean the suction filter at the bottom of the reservoir
- If you choose not to change the hydraulic oil, it should be sampled for condition and water contamination
- Check all the hoses for cracks and chafing
- Charge and disconnect batteries
- Check and adjust your belts
- Check tire condition and pressure
- Check the nuts and bolts for your guarding
- Clean out the hydraulic oil cooler and radiator and hose off the unit
- Replace any worn or unreadable placard
In the world of all things pumping, many frustrated pump rental companies and service and equipment providers have to walk away from certain jobs because they just don’t have the technology to do it right. One of the most common sources of these lost opportunities results from not having an answer when customers need to pump hot liquids.
In cases where fluid temperatures approach 200oF or 95oC, there are few options, especially when the TDH requirements call for using a submersible pump. The fact is that most electric submersible pumps, because of built in protections, will only perform in these conditions for short periods of time before they experience thermal overload and thus shut down for a cooling period. With the pumping action stopped, downstream processes cease, or the upstream influx of hot fluid overcomes the sump or storage vessel, resulting in work stoppages or overflow conditions.
Any savvy business person knows that effectively solving a problem like the on described can open up new customer bases and revenue streams. So, who has the cool answer to this hot question?
To solve this riddle, it is first important to understand the other critical components of a pumping system that must be considered. Beyond thermal overload in motors, the pump’s materials of construction, including the elastomers in mechanical seals, O-rings and gaskets and other non-metal parts must be equal to the task. In the world of sealing materials, the most common “rubber” compound used is nitrile/Buna, and depending on the manufacturer, these pieces are rated to hold their sealing properties up to 210oF (99oC). EPDM and FKM gaskets and seals can offer an extra measure of protection since they are rated for temps up to 250oF/121oC and beyond. Because most pumps made have one of these three seal types built in, this part of the systems offers minimal cause for concern. Then, any wetted part of the pump that contains plastic, including the insulation on wiring must be studied. Because different types of plastic begin to distort at different temperatures, failures could result if the resin compounds inside the pump cannot take the heat.
Armed with the knowledge of what to look for in a workable hot liquid pump, you should consider the hydraulic submersible equipment manufactured in Pennsylvania by Hydra-Tech Pumps.
Hydra-Tech’s submersible pumps, built on non-electric, hydraulic drive technology are not subject to electric motor based thermal overload, and because they have the correct elastomers in the seals and O-rings and because there are no plastic parts, these pumps are built to beat the heat, with one note of caution.
Anyone used to working with hydraulics knows that heat in hydraulic oil is the mortal enemy of any hydraulic system. And, since our pumps are designed to be submersed in the hot liquid, the oil flowing through the pump motor is seeing and absorbing some of the heat from the hot fluid. To minimize the effects of this exposure, we have engineered in to most of our hydraulic power units Air over Oil hydraulic oil coolers which use ambient air flow to remove a lot of the heat. In cases where the pumping job is continuous, or when ambient temperatures are elevated, there is still a chance that the standard on board cooling may be overcome. In these cases, additional cooling methods, from simple to sophisticated, can be employed to make sure oil temperatures remain below 160oF/71oC.
In a temporary situation, it can be a simple as removing heat by putting an extra length of hydraulic hose in to a fresh water bath. If the customer is uncomfortable with that kind of fix, you can reach out to our engineering staff, and we can look at adding additional cooling at the hydraulic power unit. The options here include swapping in a larger oil cooler or building in a dedicated fan assisted oil cooler. In cases where the installation is permanent or semi-permanent, and where a fresh cooling water source is available, a highly efficient tube and bundle type oil cooler can be employed.
So, before you dismiss hot liquid pumping jobs and the new revenue streams they may offer, give Hydra-Tech Pumps a call and we will be happy to help you evaluate the job and come up with a pumping solution.
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Very early on Thursday September 7th, Jeff Whittaker flew down to Mexico for short trip to see our distributor and provide training for one of his customers who recently purchased a number of HT11D hydraulic power units and S3T submersible pumps. Little did he know how unique this trip would be?
His flight arrived without delay or problem – he took care of some other business Thursday afternoon and evening and after a delicious dinner he was dropped me off at his hotel. In typical fashion he fell asleep on the bed fully dressed watching the end of the New England / Kansas City game with every light on in the room.
He was shaken out of sleep by the strongest earthquake to hit Mexico in 100 years – the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck 60 miles off the southwestern Mexican coast near the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. 600 miles from the epicenter, the 8th floor of the Holiday in was moving 8-10 inches back and forth, which wasn’t nearly as unnerving and the groaning sounds coming from the building itself. He rode out the end of the most violent shaking in his room and then headed downstairs, almost as if to get confirmation that it was really an earthquake (having never experienced one before). Once outside the hotel, feeling the aftershocks on solid ground was an unsettling feeling – He couldn’t imagine what the people within 100 miles of the earthquake felt. Sadly there was much destruction in the states closest to the earthquake and a number of people were killed in building collapses. The next day he learned that one of the people at the training has a crack in a wall in his house as a result of the quake that happened 600 miles away – He was not surprised to hear this based on his newfound respect for their power.
Back to bed and up in the morning to go and see the customer for the training. Schools are closed on Friday because of the quake so Mexico City traffic was “light”, at least lighter than normal. Because of the recent rains and then the earthquake it took some time for all of the employees to arrive for the training, but once they did they spent an hour reviewing the proper pre start checks, start up and operation of the HT11D hydraulic power units and 3” submersible pump. After fielding some good questions from the group they enjoyed a nice lunch together before departing.
Saturday morning was another early ride to the airport to get on the plane and depart for home as hurricane Katia was moving west across Mexico from Veracruz where later that day it was downgraded to tropical storm Katia. They always say it is nice to come home after any trip, despite good food, good friends and good business in Mexico, he can’t think of many trips where this was truer!