Customers don’t ask me to listen to quiet pumps. This is symptom #1 of a cavitating pump. The pump is loud. Descriptors like “growly”, “rumbling”, or “gravelly” are used to describe the atypically loud sound coming from the pump.

“Does it always sound like this?” I ask.

“No, it was fine in the fall, but it’s been loud all winter.”

Millions of homes around the world are fitted with water heating devices such as boilers or water supply heaters. Should they overheat, pressures can rise internally until the tank ruptures. Though extremely rare, this does happen and can even propel a water heater like a rocket through the floor and roof of a dwelling. So how can we sleep peacefully each night with the knowledge that a potential catastrophe lurks in the basement?

It’s typically impossible to see inside pipes and tanks.

Industrial pipes are usually steel or stainless. Even the occasionally used PVC is typically opaque.

But on the day of this customer visit, they had a sight glass placed in a horizontal run of pipe which permitted a peek inside. Normally this glass was used to inspect the color and clarity of the product flowing by. But today the customer and myself were fixated on...

Long before Covid-19 many of us, myself included, have been sidelined by illness.  During this period of downtime, we rest and minimize physical activity.  Post-illness we’re eager to resume our normal lifestyle, but doing so without preparation can lead to difficulties, even injury.  For idled pumping equipment the same principle applies.

One of the biggest limitations of a traditional centrifugal pump is its inability to reverse the direction of flow. By design it can only be run in one rotation and one direction of flow. Liquid enters the eye of the impeller at the suction port (typically on the front of the pump), is pushed out radially, and exits the pump at the discharge port (typically on top of the pump). For most centrifugal pumps the suction port is larger than the discharge port to better feed liquid into the pump, and to remove any confusion as to which port is “in” and which port is “out.”  Rotation arrows can be found cast onto the pump or printed on the nameplate to make it perfectly clear that these pumps run in one direction of rotation and one direction of flow.

A-L Equipment Company, Inc. has been in business since 1955, at which time it was incorporated by founder Art Nelson and his wife Gerry. Art was no stranger to liquid handling systems, as he had worked at a pump distributor before going out on his own. His legendary reputation for successfully installing pumps where people said “it couldn’t be done” was a perceived threat to his employer, who sadly told him to stop. That was an impetus for Art to launch A-L Equipment and do things his way!

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” ― Oscar Wilde

Having a great product, with a great reputation, and being a technology inventor like Viking Pump®, positions you as a market leader with high visibility. As such, other gear pump manufacturers naturally want to follow in your footsteps. While that is a huge compliment, it also causes confusion among gear pump buyers.