-
Quality Pump Repair
What constitutes quality pump repair? Quite simply, Hydro pays attention to the details.By providing a thorough inspection, extensive process control procedures, and stricter tolerances than the industry standard, Hydro consistently delivers a high quality product.The end result? Equipment that Hydro repairs isn’t as good as new- it’s better.
Inspections
Hydro revolutionized the pump aftermarket with the development of the detailed inspection process that forms the foundation of our quality repair services. A thorough inspection is the necessary first step in achieving our goal of helping our customers extend pump life and improve pump performance and reliability.
Measuring and recording critical information throughout the disassembly, cleaning, and inspection process allows us to uncover issues which, if left unattended, could result in premature degradation and failure of the equipment. It also provides our engineering team with the information necessary to apply new technology and recognize design improvements that can reduce energy usage, increase reliability, and provide significant cost savings to the end user.
Rotor Centralization
One area where Hydro has spent considerable time developing targeted upgrades and improvements is in high-energy multistage pumps. This focus was strengthened during our partnership with Dr. Elemer Makay, which began in the early 1990s. The target of many of these upgrades was to counteract the detrimental effects of hydraulic instability that occurs at off-peak loads.
Our detailed inspection process revealed that most manufacturers and repair facilities do not take enough data to accurately define the relative centerlines of the rotating and stationary components. In diffuser-style pumps, this relationship is critical to maintaining reliable operation. A centerline offset not only negates any investment made in establishing the proper Gap A and C at the impeller discharge, it results in increased component stress, reduced efficiency, higher vibration, and unbalanced component loading.
A Higher Standard
Hydro’s rebuild standards and acceptance criteria were designed to improve performance, reduce vibration, and extend life of rotating equipment. Our tolerances for fit-ups, clearances, and balancing exceed the industry standard. In our view, the extra work to achieve these stricter standards is justified by the reliability improvements and cost reductions that we pass on to our customers. It is not unusual for multistage pumps repaired by Hydro under these stringent standards to experience a life of 11+ years without degradation in efficiency.
One area where we take particular care is in rotor balance, where we specify that high energy equipment does not exceed a residual imbalance of 1W/N. Achieving this standard requires investment both in the training of our service center personnel and in the balancing equipment we use. The benefit of this standard is significantly reduced vibration levels, slowing wear of the bearings and wear rings to maintain greater rotor stability and substantially increase MTBR.