Hevvy's blog

Over the years our team has been involved in countless pump start ups, many of which were field applications where instrumentation was non existent.  There is always an expectation of a specific flow rate or at least a minimum flow rate. Without a flow meter, how do you know if your pump is performing with flow rates that meet or exceed expectations? Well fear ...

According to our electrical team, heat is the number one cause of motor failure. It simply kills them. Temperatures near or above the insulation rating of your motor will cause your motor’s insulation to deteriorate faster, ultimately resulting in premature motor failure. Defining the starting limit for your pump’s electric motors  Our team ...

Vibration issues with your slurry pump might be obvious: your slurry pump shakes like a wet dog, or subtle: you keep losing bearings or seals prematurely and don’t understand why. In either case vibration can cause a number of problems with your pump that can lead to costly repairs, downtime and shorter mean times between failure.   How to Confirm a Slurry Pump ...

In the blog article, “Thermal Shock” I used the word ductility. This word is one of a handful of terms commonly used to describe the characteristics of metals and how they react to externally applied forces. Terms such as malleability, hardness, brittleness, toughness, abrasion resistant and impact resistant ...

I travel to customer sites on a weekly basis and I see a full range of good and bad when it comes to pump maintenance. I decided to write a blog on the most common preventive maintenance tips concerning the Hevvy/Toyo line of pumps so it’s available even when I’m not. This list is based off the most common errors that I see on a consistent basis. How ...

Our blog on “Total Discharge Recirculation” mentioned thermal shock as a destructive force that can damage or destroy pump components.  With how destructive this force can be, I thought it necessary to spend some time expanding upon this subject.   Wikipedia explains that thermal ...

If you are an owner, operator or user of Electric Submersible pumps in Mine Dewatering and currently experience multiple seal failures within one year of start-up and installation… Please read on. Additionally, if you are a fellow professional in the field that wishes to share observations and constructive comments then please feel free to respond to this ...

In previous blogs we have defined Cavitation and reviewed Discharge Cavitation.  In this blog I would like to discuss a specific type of discharge recirculation known simply as “Total ...

In our last blog we discussed cavitation singling out suction cavitation to illustrate the concept. In this blog, as promised, we will discuss discharge recirculation, also sometimes referred to as discharge cavitation.    The term discharge recirculation is ...

Cavitation is potentially the most destructive force at play within a pumping system, however it is the least understood issue by many pump operators. To quote Sun Tsu from the Art of War, “know thy enemy”. In this blog we will discuss our enemy, cavitation, and provide a strong knowledge base that can be utilized to avoid it.  What is Pump ...

In this blog we will discuss Velocity Head as it is the final component left of our 6 part NPSH blogs and the one we have avoided addressing previously.   Reference books would describe velocity head as a basic concept of fluid engineering that represents the bulk motion, i.e. the kinetic energy, of the fluid. It can also be converted into the pressure that the ...

Today the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, put the pump industry into the mainstream by claiming to have coined the phrase “priming the pump”.  In doing so he highlighted one of the basic principles of pumping and I thought this was great opportunity for us to talk about pump priming, its origins, its principles and why it’s so ...

In the last blog of this series we explained why a pump requires a positive inlet pressure and introduced the term NPSHR.  As promised, this blog we will investigate the counterpart of NPSHR, Net Positive Suction Head Available  ...

In my first blog we argued that pumps don’t suck, they actually rely upon atmospheric pressure to push liquid into the impeller. In my second blog, I explained how atmospheric pressure can be expressed in feet of head.  In this blog we will discuss how pressure, measured in feet of head, ...

In last weeks blog we touched briefly on the subject of atmospheric pressure.  I wanted to write today's blog to ensure you understand exactly what atmospheric pressure is and why it affects you and your ...

I will begin this blog by posing a question: Does suction really exist?  Take a moment, decide upon your answer and let's go on this journey together.   A majority of people in the pumping industry would say yes, suction has to exist. If you were to ask ...

The pumping of water packed with coke fines produced by the jet cutting process in a Delayed Coker Unit (DCU) is an aggressive application. Pumps commonly fail or have reduced operating lives for a variety of reasons including: heavy fines loading, challenging suction conditions, high temperatures, and deep set sumps all combine to create a harsh environment that constantly takes pumps ...

If you are an employee in the pumping industry I am positive you can relate to the common woes each of us face weekly. Whether you're dealing with environmental damage in Mining, strict regulations in Coal Power, loss of customers in Oil & Gas, you're an Applications Engineer who just received five rush RFQ's for new builds or a Design Engineer who ...

One of the most common failures that I encounter in my travels is customers often times do not grease the bearings in our vertical series of pumps. Because of this, most of our pump failures involve the lower bearing.   Customers will often grease the upper bearings assuming the grease makes its way down to ...

I received a call from a customer that one of our new pumps was acting up. The pump would quit pumping and then all of a sudden start again.   They pulled the trouble pump out of service, replaced it with a spare, and asked me ...

At Hevvy/Toyo Pumps we utilize the latest in technology to solve our customer’s problems. Whether it’s a custom impeller and volute for a specific customer application, a new impeller capable of transporting the heaviest solids in the most efficient manner, putting in time researching how wear might affect existing designs or our team developing a brand new ...

  I recently visited a well-known copper mine that had contacted us after hearing some irregular noises coming from their brand new pump. The noises were obviously causing them some panic, especially with it being from a new pump. They were convinced the sounds were being caused by either a bearing issue or the impeller rubbing.   After arriving on site, we ...

  First a joke… What do you call a man constantly in the dog house with his wife? A field service manager.   Okay, all joking aside, this blog is for every maintenance manager and superintendent out there, as well as anyone else who just wants to know something about how to take care of their pumps.  I’m going to ...

We’ll look at what’s working, why it’s working and how you can possibly use it to improve your own situation. I’ll try to take you through real applications and designs that I come across each and every day. I hope to provide you the technology insights into the designs that you will work with in your own professional life.    As ...

At Hevvy/Toyo we understand that a nice walk, web surf and coffee break are all great ways during the day to re-group. But we fully believe that none of those work better than a really good laugh. You, our customers and community, get to see our team at our technical best while supplying solutions and application information. Trust me when I say we are not all work. See the ...