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Day 3 of running the pump backward, wish I caught it sooner
Been running a small cutterhead on the Black River for about 8 years now. Last Tuesday I was cleaning out the suction line and noticed the impeller wear pattern looked completely backwards. I always figured you just fire it up and let it eat, but I never checked rotation direction after the belt replacement last month. A buddy from the local union hall stopped by and pointed it out. Soon as I swapped the belts, production jumped from 40 yards an hour to 65. Has anyone else had a simple setup mistake like that cost them a full season of output?
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gavin8024d ago
How did you not notice the suction feeling weird for a whole month though? I ran a 6 inch on a dredge for years and you can always tell when the rotation is off because the line starts pulsing and the discharge looks choppy instead of smooth. Did the gauges not read low or did you just figure it was normal wear on an old pump? Also curious if the impeller got chewed up from running dry on the wrong side, because that wear pattern you mentioned usually means the leading edge took a beating. Guys I know who flipped a belt always caught it within a day just from the sound alone. Was it a single belt setup or did you swap a matched pair and get one twisted?
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