I like to think of pumps as the heart of any sanitary processing system. After all, the human heart is a vital organ that essentially works as a pump for the body. But over the years, Holland Applied Technologies has noticed a recurring issue: many of our customers with pumping applications will not replace their pump components when necessary. Instead of following recommended maintenance cycles, they often wait until something breaks or fails and now a common spare part that is needed yesterday!

It is important to always have a replacement pump part readily available for your

Is your pump leaking? It may be time to replace seals & elastomers

maintenance personnel. Having replacement pump parts avoids putting major stress on maintenance personnel trying to solve the problem. It also avoids production halts which is a waste of both time and money. Pumping systems can account for a large portion of a plant’s energy usage, so the added downtime and expenditures can be significant. We all know the phrase “time is money”. Simply keeping a spare seal kit around can save major bucks.

One of the first steps we recommend when installing a new pump into a system is getting to know the recommended maintenance cycles for your specific pumps and pump parts. These maintenance cycles are most likely found in your pump’s operation and maintenance manuals.

Let us take a look at the WCB Universal 3 Series PD Pump instruction manual as an example. Waukesha recommends changing the grease and oil for the gears and bearings every 750 hours as well as a fully detailed maintenance inspection to be performed at least annually. These preventative maintenance inspections include inspection of the rotors, gears and bearings. The WCB Universal 3 Instruction Manual also contains a Maintenance Inspection Chart which details maintenance intervals for various parts of the WCB PD pump.

We get calls and emails regularly requesting pump parts for many of our sanitary pumps. While some customers know exactly what parts they need, others do not. If you fall into the latter category, we recommend having your pump serial number ready. The serial numbers can tell us all the information we need to get you spare parts. Can’t find a serial number? A model number, pictures, or knowing whether you bought your pump from us will certainly help our sales engineers get you the correct parts.

Today’s blog is about stressing the importance of keeping a stock of spare parts. Having a stock of spare parts is paramount to proactive maintenance. If you are wondering how often you should replace your pump components, contact a Holland Sales Engineer today to address any pump maintenance questions you may have.