An old timer in Galveston showed me his trick for checking pump wear

We were working on a harbor cleanup job about five years back, and our suction was dropping off. This guy, Frank, who'd been running dredges since the 70s, came over and didn't even look at the gauges. He just put his hand flat on the pump casing and said, 'Listen with your fingers, kid. The hum tells you more than the screen.' He was right. I felt a new, rough vibration. We pulled it and found the impeller was starting to cavitate on one side. Anyone else have a simple, hands-on check they swear by?

2 comments

2 Comments

hunt.rowan9d ago

Oh man, that's some real old-school wisdom right there.

taylor9299d ago

Sometimes that old wisdom just holds people back from new ideas.