Using Your Head

Bicycle helmets are designed to protect the head from injury in case of a fall.  Nothing, however, was protecting a major helmet manufacturer from costly downtime resulting from far-too-frequent pump seal failures on  his plastic injection molding equipment.

Each time the helmet maker shut down his molding machines for scheduled maintenance, the seals on the pumps in the mold temperature control units would fail when the equipment was put back into production.  The equipment had to be shut down and the pumps rebuilt before production could resume.

The high temperatures and continuous cycling of the injection molding machines took their toll on the original equipment pumps.  The helmet maker reluctantly accepted the idea that rebuilding the pumps had become a costly part of every scheduled maintenance period.

His thinking changed, though, when he heard about MP Pumps' family of HTO hot oil pumps.  Designed specifically for continuous duty handling fluid temperature as high as 650 degrees F, HTO Pumps have carbon/graphite bushings that isolate the seals from the hot fluids.  The seals are located inside an integral, air-cooled chamber that keeps them at optimum temperature.  This arrangement extends seal life by 50% or more. 

The helmet maker adapted an HTO 80 to fit his equipment and was soon convinced that he'd found the solution to premature seal failure. It's safe to say that rebuilding the pumps is no longer a mandatory part of every regularly scheduled maintenance period.

Interest in Chem Flo Pumps high at National Plant Engineering & Maintenance Show

Plant engineers have a major role in keeping production facilities in productive shape.  That's why so many of them who attended the National Plant Engineering & Maintenance Show in March in Chicago's McCormick Place took a keen interest in the Chem Flo family of pumps on display in the MP Pumps' booth.  They recognized that Chem Flo pumps offer greater durability and lower maintenance costs when compared to other pumps currently in use - especially in the chemical process industry.

Chem Flo pumps are investment cast for greater structural integrity than stamped or formed units.  They are cast in 316SS, which provides better corrosion resistance than the more commonly used 304SS.  According to Joe Ash Regional Sales Manager for MP Pumps, engineers who stopped by the booth were also impressed with the flexibility that Chem Flo pumps offer.  They can be pedestal mounted or close-coupled to 184C and 215TC electric motors.  They also come in a PUMPAK option that allows the user to source the electric motor separately.

Joe reported that more than 90 of the engineers who stopped by the MP Pumps booth requested more information or asked for the name of their local distributor to discuss specific applications.  One manufacturer is looking closely at Chem Flo Pumps to handle an acid solution used in his production process.  All of the leads were forwarded to distributors for follow-up.