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Pump tag showing direction of flow

Reversing a Gear Pump

01-25-2024

With Viking pumps the answer is usually “yes,” but before you turn that “reverse” switch on your pump’s motor starter or variable frequency drive, there are a number of things to consider, which are discussed here
spanner wrenches

7 Essential Tools for Pump Repair

10-09-2023

Like any job, you need the proper tools to do it well – and the same is true for repairing or servicing positive displacement gear pumps. Below are helpful hand tools that Viking's pump experts recommend having ready for… read more.
Collage of liquids with different viscosities like milk, orange juice, syrup, etc.

Viscosity Through Thick and Thin

03-10-2022

Viscosity is a measure of a liquid’s resistance to flow. And you don’t need to work in a laboratory to observe this. Anyone who’s spent any time in the kitchen has observed a variety of liquids with a wide variety of viscosities.
Flanged port

7 Things You Want to Know about Flanged Ports, but are Too Afraid to Ask

01-05-2023

Flange standards used on Viking pumps have been in place for over a century so EVERYONE should be experts on this now…right? It turns out not so much. There are various standards and various design differences in each standard. AND the standards have evolved over the years, leading some to use obsolete terms which only compounds the confusion. The following should help clear up some of this…
Damaged Rotor close up

PUMP CAVITATION: THE SYMPTOMS, CAUSE, DIAGNOSIS, AND CURE

09-14-2022

Customers don’t ask me to listen to quiet pumps. This is symptom #1 of a cavitating pump. The pump is loud. Descriptors like “growly”, “rumbling”, or “gravelly” are used to describe the atypically loud sound coming from the pump. “Does it always sound like this?” I ask.“No, it was fine in the fall, but it’s been loud all winter.”
Viking pump strainers

Low-Cost Insurance Policy: how a strainer will save you time and money

07-20-2021

It’s typically impossible to see inside pipes and tanks. Industrial pipes are usually steel or stainless. Even the occasionally used PVC is typically opaque. But on the day of this customer visit, they had a sight glass placed in a horizontal run of pipe which permitted a peek inside…
pressure gauge

Current and Flow: An electrical engineer’s guide to the concepts of fluid systems

02-17-2021

Unlike most of my colleagues I didn’t start out with a mechanical background.  While they were studying kinetics and machine design, I was studying digital electronics and industrial power.  When I started my career in the world of pumps, I had to learn a whole new set of concepts.  What was surprising was that while the terminology may be a bit different, the concepts are…
lubricating a pump before startup

Don’t Forget to Stretch

01-29-2021

Long before Covid-19 many of us, myself included, have been sidelined by illness.  During this period of downtime, we rest and minimize physical activity.  Post-illness we’re eager to resume our normal lifestyle, but doing so without preparation can lead to difficulties, even injury.  For idled pumping equipment the same principle applies.…
Chemical tanker truck

Chemical Transportation Company Saves Time with RTPe Series™

01-15-2021

With today’s fast-paced supply chain demands, it is essential that tanker truck systems can unload contents quickly to ensure timely delivery for optimum manufacturing efficiency. Stony Run Enterprises Inc., a family-owned trucking enterprise located in Hamilton, Ohio, understands this sense of urgency with its commitment to transport multiple types of products with “speed,…
Gear reducer in action

Fear of the Gear

01-05-2021

In the world of positive displacement pumping, reduced speed operation is a common requirement.  High viscosity liquids, shear sensitive liquids, abrasive liquids, or any combination thereof require the pump speed to be reduced from synchronous motor speeds.

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