Is there a standard maintenance strategy I should use on my pump?
Maintenance strategies generally fall into three categories, which are reactive (run to failure), preventative and predictive.
Image 4 provides some guidance on where each maintenance strategy may be applied. The maintenance appropriate for a pump is dependent on many factors, such as those in Image 4, so it is encouraged that you review the manufacturer’s installation, operation and maintenance (IOM) manual for appropriate preventative maintenance items.
Preventative maintenance items include things that are well understood and wear or degrade on a periodic basis. This could include replacing the oil used to lubricate the bearings or replacing a drive belt at specified intervals. You should also consider the cost benefit of the other types of maintenance strategies.
For example, if you have a pump system that is having random failures causing lost production, you may want to do more predictive maintenance.
Predictive maintenance requires doing a condition assessment of the equipment on a continuous or periodic basis, as well as employing personnel that understands how to gather the measurements and understand what the measurements are indicating so that operation can be adjusted to improve reliability and schedule maintenance prior to a predicted failure.
Employing this type of maintenance requires higher investment due to the measurement equipment and the higher level of knowledge and skills required by maintenance personnel, but it can easily pay for itself in certain situations.
For more information on maintenance for pumps, refer to ANSI/HI 14.4 Rotodynamic Pumps for Installation, Operation and Maintenance Manuals at pumps.org.