Main pump seized up on me mid shift last Tuesday, what a nightmare

Was running a job out near the Mississippi, old river channel, and around 2pm the main pump just locked up. No warning, no weird noise, just stopped. Turns out the packing gland was way too tight and it overheated the shaft. Took me and a guy 4 hours to pull the pump, replace the packing, and get it back in line. Cost me about 300 bucks for parts and lost a whole day of production. Anyone else had a pump seize from packing issues or was I just asking for it running that tight?

2 comments

2 Comments

lindaw2915d ago

A packing gland that tight is asking for trouble, couple hundred bucks and half a shift lost sounds about right. Probably saved yourself a bigger repair down the line though, a loose gland that lets water in will eat the shaft bearings faster. Next time run it with a bit of weep and tighten gradual over a few days, that pump will thank you.

jake_kelly2415d agoMost Upvoted

My old man used to say "give it a twitch, not a crank" but then he also used baling twine for everything.