A pump rental company was recently able to provide a customer with a pump dewatering solution while also completing the rebuild of a damaged pump set for the same customer.

IPR operations manager Henru Strydom says that dealing with a pump rental company that has the expertise and capability to undertake a complete pump overhaul was a major advantage for this manufacturing sector customer. “Not only were we able to provide a rapid pump dewatering rental solution to this customer, we were also able to undertake the complete overhaul of the pump ensuring it was back in operation within a relatively short period of time,” he says.

Years of operation transferring water from one dam to another had taken its toll on the pump that was essential to the manufacturing operation. Strydom says that the damaged pump was removed from site and replaced with a rental unit. On further inspection, IPR found that the damage was both mechanical and electrical, and that a complete rebuild of the pump set would be essential to ensure reliable operation going forward.

The final overhaul saw all bearings replaced owing to excessive wear and a new engine wiring harness was installed to replace the old one which was damaged after short-circuiting. Other damaged components were also replaced, including the control panel.

The pump set components were spray painted in IPR’s in-house spray booth, before the pump was subjected to final quality control inspections and then tested in the company’s test tank. “Doing this gives our customer full assurance that the rebuilt pump set is capable of meetings its rated flow of 90 litres per second at a maximum head of 25 m,” Strydom says.

This is not the first full pump rebuild that IPR has done, and Strydom explains that having an in-depth understanding of pump applications and operations is an advantage especially when overhauling pump sets.