Jake Holshue Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Just venting some frustrations and fishing for some info. We have gone through 3 glycol pumps on our system. 3!!! What the heck? Is there something I can change to make them last longer? Temperature controls? They are Grundfoss pumps, and what a pain in the ass!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artisan Still Design Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 what was the point of failure? seals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Holshue Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 To be honest, I am not sure. I think the failures all occur on the electronic side though. Two of the three kept tripping the GFI. I have only been operational since the end of December/begging of January.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coop Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Why are they on a GFI circuit?? GFI's are set to trip if it even sparks when the switch is turned on. Even heavy moisture in the air can cause a trip. Coop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Holshue Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Perhaps I used the wrong terminology.. They are all controlled power wise on an automated panel and the breaker has its own GFI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artisan Still Design Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 not entirely sure of the cause, but Motors are the worst for tripping GFCI circuits. I think it has something to do with the arcing in the brushes. many in industrial applications have a way to adjust the sensitivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coop Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Do you know if the grundfoss pumps have brushes or are they permanent magmatic type? The ones I use have no brushes. Coop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artisan Still Design Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 are you using a VFD? because that can cause an unbalanced neutral load which can cause all sorts of issues with a GFCI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badcad Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I have ran into alot of failures with grundfoss chopper/silage pumps. Most of the pumps I work on are 10hp and above. I have found that the new pumps are using soft start circuitry that are under the motor inspection plate. And off of that it goes to the pecker head for the line connections. We were sending these out all of the time until I found that circuit. After talking to my motor shop I started bypassing the circuit and haven't had a failure since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG Thermal Consulting Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Depending on the motor characteristics, how the pump is run on the pump curve can cause an overloading state (say deadheading a pump) that can cause the overloads to trip. Multiple occurrences of overload trips can in turn cause either failure of the overloads or the motor windings from the heat buildup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natrat Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Check your input voltages as well. We had a mysterious problem with our #3 process pump on the big chiller. After 3 pump swaps and rebuilds, I finally asked my electrician to have our supply monitored, and it turned out that one phase was dropping more than 40 volts intermittently, which was eating motors. The city did some repairs a block away, and since then we have been good....fingers crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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