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Big pump testing

FranklinD
FranklinD Member Posts: 399
I know it's not heating related, but thought I'd share anyway.

Today I went through training on the testing of two our fire pumps, a 1250 gpm and a 1500 gpm. Both are 2 stage single shaft pumps, and can be configured to pump for volume (parallel) or pressure (series).

We take the trucks down to the local shipyards, throw the hard 6" suction line over the edge of the slip, plumb a 50 foot 5" feeder line over to a trailer-mounted 4" monitor, and let it blast out into the bay. We take our readings off of gauge sets we install on pump suction and pressure sides, nozzle pressure, and record shaft rpm, barometric pressure, air and water temps, and so on, for a variety of nozzle sizes and flow rates.

Both passed with flying colors, one is a 1993 chassis with one rebuild on the pump, the other is a 1991 chassis with 2 rebuilds (the truck builder dropped a 1" pipe plug into the onboard 1500 gallon tank and it took a large chunk out of the first stage volute - oops - it took 7 years to find its way to the pump).

Anyway...if it's too far off topic, I apologize. But pumps are pumps and the power was quite something to behold...shooting a stream of water out of a 2" nozzle, traveling about 250 feet without much arc to it - wow.

The final test is disabling automatic controls and forcing the pump over relief...watching the gauge wiggle briefly up around 400psi before the relief bypass pops - yikes.

Here are some pics....
Ford Master Technician, "Tinkerer of Terror"
Police & Fire Equipment Lead Mechanic, NW WI
Lover of Old Homes & Gravity Hot Water Systems
SWEIChrisJ

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,171
    neat!
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    FranklinD
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    What's really cool is watching an old steam-powered fire engine. There are at least two of these in running condition at the Fire Museum of Maryland, just north of our shop. These were basically steam-powered pumps on wheels, which were pulled to the scene by horses.

    This is why:

    1- there are all those little fire stations in older American cities. The response time of a horse-drawn unit was very slow, so they compensated by building more stations to decrease the distance to the closest one;

    2- even in the modern era, fire vehicles with large pumps are still called "Fire Engines". The old horse-drawn engines are where the name came from.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    FranklinD
  • FranklinD
    FranklinD Member Posts: 399
    In our local police & fire museum, we have one of original hand pumpers, a chemical engine (which is really cool), and a steam engine driven pumper. Unfortunately they don't have the budget to do full modern restorations on them...they were last restored in the 60's I believe, and are really showing their age. But very interesting to look at.

    Because of the harbor here, our FD acquired a fire boat recently. It has a 380hp 6.2 liter GM v8 whose sole job is to turn the fire pump. I believe that one can move upwards of 1750 gpm. For motive power it uses two joystick controlled 250 hp Honda outboards (the company is called Lake Assault Boats, all built locally - a very interesting place to visit). They build boats for everyone from the Coast Guard and the NOAA, to local Police and Fire depts.
    Ford Master Technician, "Tinkerer of Terror"
    Police & Fire Equipment Lead Mechanic, NW WI
    Lover of Old Homes & Gravity Hot Water Systems
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 22,024
    I find these bigs pumps facinating. I did a radiant shop for a fire truck manufacturer here in Springfield years ago. That had a concrete water tank underground out back to test the pumpers. They demoed one built for NYC for high rise applications, amazing how far it could throw water. It emptied the tank quickly also.
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • FranklinD
    FranklinD Member Posts: 399
    Hot rod - down at Waterous in south St. Paul they have a similar setup...almost like a drive-over swimming pool, with a small tin building containing all the gauges and sensors and data logging equipment. They use it to benchmark all the new completed truck mounted pumps.

    Funny story - a new, very young employee was told to drive a truck off of the platform and park it after they completed the pump test on it. He dutifully hopped in, started it up, engaged 'road mode' on the pto, and drove away from the test stand...but the 6" hard suction and 4" pressure lines were still connected to the standpipes mounted to the test shed wall! He ended up dragging the little building around the parking lot with him. Oops!
    Ford Master Technician, "Tinkerer of Terror"
    Police & Fire Equipment Lead Mechanic, NW WI
    Lover of Old Homes & Gravity Hot Water Systems
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,853
    When I went to Breitenbush Resort in Washington State, they had a fire engine that we used as a "pump cart" to flush their 800 foot long steel heat exchanger that was immersed in Mother Earth as the heat source. We pumped out of the river, through the heat exchanger and into the field. It was powered by a 350 cu. in Chevy engine. Talk about pressure and flow... It got the job done lickity split. They are some amazing machines for sure.

    On this same job, right as we were getting ready to back flush the heat exchanger by flip flopping hoses, we inadvertently isolated the well heat exchanger, which didn't have a pressure relief valve on it, and locked up the ball valves due to hydrostatic pressure. A 2" cast iron tee ended up acting as the pressure relief, right about chest high. I got doused with hot water, but fortunately didn't get scalded. The static pressure increase came from the cold river water being heated up, causing expansion.

    I learned a very valuable lesson. NEVER close off a heat exchanger that is in the earth, because there is NO way to turn off the heat. And ALWAYS have an escape plan in mind before you start working on something that can't be shut off...

    Fortunately, the resort had a well stocked shop facility, and I was able to rebuild the broken system and add a pressure relief valve when we put it back together. The system was down for about 2 hours.

    Remember the Radiator Ranger? This was her project, and I was there at her behest. Coolest project you've ever seen. 150 out buildings all being heated by mother earth via an underground district heating system. Plus a low head hydro electric generating system to boot.

    ME
    It's not so much a case of "You got what you paid for", as it is a matter of "You DIDN'T get what you DIDN'T pay for, and you're NOT going to get what you thought you were in the way of comfort". Borrowed from Heatboy.