Pump Materials of Construction Upgrades
During the teardown and inspection process, we frequently find that the material incompatibility of certain components is the root cause of pump failure. Thankfully, Nickerson is usually able to upgrade the materials of construction of the failed components and return the pump to peak performance.
In addition to upgrading the materials of construction, we often add protective coatings that can help improve both reliability and run times. In the case of deep well pump bowls, we provide heavy-duty material pump upgrade packages specifically engineered to help centrifugal water pumps withstand the effects of pumping abrasive and corrosive materials.
3M™ Powder, Epoxy Catalyst & Rubber Coatings
There are a wide variety of highly effective spray-on protective coatings that have proven to be highly effective in preventing both erosion and corrosion. These protective coatings have been proven to significantly extend a pump's service life and long-term performance.
The coating process typically involves careful surface preparation, generally achieved through sandblasting, followed by the application of an epoxy catalyst or rubber coating. Depending on the coating product, an initial primer coat followed by one or more top coats may be needed to ensure the desired coating.
Nickerson Company also offers 3M™ powder coating, a plastic-like coating that is applied to a heated part. This type of pump coating uses electrostatic attraction between the powder and the parts to adhere the material to virtually every exposed surface. Powder coatings are especially effective in both corrosive and abrasive conditions.
For many centrifugal water pumps, a particular coating product and procedure are required to meet engineering specifications. Nickerson Company has worked extensively with a wide variety of these industrial coating products and can comply with nearly any specification. We also regularly advise our customers on the best protective coating options based on the particular application, as well as corrosive and abrasive conditions.
Spray-on Metalized Pump Coatings
In addition to epoxy catalyst coatings, rubber coatings, and powder coatings, Nickerson also has extensive experience applying spray-on metalizing products to achieve hard surface wear journals. We have achieved excellent results providing shaft wear journals in both tungsten carbide and chromium oxide, which form a wear surface many times harder and more corrosion-resistant than the base shaft material. This process can also be utilized to fill in and repair wear damage on a shaft, and then followed by a hard surface wear journal.