Pump Shaft And Belt Alignment: Problems And Solutions

Running your pumps day in and day out, especially in an industrial setting, will inevitably result in the misalignment of shaft and belt at one point. But these misalignments must be kept within tolerable limits to avoid causing serious damage at a later stage. As any Kirloskar pump distributor or Kirloskar Pump Authorized Dealer will tell you, pump shaft and belt alignment is one of the necessary interventions of maintenance.

In This Blog, We Will Take a Look On Pump Shaft And Belt Alignment Problems And Their Solutions:

What is Pump Alignment?

Power is transmitted from a motor to a pump through shafts or belts. However, due to rigorous work day in and day out, the shafts and belts can get misaligned. This could cause serious damage to seals, create lubrication issues and cause leakages. If the damage is serious, it could result in increased downtime, thus affecting your workflows. These issues are in fact quite common in Industrial Water Pumps.

Overall, pump misalignment could drastically reduce the efficiency of your pump, and cause serious wear and tear, and unforeseen breakdowns. In the worst-case scenario, the pump can suffer permanent damage, requiring an unplanned costly replacement. 

Early detection and correction of shaft and belt misalignment of the pump are therefore very important. As a leading Kirloskar Pump Authorised Dealer and Authorised Pump Original Equipment Manufacturer (APOEM), VEMC has unparalleled expertise in pump assembling & alignment.

Shaft Misalignment

Shaft misalignment accounts for nearly half of the breakdown costs of pumps. Shaft misalignment is of two types:

• Parallel misalignment –– which is of further two types: horizontal and vertical. Parallel horizontal misalignment is said to have taken place when the motor shaft moves horizontally away from the pump. Parallel vertical misalignment likewise happens when the motor shaft moves vertically away from the pump shaft.

• Angular misalignment –– is said to have happened when the motor and the pump shaft move away at an angle from the pump shaft, but both continue to be in the same horizontal or vertical plane. Angular misalignment could also be vertical or horizontal.

Types of belt misalignment

• Vertical or twisted misalignment –– takes place when one of the pulleys develops an angular error from the vertical angle plane. By simply lifting the feet of the pump (front or rear depending on the direction of the error), the angle error can be corrected.

• Horizontal angle misalignment –– is said to have happened when the driver and the driven unit are no longer parallel to one another. This can be corrected by moving the front and rear feet forward or backward.

• Parallel misalignment –– usually takes place when the motor is positioned incorrectly along its shaft axis. It can also be caused due to the incorrect positioning of the pulleys on their respective shafts.

Our Solution

VEMC is an APOEM (Authorized Pumpset Original Equipment Manufacturer) apart from being a leading Kirloskar pump distributor. With our APOEM pump testing facility, we can detect errors causing pump misalignments with utmost effectiveness. This can significantly reduce the chances of pump failures and unexpected downtime.

To get the best quality witness-tested pumps with proper alignment and assembly, call us at 022 43436655 or email us at marketing@vemc.co.in. As the leading Kirloskar Authorised Dealer and Kirloskar pump distributor, we pride ourselves on the highest standards of maintenance service.