Maintenance takes on all kinds of styles and approaches, but anything we can do to make the process more intuitive and easy to hack, the better. In this presentation, we describe a simple mnemonic device -- CLAWS -- to help pump operators ensure they're checking the biggest culprits for trouble before they reach a state of failure.

1. Getting Your CLAWS
into Pump Maintenance
Brian Gongol, M.Ed.
DJ Gongol & Associates, Inc.
September 6, 2023
IAWEA Fall Operators Conference
Newton, Iowa

2. The power of mnemonics

3. What do you teach kids to do in case
their clothes catch fire?

4. What do you teach kids to do in case
their clothes catch fire?
• Stop, drop, and roll

5. What is the first assessment in first aid?

6. What is the first assessment in first aid?
• CAB
• Circulation
• Airway
• Breathing

7. How do you change lanes on the road?

8. How do you change lanes on the road?
• SLY
• Signal
• Look
• Yield

9. Mnemonics reduce what we have to remember
• Stop, drop, and roll
• CAB (which used to be ABC)
• SLY

10. Pump maintenance can also be a mnemonic

11. Think CLAWS

12. Who has encountered
a pump that just one
day kept turning but
stopped working?

13. CLAWS
Clearances

14. Centrifugal pumps need tight clearances

15. Gaps between moving parts invite clogging

16. Recirculation cuts into pump efficiency

17. Energy generated
by the rotating
impeller has to be
directed or else it
will loop

18. Performance losses accelerate wear

19. Problems with clearances happen slowly,
then all at once

20. Easy clearance
adjustment
saves money

21. You can’t work
with a pump that
stops turning, can
you?

22. CLAWS
Lubrication

23. Lubricants are
modern marvels
▼ Friction
▼ Heat
▼ Wear
▲ Run time

24. Seal oil or grease

25. Bearing oil or grease

26. Motor oil or grease

27. Not too much, not too little

28. Changes in
lubricant
condition can
warn you of
trouble

29. You know it’s how to make a vehicle last
And it’s how to make your
pumps last, too

30. A broken pump
shaft would really
wreck your day,
wouldn’t it?

31. CLAWS
Alignment

32. Misalignment is
usually a
transmission
problem

33. Couplings need to be ultra-precise

34. V-belts can forgive, but not if they’re over-tight

35. Laser alignment
isn’t hard to do

36. Precision pump balancing reduces wear,
and every good pump spec admits it

37. Alignment issues grow with
(1) pump speeds and (2) pump sizes

38. Consider the math
• 9.75” diameter impeller

39. Consider the math
• 9.75” diameter impeller
⇒ 30.63” travel per rotation
(at the vane tips)

40. Consider the math
• 9.75” diameter impeller
⇒ 30.63” travel per rotation
(at the vane tips)
• 1150 rpm

41. Consider the math
• 9.75” diameter impeller
⇒ 30.63” travel per rotation
(at the vane tips)
• 1150 rpm
⇒ 69,000 turns per hour

42. Consider the math
• 9.75” diameter impeller
⇒ 30.63” travel per rotation
(at the vane tips)
• 1150 rpm
⇒ 69,000 turns per hour
• 30.63” x 69,000
= 2,113,470 inches/hour

43. Consider the math
• 9.75” diameter impeller
⇒ 30.63” travel per rotation
(at the vane tips)
• 1150 rpm
⇒ 69,000 turns per hour
• 30.63” x 69,000
= 2,113,470 inches/hour
= 33.36 mph

44. Consider the math
• At 1150 rpm, the vane tips
are moving at 33.36 mph
• At 1750 rpm, the vane tips
are moving at 50.76 mph

45. Consider the math
• At 1150 rpm, the vane tips
are moving at 33.36 mph
• At 1750 rpm, the vane tips
are moving at 50.76 mph
• Treat your impeller like
you’d treat your
automobile and keep it
well-aligned

46. Nobody wants a pump
that underperforms
the system
requirements, do you?

47. CLAWS
Wear

48. What wears in a pump?

49. Wear plates or wear rings

50. When they wear out…
• Clearances increase
• Recirculation increases
• Energy is wasted
• Solids get stuck

51. Impellers

52. When they wear out…
• Efficiency decreases
• Performance degrades
• Run times increase

53. Casings

54. When they wear out…
• Pumps leak
• Pressure is lost
• Catastrophic failures occur

55. And also:
Not all castings are created equal

56. You hate it
when pumps
get clogged,
right?

57. CLAWS
Solids

58. A problem in wastewater,
but a risk in potable water too

59. Tuberculated
pipes and
sedimentation
come for us all

60. Look in low-velocity spots

61. Look in low places

62. Abrasive wear looks different from cavitation

63. Making use of the CLAWS

64. Routine pump inspections: Weekly checks
• Clearances
• Lubrication – if it’s easy to inspect, check it weekly
• Alignment
• Wear
• Solids

65. Routine pump inspections: Monthly checks
• Clearances – if it’s a high-wear application
• Lubrication
• Alignment
• Wear
• Solids

66. Routine pump inspections: Quarterly checks
• Clearances
• Lubrication
• Alignment
• Wear
• Solids

67. Routine pump inspections: Semiannual checks
• Clearances – the bare minimum if you want to avoid trouble
• Lubrication
• Alignment – for belt drives
• Wear
• Solids

68. Routine pump inspections: Annual checks
• Clearances
• Lubrication
• Alignment
• Wear
• Solids

69. Troubleshooting when problems arise
Most problems
can be traced back
to the CLAWS

70. Even pilots count on quick-reference guides

71. Quick answers are often bad
Practice finding good answers quickly

72. If it’s one problem, it’s often more than one
Misalignment leads to
lubrication problems
Wear encourages problems
with solids
Clearance problems
accelerate wear
Solids can cause wear which
leads to clearance problems

73. Simplifying maintenance thinking helps
prevent catastrophic problems

74. But it only works if you put the idea to use!

75. Keep the CLAWS at the ready
Clearances – Lubrication – Alignment – Wear – Solids

76. Questions?
• Thanks for your time and
attention!
• This presentation can be
found at
gongol.net/presentations
• Brian Gongol
DJ Gongol & Associates
• 515-223-4144
• brian@gongol.net
• @djgongol on LinkedIn,
Twitter, and Facebook

77. Credits
• Pump alignment images used courtesy of the Gorman-Rupp
Company
• Some icons were automatically inserted by PowerPoint
• All other images (including all product-specific and project
site photos) are the original work of the author
• Copyright 2022 by Brian Gongol, all rights reserved