Back To Basics
High Quality Castings
We have spent hours on a variety of Blogs discussing construction, Diesel engines and products being shipped all over the world. Although Ameriflo has the most diverse and complete hydraulic coverage available in the fire protection industry, we neglect to cover the basics when it comes to standard casing & bowl castings. It is very well known that Ameriflo standardizes on ductile iron casing material throughout the fire protection product line. The casting process for ductile iron is slightly more complicated than cast iron but the advantages are worth the effort. Nearly every other manufacturer in the fire protection industry pours their casing castings out of class 30 cast iron. This class of cast iron has a tensile strength of 30,000 PSI and is the standard for the pump industry globally.
Ductile iron has an additional step of using what is called an inoculation crucible. This second crucible has magnesium placed in it and the original heat is poured into this crucible for inoculation. This process essentially changes the base material into ductile iron. The grade of ductile iron that Ameriflo uses as a standard material in all casings and bowls is class 65 which has a tensile strength of 65,000 PSI, more than double that of standard class 30 cast iron. As the tensile strength is increased, so is the case working pressure. This simple change in base material from cast iron to ductile iron allows Ameriflo to have case working pressures that are nearly doubled of what our competition uses as a standard material.
Ductile iron is used by the competition in applications where the case working pressures needed exceeds class 30 cast iron. Other manufacturers will offer this as an option with an extended lead-time. These lead-times vary, can exceed 20 additional weeks and is a killer to a prospective order, especially when the customer needs the pump yesterday.
Can you say THREE DAY LEAD-TIME!! Another Express Quick Ship package out the door by the end of the week. This is an emergency shipment for a high rise building in NY City. The client was on Fire Watch and paying nearly $3,000 a day while waiting for a competitor pump that was quoted with an 11 week lead-time. They knew this 11 week time-frame would get drawn out to 20 weeks or more.
5010 End Suction Performance Characteristics
For some reason, many people forget about end suction pumps when it comes to Fire Protection. This product type is VERY popular outside of the United States. The 5010 ES product line has current coverage through 1250 GPM with an expansion through 2500 GPM currently in engineering.
Ameriflo supplies equipment to nearly over 80 countries globally. Many of these applications use redundant electric, Diesel & jockey pump combinations (EDJ). These applications are a great example of how Ameriflo can control costs across the entire project as they are the only North American pump manufacturer to also manufacture their own Diesel engine product line. This gives the Ameriflo distributor an incredible advantage over their competition. The largest hydraulic coverage also allows for perhaps the best selections based on efficiency and speed.
The pump featured in this short Blog includes a Diesel engine driven split case pump. This medium sized pump produces 2500 GPM @ 135 PSI. Ameriflo has the most efficient and expansive split case product offered in the fire protection market today. The 5030 SC product line has many standard features and benefits that are not offered even as options by the majority of the other players. The Diesel engine version features an Ameriflo AF6-135, 6 cylinder block generating 375 HP at 1760 RPM and has a large 1.500 inch cooling loop.
One of the most unique features of Ameriflo’s Diesel engine driven vertical turbine product line are the foundation bases. Every other vertical turbine manufacturer supplies a base for the discharge head only and has a separate base for the Diesel engine. The vertical offset between the Diesel engine and the pump is typically addressed at the job site by the contractor pouring the foundation. If ANY issue comes up during installation about the driveshaft not lining up with the right angle gear drive the finger pointing games kick off!! In the Ameriflo design, the foundation is flat, exactly the same when installing an end suction or split case. This vertical riser design is a game changer making Diesel engine vertical turbine installation a breeze.
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