Pump mounted in an angle, ok or not?

Hi!

I'm got myself a Topsflo pump, which unfortunately does not have any features that ease attachment of a pump foot. A drill, a Dremel and a heat gun later, I made myself a ghetto pump foot out of an IKEA cutting board.




The problem, perhaps, is that the pump is currently mounted in a 45 degree angle. Most seem to recommend horizontal or vertical mounting, so my question is - are there any problems with an inclined mounting? Does it increase wear, risk for cavitation or similar?


/Mannelito

 

Pump orientation will not affect wear.

The roughly 45deg angle should not give you much increased risk of cavitation either. Should...

The only likely mechanism of cavitation that I can see is that the high point (elevation-wise) in the pump head may now be in the intake line near the center of the pump. An air pocket there at pump start would lead to cavitation, but it shouldn't take much gravity flow into the pump head to fully flood the pump.

I think you'll be fine.

 

Thanks for the input! I'll see what happens when I hook it up, maybe I'll put the heat-gun on the cutting board and adjust the angle if needed.


/Manne

 

I would think that it would significantly affect the life of the pumps components like the impellar and any brackets used to secure it down. Since gravity is acting straight down, you want the pumps center of mass to stay relatively stable. What you've got at 45deg is a constant offset angular imbalance whenever it runs. I work at a chemical plant and from an engineering standpoint, theres no way we'd consider mounting a pump at an angle