Seal Vendors

[Milkboy]

What is the groups opinions on the following vendors

Burgmann

Flowserve (Dura/BW)

John Crane (Flexibox/Sealol)

AES

Eagle

(any others I have not mentioned)

Just a brief sum up of your opinion is appreciated

i.e. Good for chemical, good for Offshore, bad delivery, poor quality. THat type thing

TIA


-
Milkboy

 

[pmover]

opinion...

all listed mfg's provide good products, otherwise they would not be in the business.

the situation really depends upon the pumpage, pressure, and temperature.

sometimes clients/end users have preference of seal mfg. for one reason or another, some of which you have mentioned.

perhaps this website will further expand your knowledge of pumps and seals, in general.

http://www.mcnallyinstitute.com/

-pmover

 

[Milkboy]

"sometimes clients/end users have preference of seal mfg. for one reason or another, some of which you have mentioned"

Thats what I am trying to look at. WHy would you personally choose one and not another.

TIA




-
Milkboy

 

[arto]

Chesterton & Durametallic too?

 

[pmover]

for design engineers, generally, the decision boils down to client preference (may be specified/required) or cost, while meeting process and pumpage requirements. some epc firms may specify certain seal mfg's for cost purposes.

for end user's, often it is dependent upon the overall costs associated with seals (i.e. replacement, availability, equipment downtime, etc.). some end user's have processes (nasty fluids) whereby they can predict seal replacement based on pump operating time, start/stop cycles, etc.

personally, it does not matter.
-pmover

 

[unclesyd]

I hate to say it but there is one thing no one has mentioned. That is the salesman and the manufactureres’ perks. That was very big problem at our site as we couldn't use anything but a particular brand, good seals but not always the best for every application. Our pump guru always insisted that we use this particular seal and it wasn't until he retired that we found out that there was a kinship factor along with a few other amenities involved. This presented a big problem as our seal shop only had parts for this one manufacturer. We were eventually able to start bringing in other manufacturers based on an engineering evaluation. By evaluating each application we were able to make an appreciable dent in the seal failures in several areas. This required a fairly large expenditure up front but paid off in the long term.
Another problem that manifest itself was that not all manufacturers were equally represented due to varying expertise among the salesman and tech reps.

 

[tothepoint]

I agree with unclesyd. All face type mechanical seals work the same way, and there are no great technology advantages between one manufacturers seal and anothers. The pump types, services, environmental controls, and maintenance and start-up procedures are the variables, not so much the manufacturer of the seal. The key to a cost effective, succesful and reliable mechanical seal program lies with your in-plant seal expertise or that of the supplier/service rep for the seal. These are the people who provide the expertise for proper seal selection, environmental controls, installation and start-up procedures. Work with a seal manufacturer whose own staff or their distributor technical reps really have the expertise and make themselves available to you. Most plants spend >$250,000/yr on mechanical seals. You deserve to have this expertise as part of the package. There are manufacturers and distributors out there who KNOW and SERVICE/SUPPORT mechanical seals. Make this your criteria, not just a brand name.

 

[geoffreydavies]

I think we should not try and be too clever when buying a pump, that is by trying to show more knowledge than the pump supplier. He has to supply the warranty, and also the spare parts. You can do a "life-cycle" cost analysis to choose between pump package suppliers, and hold the winner to account for satisfactory operation. It is difficult sometimes for client engineers to avoid meddling, and showing off their knowledge - but they are not guaranteeing the equipment. I would rather trust the person who is.

 

[longeron]

I'll chime in as a vendor.

Personal relationships aren't always terrible when dealing with us. I'm not going to suggest that taking lunch with the same salesguy everyday is acceptable, or that finding season tickets to the local football team on your desk before a big project is legit. But within reason, if you find a salesperson who you trust, who has been able to help you solve problems, supply a good product, who has expedited orders, come out in the middle of the night to check things out, stick with him. Service like that is hard to come by. Think about the time your vendor has spent working for you. That is time that could have been spent with another account. That time is an investment in any future sale to your plant.

The comments about knowledge are right on the money. Sales guys who have great relationships with the reliability/maintenance group love it when the project engineers call only for a quote and not for advice. That means that at start-up or within 6 months, they will be back out there selling more product as they help to fix the problems the project guys created by going cheap or by ignoring suggestions.

As a vendor contracted to be on-site, I'd love nothing more than to help get things right the first time. What better way to make my products look good? But when, as recently happened, the projects group (more contractors) went cheap on a pump and spec'ed a boiler feed water pump with a standard bore seal chamber and didn't spec the flush plan that we had suggested, the maintenance budget had to pick up the pieces- replacing several seals and purchasing 6 seal flush coolers.

Not all of us are out there to overcharge and underservice you.

Lastly, I recently heard a great quote- "Is your (fill in the blank) vendor selling (fill in the product) or doughnuts?"