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Cutaway of relief valve with parts labeled

Pressure Relief Valves: Critical to Pump and System Safety and Reliability

A key advantage of rotary positive displacement pumps is providing consistent flow regardless of changes in liquid viscosity or differential pressure. But should a downstream blockage occur, pressure will rapidly build and may exceed the rating of the pump, drive equipment, system, or any combination thereof, with the potential for damage and…

Prototype of the original internal gear pump, designed and patented by Viking Pump's founder, Jens Nielson on display at the Viking Pump Headquarters Museum

How An Internal Gear Pump Works

All positive displacement pumps work by first expanding a cavity between the casing and one or more moving parts to create a partial vacuum, so atmospheric pressure can force liquid into the pumping chamber through the inlet port… read more.

This is NOT a lobe pump

Circumferential Piston Pumps Are NOT Lobe Pumps

Viking Pump invented the internal gear pump in the early 20th century; but did you know that we carry various other pump technologies? Most of them are easily identifiable based on their shape. But one common mistake… read more.

spanner wrenches

7 Essential Tools for Pump Repair

Like any job, you need the proper tools to do it well – and the same is true for repairing or servicing positive displacement gear pumps. Below are helpful hand tools that Viking's pump experts recommend having ready for… read more.

testing of a pump in viking pump lab

5 Reasons Why You Should NOT Settle for Imitators 

Having a great product, with a great reputation, and being a technology inventor like Viking Pump®, positions you as a market leader with high visibility. As such, other internal gear pump manufacturers naturally want to follow in your footsteps. While that is a huge compliment, it also causes confusion among internal gear pump buyers.

In this article we'll walk through 5 reasons you'…

Collage of liquids with different viscosities like milk, orange juice, syrup, etc.

Viscosity Through Thick and Thin

Viscosity is a measure of a liquid’s resistance to flow. And you don’t need to work in a laboratory to observe this. Anyone who’s spent any time in the kitchen has observed a variety of liquids with a wide variety of viscosities.

Flanged port

7 Things You Want to Know about Flanged Ports, but are Too Afraid to Ask

Flange standards used on Viking pumps have been in place for over a century so EVERYONE should be experts on this now…right? It turns out not so much. There are various standards and various design differences in each standard. AND the standards have evolved over the years, leading some to use obsolete terms which only compounds the confusion. The following should help clear up some of this…

Damaged Rotor close up

PUMP CAVITATION: THE SYMPTOMS, CAUSE, DIAGNOSIS, AND CURE

Customers don’t ask me to listen to quiet pumps. This is symptom #1 of a cavitating pump. The pump is loud. Descriptors like “growly”, “rumbling”, or “gravelly” are used to describe the atypically loud sound coming from the pump.

“Does it always sound like this?” I ask.

“No, it was fine in the fall, but it’s been loud all winter.”

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Relief Valves: The ever-vigilant heroes

Millions of homes around the world are fitted with water heating devices such as boilers or water supply heaters. Should they overheat, pressures can rise internally until the tank ruptures. Though extremely rare, this does happen and can even propel a water heater like a rocket through the floor and roof of a dwelling. So how can we sleep peacefully each night with the…

Viking pump strainers

Low-Cost Insurance Policy: how a strainer will save you time and money

It’s typically impossible to see inside pipes and tanks.

Industrial pipes are usually steel or stainless. Even the occasionally used PVC is typically opaque.

But on the day of this customer visit, they had a sight glass placed in a horizontal run of pipe which permitted a peek inside…

pressure gauge

Current and Flow: An electrical engineer’s guide to the concepts of fluid systems

Unlike most of my colleagues I didn’t start out with a mechanical background.  While they were studying kinetics and machine design, I was studying digital electronics and industrial power.  When I started my career in the world of pumps, I had to learn a whole new set of concepts.  What was surprising was that while the terminology may be a bit different, the concepts are…

lubricating a pump before startup

Don’t Forget to Stretch

Long before Covid-19 many of us, myself included, have been sidelined by illness.  During this period of downtime, we rest and minimize physical activity.  Post-illness we’re eager to resume our normal lifestyle, but doing so without preparation can lead to difficulties, even injury.  For idled pumping equipment the same principle applies.

Gear reducer in action

Fear of the Gear

In the world of positive displacement pumping, reduced speed operation is a common requirement.  High viscosity liquids, shear sensitive liquids, abrasive liquids, or any combination thereof require the pump speed to be reduced from synchronous motor speeds.

Directional name plate on a pump

It Flows Both Ways: a guide to running an internal gear pump in reverse

One of the biggest limitations of a traditional centrifugal pump is its inability to reverse the direction of flow. By design it can only be run in one rotation and one direction of flow. Liquid enters the eye of the impeller at the suction port (typically on the front of the pump), is pushed out radially, and exits the pump at the discharge port (typically on top of the pump…

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Banana Pumps and Star Gears: A guide to pump industry slang

A gentleman once contacted me to let me know that he’d cracked a head, an impressive, but not entirely unheard-of feat.  When I asked how this had happened he admitted “well, I was wailing on it pretty hard”; I appreciated his honesty.  What followed was a 30-minute conversation full of mis-assumptions and confusion.  At the conclusion I discovered that he was not talking about a head (as in…

railcar loading thumbnail

Pressure & Vacuum Pumping Application Concerns

In the world of gear pumps, it is common to have liquid handling applications where pressure and vacuum are of concern. So, we wanted to share our perspective and recommendations, to help with making pump choices and decisions for the various pressure and/or vacuum scenarios you may encounter.

Glycol pump

Driving Natural Gas with Glycol Pumps

Industrial gear pumps have many uses in a wide array of market applications—ranging from food processing to pouring asphalt. A growing area in need of specialized gear pumps is in the oil and gas industry, particularly with regards to the removal of water from natural gas via dehydration. Viking Pump entered this market to support customers striving to deliver high-quality…

Asphalt being spread onto road

Use of Bitumen & Asphalt: The heat is on

Asphalt, also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black, and highly viscous liquid, or semi-solid form of petroleum. Asphalt is man's earliest organic engineering material. Its application as an adhesive and waterproof material dates to the dawn of civilization. The asphalt market thrives today largely for road building, roofing, and various types of repair work where its…

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