Overheard a salvage crew chief saying they run pumps dry to 'blow out the lines', my stomach dropped

That kills the seal on a 12 inch sand pump in one dry spin, I watched a guy at the Port of Gulfport wreck a $9,000 impeller doing exactly that last spring, has anyone else encountered this shortcut on a job site?

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rowan72520d ago

You ever see a guy learn that lesson the hard way? My buddy runs a dewatering crew over in Pascagoula, and he tried the dry run trick on a 6 inch gravel pump last fall just to save a hour on a job. Thing sounded like a blender full of rocks for maybe 20 seconds, then the whole shaft started smoking. He pulled it apart and the rubber liner was shredded into ribbons, plus the impeller was cracked clean through. That was a $4,000 fix and a full day down, all to skip a simple flushing step. He still gets razzed about it every time we grab a beer.