Even if you’ve been working with Waukesha pumps for a long time, one of the most common things we see people goof up is correctly identifying the mounting orientation for a side mounted Waukesha Universal pump. Because it is to some extent a matter of perspective (whether you’re looking at the pump from the front or the back), and thus communication, and also because the Waukesha pump manual is a wee bit confusing, we see this minor emergency all the time. So let’s talk a little bit about the different Waukesha PD pump mounting orientations, why you would side mount your PD pump anyway, and a few tricks and helpful pictures so you never make that mistake again.
Universal Pump Orientation Options
Did you know that one of the reasons the Universal Series of pumps is call the “Universal” pump is because the mounting configurations are “universal”? That means we can mount the pump drive shaft (the shaft that connects to the motor) four different positions- upper shaft, lower shaft, side mount right hand shaft, and side mount left hand shaft.
The Universal pump gearcase is drilled to accommodate the foot mounting pad on three of the four sides- we’ll come back to why this is important later.
The flexibility for upper and lower positions is helpful when aligning the pump and motor on a base- we don’t have to over shim either the pump or the motor, which is both aesthetically pleasing and mechanically ideal.
The side mount options allow us to reorient the pump inlet and outlet. With upper and lower shaft orientations, our inlet and discharge are at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock depending on motor rotation. With a side mount, we’re able to orient the pump with the ports at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock or in the vertical. We like doing this for applications where it is difficult to get product into the pump, or applications with confined space where we can minimize piping, and also to maximize drainability, especially when used with a flat body profile (learn more about that in this post).
Which side do I choose and why is it important?
From a pump system standpoint, choosing which side to mount your pump on isn’t particularly important. But from a layout standpoint, it’s crucial. Because with a side mount the pump shaft will be “offset” or off of the base center, we’ll have to drill our base accordingly to align the pump drive shaft and gear motor.
If we choose the “wrong” side, especially when replacing an existing pump, we can’t just flip it. As we mentioned above, the gear case is only drilled for mounting on the top of the gearcase, the bottom of the gearcase, and one of the sides. So while it is relatively easy to make an upper shaft pump a lower shaft pump and vice versa, it’s not so easy to just “flip” a side mounted pump. In order to make a left hand shaft a right hand shaft, we actually need to pull the shafts, which while not particularly difficult, is certainly time consuming.
Tricks to keep it straight
So how do you know which side it which? Start by looking directly at the pump cover. If when looking at the pump cover, the shaft is on the right hand side, you’ll know you have a right hand shaft. If when looking at the pump from the front the shaft is on the left, you know you have a left hand shaft.
We try to keep it straight by thinking of your shaft mounting options as 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock. Again, as when viewed from the pump front cover, the 12 o’clock position is upper shaft, the 3 o’clock position is right hand shaft, the 6 o’clock position is a lower shaft, and a 9 o’clock position is a left hand shaft. Typically, our side mounting pad will be on the right side of the pump when facing the cover. So with the side mounting pad on the right, we can go from an upper shaft to a right hand shaft and a lower shaft to a left hand shaft.
Add in a pedestal to keep the ports high enough to get an elbow in there, and that’s about all you need to know to side mount your Waukesha PD pump. And as always, if you have any questions about what shaft mounting position your Waukesha PD pump has, contact a Triplex Sales Engineer today!
