Maybe you have just bought a farm, or a bach and you have found that your water supply is delivered by a piston pump. And it has stopped working. What pump do you have?
You can't find any documentation. There are very few marks on the pump. Let's work out what you have.
If it is possible to take a photo and email us at pumps@trackindustries.co.nz, we can help you.
If that is not possible, then lets break it down.
How big is your pump? There are three main groups.
Small, which can be carried by a single person, will be 500mm to 800mm in length. You would be looking at a weight of 25-40 kgs.
Medium, which would take about two people to move it around, they are 1m to 1.5m long. You would be looking at around 80-200 kgs.
Large, ideally you would be having to use a forklift or crane to move these around, these will be longer than 1.5m long. Weights are around 200-500 kgs.
One of the most important pieces of information that will help us identifying your pump is the bore size. This is on the Water end (Head) and is where the Plunger Cups (either leather or synthetic) and Plunger Assembly move back and forward. You will need to take the End Cover off to check this. we are looking for the internal diameter of the Brass Liner, where the Plunger Cups move backwards and forwards.
Small pumps can have bore sizes from 25mm (1") to 45mm (1 3/4").
Medium pumps tend to have bore sizes from 50mm (2") to 89mm (3 1/2").
Large Pumps will be from from 100mm (4") to 127mm (5").
| Bore Size mm | Bore Size inch | Pumps with this bore size |
| 25mm | 1” | Renown 150 |
| 32mm | 1 1/4” | Renown 200, B1-HP, MacEwans H0-HP |
| 35mm | 1 3/8” | Anderson 253 |
| 38mm | 1 ½” | Renown 400, B1-STD, MacEwans H0-STD |
| 44mm | 1 ¾" | Renown 931, Anderson 402, B1-LP |
| 51mm | 2” | C1-HP, PowerFlo AHR |
| 57mm | 2 ¼” | MacEwans H1-HP |
| 60mm | 2 3/8” | Anderson 355-357 |
| 64mm | 2 ½” | Renown 912 |
| 67mm | 2 ¾” | Anderson 605-607, C1-STD, MacEwans H1-STD, PowerFlo A |
| 76mm | 3” | Renown 905, PowerFlo B, MacEwans H2-HP |
| 83mm | 3 ¼” | PowerFlo C |
| 89mm | 3 ½” | Anderson 1105-1107, MacEwans H2-STD |
| 101mm | 4” | Anderson 1705-1707, MacEwans H3-HP |
| 114mm | 4 ½” | MacEwans H3-STD |
Individual manufacturers have their own design. This can help us determine what pump you have. We will divide the designs up by manufacturers.
One defining features for Anderson pumps is the Water-End (Head) construction. The Head has three main parts. Starting from the top. you have the Valve Cover. This sits on the Valve Plate. This is a large flat brass plate. The Valve Assemblies are screwed into this part. Four Valve Assemblies in total, two facing up and two facing down. This sits on the Cylinder. This is the main part of the Head. It contains the brass Liner and is where the Plunger cups and Assembly operate. These are held together with a stud or studs and large brass Valve Nuts. The number of brass nuts will be a great help identifying. The 253/402 has one. This is a small pump, it weights around 35 kg. The 355 has one too but is a medium size pump, it weights in around 100 kg. The 605 has two brass nuts, weights in around 200 kg. The 1105 and 1705 has six, they weight 350 and 450 kg respectively.
The MacEwans range have a different design to the other pumps. The H1, H2, H3 have a three part design which is bolted together. From the top, you have a Top Chamber, this is a bell like design. This sits on the Suction Chamber. This has two of the Valve Assemblies screwed into the top of it. This then sits on the Cylinder. This hold the Liner and the other two Valve Assemblies. There are two long bolts running down each side, holding the Head together.
The H0 Head is comprised of a main Cylinder containing the Liner with an Air Chamber screwed down vertical and Top Valve Assemblies bolted to the top of the Cylinder.
The smaller B1 (300) is the smaller at 36 kg and 600 mm long. These pumps have their Valve Assemblies stacked on the Head. The Delivery Side is on the top of the pump with the Valve Assemblies vertical on the Head. The Suction side is at the bottom of the pump below the Liner and Plunger assembly. The Valve Assemblies is horizontal in the Head.
The C1 (500) is the larger of the two at 90 kg and about 900 mm long. You will find that the Valve Assemblies are set-up the same as the B1. The Delivery Side is on the top of the pump and vertical in the head. The Suction Side is at the bottom of the head and the Valve Assemblies are horizontal.
The suction Valves Caps on both the B1 and C1 are held by a Bolt and Clamp. The Delivery Valves are cover by an Air Chamber. On the B1, it is a square shaped cover. On the C1, it is a bell-shaped form.
Please note that the Valve Seat are different for the Suction and Delivery, The Delivery Valve Seat has a groove in the face. The Suction Valve Seat has a plain face without a groove.
The PowerFlo range all share the same Back-End and Head design. The Head has a similar design with the Renown 900 series and some very old Anderson designs. The Suction Valve Assembly are on the side of the Head and at a 45-degree angle. The Delivery Valve Assemblies are vertical in the head. On the suction side of the Head you will find a Suction Chamber screwed in. On older pumps, this may have been removed. They do come from the factory with this Chamber installed. These are a medium sized pumps, weighting in about 90-100 kg.
The PowerFlo “C” has an extra Chamber cast into the head. This is a square box cast into the Suction side of the pump. The “A”, “B”, and “AHR” have a flat side on the Suction side, you will see a flush side from the top bell-shaped Air Chamber to the bottom of the Head casting (as in the picture below).
There are large variety of Renown Pumps. I will deal with the most common of the range, The Renown 150, 200, 400 and the 900 Series.
The 150/200/400 pumps share a similar design. The Back-End and Water End are all in one part. The 150 and 200 share the same main body. The different being that the 150 has 5 bolts around the outside of the Side Cover on the Head to handle the high pressures they can produce. The 200 has only a centre Brass Nut holding the Side Covers in place. The 150/200 weigh around 30 kg. The 400 is a similar shape but large in scale. The 400 weights in around 40 kg.
Please note that there was a change in shape of the Head/Side Covers for the 150/200. The older design is a pear like, rounder shape, with the newer design being squarer design. The 400 only has a rounded pear size Head.
The 900 series are larger pumps. These are medium size and will weight in around 90 - 100 kg. The 912 and 905 looks very similar to the PowerFlo design. The 931 looks similar to the C1 for its Head design. They all share the same Back-End design and parts. The 912 and 905 share the same Head design. The Suction Side Valve Assemblies are set on a 45-degree angle and are on the side of the head. The Delivery Side Valve Assemblies are on the top, under the bell-shaped Air Chamber. The 912 will have "FIG 912" and "2 1/2 x 3" cast into the sides of the Head. The 905 will have "FIG 905" and "3 x 3" cast on to their Head.
The 931 has the Delivery Side Valve Assemblies are on the top of the Head. The Suction Side Valve Assemblies are on the bottom of the Head and they are laid out horizontally. The 931 will have "FIG 931" cast into their Head
