Regarding the alignment of pumps

The leveling of installed pumps is further divided into initial leveling and fine leveling. For the leveling of pumps, shims are used to adjust their elevation and levelness. The reference for measuring the levelness of a pump is the outlet flange surface; when conducting the levelness measurement, it is necessary to rotate the level 180° along the vertical and horizontal centerlines of the outlet flange surface, making repeated adjustments. Ensure that the level of the pump is within the allowable installation tolerances; there are also requirements regarding the shims and foot bolts: 1. The specifications, placement, height, and welding quality of the shims must meet the standard requirements: At least one set of shims should be placed near each foot bolt, and the distance from the edges of these shim sets to the foot bolts should be 2 to 3 times the diameter of the foot bolts. Each set of shims shall not consist of more than 4 layers; for a set of two inclined shims, the height shall be between 30 and 70 mm. They should be placed neatly, with a 0.5 mm feeler gauge inserted on both sides to a depth not exceeding 1/4 of the shim’s length, leaving 10 to 20 mm of the base exposed. At the same time, the shims should make even contact with the foundation without any looseness; after leveling, they should be fixed in place by spot welding (welding should be carried out in layers with intermittent spots on both sides), and the distance between adjacent shim sets should not exceed 500 mm. Pump alignment is divided into initial alignment and fine alignment. Initially, a steel ruler and a steel saw blade with a certain degree of straightness are typically used, and the method of aligning based on the same busbar is employed, taking advantage of the principle of light transmission ； The precise adjustment method employs the dial indicator approach, utilizing the principle that corresponding sides of similar triangles are proportional to determine the thickness of the adjustment shim. The common method we use to adjust the concentricity of mechanical pumps is to fix the alignment gauge frame on the motor coupling, and install radial and axial dial indicators on the pump side coupling; alignment adjustments are then made based on the readings from these dial indicators and relevant calculations. In principle, gasket adjustment is carried out by adding or removing gaskets under the motor base. However, without affecting the levelness of the pump axis and without subjecting the pump to any additional forces, it is allowed to raise or lower the axis of the pump by a certain amount. Owner, I’m not sure if this will be useful to you?

I know how to align it; what I need are shims. What kind of shims should I use? But still, thank you

Normally, alignment is done on-site using saw blades and tin sheets; ironically, once the construction team used hard plastic pieces, which deformed over time – it was only during maintenance that this was discovered. The second floor also explained it in detail; just one thing to note: the number of gaskets should not exceed three, based on practical experience.

Copper gaskets and stainless steel gaskets are used to prevent failure due to corrosion; galvanized sheet metal is not resistant to corrosion

Copper or stainless steel sheets are generally used for alignment, mainly to prevent corrosion. The alignment parameters need to be kept within certain limits; sadly, nowadays construction teams rarely carry out alignment work properly.

You can imagine that when metal is exposed to the atmosphere, it will rust and corrode due to wind and rain; such gaskets will break down after a short time, which is why we usually use copper gaskets or sheets.

Reply to 1# shi*ao*ao: For aligning ordinary small and medium-sized pumps and motors, materials such as iron sheet, galvanized sheet, aluminum sheet, and silicon steel sheet have all been used; for equipment that requires high precision and is of critical importance, copper sheet or stainless steel sheet is preferable.

Copper sheet is the preferred choice; stainless steel sheet is the best.

*It’s usual to adjust it using copper sheets