Troubleshooting Pump
Cavitation
Suction
Cavitation
Suction
Cavitation occurs when the Net Positive Suction Head Available to the pump is less than
what is Required ------------ NPSHA < NPSHR.
Symptoms
1. The pump
sounds like it is pumping rocks!
2. High
Vacuum reading on suction line
3. Low
discharge pressure/High flow
Causes
1. Clogged
suction pipe
2. Suction
line too long
3. Suction
line diameter too small
4. Suction
lift too high
5. Valve on
Suction Line only partially open
Remedies
1. Remove
debris from suction line
2. Move pump
closer to source tank/sump
3. Increase
suction line diameter
4. Decrease
suction lift requirement
5. Install
larger pump running slower which will decrease the Net Positive Suction Head Required by
the pump(NPSHR)
6. Increase
discharge pressure
7. Fully
open Suction line valve
Discharge
Cavitation
Discharge
Cavitation occurs when the pump discharge head is too high where the pump runs at or near
shutoff.
Symptoms
1. The pump
sounds like it is pumping rocks!
2. High
Discharge Gauge reading
3. Low flow
Causes
1. Clogged
discharge pipe
2. Discharge
line too long
3. Discharge
line diameter too small
4. Discharge
static head too high
5. Discharge
line valve only partially open
Remedies
1. Remove
debris from discharge line
2. Decrease
discharge line length
3. Increase
discharge line diameter
4. Decrease
discharge static head requirement
5. Install
larger pump which will maintain the required flow without discharge cavitating
6. Fully
open discharge line valve
  
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