Old timer told me to always run a bucket of sand through the dredge pump before shut down

Had this crusty old guy named Jerry working with me on the Mississippi River job back in July, and he swore running 50 pounds of sand through the pump at the end of the day would keep the wear ring tight for years. I figured he was just old-fashioned and ignored him for the first three weeks, until my pump started losing pressure so bad I had to replace the ring twice in one month. Has anyone else tried this trick or did I just get a bad batch of rings from the supplier?

2 comments

2 Comments

pipergonzalez8d ago

Wait, did your wear rings have any kind of warranty or were they the cheap aftermarket ones? I had a similar thing happen on a job in Louisiana, this old Cajun guy named Pierre told me to pour a gallon of used motor oil down the intake before running sand through. Said it helps the sand bind to the old grit in the pump housing, not the metal. I tried it once and my pump actually felt smoother for like two weeks before I blew a seal. Ended up having to tear the whole thing apart anyway but my wear ring was still fine. Might be worth a shot if you're already replacing rings like candy.

grant_torres8d ago

Piper, that used motor oil trick is exactly the kind of old-school fix I bet Jerry would've backed too. He always said the key was making sure the sand wasn't too dry when it hit the housing, or it'd just bounce off and score the metal instead of packing into the old grit. I think the oil gives it something to stick to, like a paste that fills in the micro-gaps. Might be worth trying a cheap synthetic blend instead of straight used oil, since the used stuff can have varnish that gunk up the seals over time like you saw. If you're swapping rings that often anyway, messing with a little oil is low risk.