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Encore 700 EMV Fuel Dispenser

Encore 700 EMV Fuel Dispenser

Secure your competitive advantage and increase profits with Gilbarco’s Encore 700 EMV Fuel Dispenser – your best dispenser investment for today and tomorrow. With a familiar ATM-style customer interface, the highly secure CRIND provides enhanced, upgradable security that supports EMV and contactless payment technologies.

Forecourt Payment and Merchandising

Encore 700 S gives you field-proven tools to inform, persuade, and motivate your fuel customers to come inside your store and buy higher-margin goods, through:

  • Flexible content management options, with the industry-leading Applause® Media System
  • Superior on-screen image clarity, video resolution, and video performance
  • Supports mobile payment applications
  • Capability to support EMV Contactless payment
  • 10.4″ color screen for maximum impact

Aging Equipment Is Expensive

Parts, service, and labor costs are increasing. It’s time to invest in an asset that pays you back. Save your cash and finance EMV technology upgrades at below-market rates.

emv dispenser

Forecourt Payment Security: FlexPay™ IV is the industry’s most secure payment platform for fuel dispensers. The FlexPay IV CRIND provides the easiest and most integrated secure payment solutions.

Forecourt Engagement: Encore 700 S gives you field-proven tools to inform, persuade, and motivate your fuel customers to come inside your store and buy higher-margin goods.

Dispenser Fueling Security: Offers customizable security options such as custom locks, door entry detection sensors, reinforced lower panels, or encrypted pulsers.

Dispenser Remote Management: Gilbarco’s cloud-based service, Insite360 Encore, allows subscribers to remotely connect to their dispensers and perform several straightforward and complex tasks.

Secure. Connected. Profitable.

The stakes have never been higher when it comes to security on the fuel island. Gilbarco’s FlexPay systems and contactless payment technology make EMV upgrades and mobile payments easier and more cost-effective.

emv dispenser

Self-Managed Media To Drive Forecourt Engagement

Boost your business and drive fueling customers inside your store with valuable solutions that enhance your digital strategy on the forecourt. Encore’s media solutions engage your customers at the pump, improve brand loyalty, and increase your bottom line.

emv dispenser

Next Steps

It’s time to enhance customer engagement and scale your digital transformation with robust loyalty and content management options. Learn more about the Encore 700 EMV Fuel Dispenser by contacting sales@npwump.com, calling 1-800-452-PUMP, or finding your nearest location here.

5 Key Design Features of a Chesterton Mechanical Seal

5 Key Design Features of a Chesterton Mechanical Seal

A crucial step in preventative maintenance in pumps is finding and using the correct seal for the job. Mechanical seals are used to seal the rotating shaft in pumps and other equipment. With so many mechanical seal designs on the market, it can be difficult to identify which kinds to use. A.W. Chesterton Company’s mechanical seal design utilizes 5 design principles to maximize its sealing capabilities. These principles have been refined by Chesterton since the company brought its first mechanical seal to market in 1970. After all the lessons learned from successes and failures, they have determined the Five Key Features that a mechanical seal should have to reduce unplanned maintenance and downtime. To provide the greatest mean time between failures (MTBF) and avoid downtime, they utilize these five design principles in their sealing devices.

Protected Springs

Protected Springs on a mechanical seal

Spring protected from fluids | Image provided by A.W. Chesterton Company

Typically, within early mechanical seal designs, the springs were submerged within the fluid. However, this can lead to trouble when fluids with dirt or other contaminates interact with the springs. When the contaminates collect within the spring, it cannot correctly maintain the alignment necessary for a complete seal. Chesterton’s mechanical seal design protects the springs within the mechanical seal from the fluids being pumped.

Balanced Design

The second design feature and open secret of Chesterton’s mechanical seal design is balance. On the mechanical seal, there are two main sides, the fluid side, and the atmospheric side. To prevent moisture from leaking out of the seal, both sides put equal pressure on each other to trap the fluid. Many seals will often see that the fluid side exerts greater pressure than the atmospheric side. Not only does this reduce the quality of the seal, but it can also ruin the pump with time. Balanced seals reduce the seal ring area on which the hydraulic pressure of the liquid in the pump acts. This allows for better lubrication that results in lower heat generation, face wear, and power consumption. Balanced seals will generally have higher pressure ratings than unbalanced seals.

Non-fretting

Diagram of a mechanical seal

Non-Fretting Seal | Image provided by A.W. Chesterton Company

Fretting on a pump shaft refers to the way that a material is worn away on a shaft by an elastomeric material. An example may be a 316 stainless steel shaft sleeve that is damaged by a Viton O-ring. Stainless steel protects a shaft from corrosion by forming a chrome oxide layer on the surface.  The dynamic O-ring wears that protective surface away and it then reforms.  Over time the chrome oxide gets imbedded into the O-ring and works like sandpaper removing even more material.  The result is a groove worn into your expensive sleeve and a leaking mechanical seal. Chesterton seals utilize designs that have any dynamic O-rings operating against a non-metallic surface, usually the sacrificial face.

Additionally, some manufacturers offer seals that are self-fretting, rather than shaft-fretting. What this means is that these seals do not fret or damage the shaft, they harm seal itself. While this protects the pumps, the O-rings still work against metal, reducing the lifespan of the seal itself.

Monolithic Seal Faces

Inserted vs Monolithic seal face on mechanical seal

Inserted vs Monolithic Seal Face | Image provided by A.W. Chesterton Company

Some mechanical seal designs utilize an inserted seal face, typically made of carbon or graphite inserted into a metal holder. However, the disadvantage to this technique is these non-metallic materials often react to heat differently than the metal of the seal. The result is the face of the seal is easily deformed- leading to leaks and early replacement of the seal. Proper mechanical seal design uses monolithic seal faces without using a holder and inserted face. By using Finite Element Analysis (computer modeling), Chesterton’s monolithic seal face designs are made more efficiently than ever.

Stationary Design

Mechanical Seal Designs

Rotary vs Stationary Seals | Image provided by A.W. Chesterton Company

Mechanical seals can either use rotating or stationary springs. With rotary mechanical seals, it is important that the stuffing box face is perpendicular to the shaft for the faces to stay closed. There will always be some resulting misalignment from installation and parts tolerances so this alignment cannot be assured. To compensate for the misalignment, the springs must adjust each time the shaft rotates to keep the seal faces closed. At motor speeds this adjustment happens thousands of times per minute (for 1800 rpm, 3600 adjustments occur) which is not only difficult to accomplish, the springs will fatigue and fail causing seal failure.  Rotary seals are simple in design which makes them inexpensive

In contrast, a stationary seal is designed in such a way that the springs do not rotate with the pump shaft; they remain stationary. Because the springs do not rotate, they are unaffected by the rotation of the shaft or how fast the shaft rotates. The springs do not need to correct or adjust with each rotation; they adjust for misalignment only once when installed. Chesterton uses this as the fifth design requirement, and this provides greater life to their mechanical seals.

Chesterton 1510L in Action

Using these five design principles, Chesterton has updated its 150 seals to the new 1510 seal. The new design uses a monolithic seal face and changes where the dynamic O-rings are placed to be a non-fretting seal. Chesterton unveiled this updated seal in the US in September of 2022. However, Chesterton also has one additional add-on for this new seal. Starting at the end of October 2022, Chesterton will be releasing the 1510L. The 1510L has all the same design capabilities of the 1510, the difference between the two is the installation process. The 1510L utilizes a lock ring mechanism to simplify installation requiring the installer to tighten only one screw to connect the seal to the shaft.

Next Steps

To request a demonstration for the 1510L mechanical seal, click here. Learn more about Northwest Pump’s mechanical seals by contacting us here, emailing us at sales@nwpump.com, or by calling 1-800-452-PUMP.

For service on your mechanical seals by our Chesterton certified pump technicians, contact us here, email us at service@nwpump.com, or call 1-866-577-2755.

Brand Spotlight: Wilo

Brand Spotlight: Wilo

Brand Spotlight: Wilo

Starting on July 1st this year, Northwest Pump is now partnering with Wilo to become an authorized service provider for Wilo brand pumps. In addition to selling Wilo & American-Marsh, Northwest Pump will now add Scot Pump, Weil Pump, & QuantumFlo to our list of vendors. We are also bringing Wilo and Wilo brand pumps to our Fresno branch. Here is a guide to Wilo, their brands, and the products & solutions they offer.

Wilo Pumps & Other Products

Wilo offers centrifugal, sump, in-line, end suction, split case, and submersible pumps for HVAC, water supply, drainage, and sewage. Many of Wilo’s centrifugal pumps are also ANSI and NSF certified. Additionally, Wilo also provides circulators, boosting systems, pressure tanks, and individual parts for aftermarket repairs.

Wilo Pump Catalog

Wilo’s Other Brand Pumps

American-Marsh Pumps

American-Marsh offers end suction, process sump, self-priming, split-case, ANSI process pumps, and vertical and submersible turbine pumps. Besides their pump offerings, American-Marsh also sells mechanical seals, electrical motors, and other fire protection equipment. This brand serves industrial, municipal, agricultural, commercial, & fire-protection markets.

Diagram of Close & Flex-Coupled/Inline End Suction Pumps

Scot Pump

Scott Pump CatalogScot Pump focuses on end suction single-stage centrifugal pumps designed for several applications. The uses range from industrial plants, temperature controllers, truck-mounted, marine environments, and outdoor rooftops, to name just a few. This manufacturer uses various materials such as iron, bronze, aluminum, and stainless steel.

Weil Pump

Weil specializes in centrifugal pumps. This brand offers submersible, grinder, sump, sewage, and dry well pumps, turbine condensate return pumps, booster systems, control panels, and other pumping accessory equipment.

QuantumFlo

QuatumFlo is the newest Wilo brand, and its focus is on packaged pumping systems. This brand not only manufactures pumps, it also offers software to maximize the efficiency of pump systems as well.

Next Steps

Did a product listed above catch your eye? Check out Wilo’s complete catalog with all four brands mentioned here.

Ready to inquire about Wilo pumps? Email our team for the next steps and other information by emailing sales@nwpump.com, calling us at 1-800-452-PUMP, or contacting us here. Does your Wilo brand pump need service? You can access our official Wilo service center pump shop by requesting service here, emailing service@nwpump.com, or calling 1-866-577-2755.

Sustainable Equipment with Sullair

Sustainable Equipment with Sullair

 

One of the many ways a facility can become more environmentally friendly is changing how they receive its compressed air. Using the wrong compressor can mean less efficient production and more energy waste. On the other hand, improperly running the right air compressor can also waste energy. Here are a few ways to make your facility a little more green with Sullair.

Air Compressor Longevity

Since 1965, Sullair has been known for durable air compressors. Driven by a legendary air end design, Sullair builds its compressors to last. A Sullair unit can reliably run more than seventy-thousand hours before needing to be replaced. To put this into perspective: a typical 40-hour workweek means an average of 2,080 hours in a year. With the right maintenance, lubrication, and compressed air system in place, a compressor from Sullair can last even over one hundred thousand hours.

Sullair’s Sustainable Equipment Offerings

The two best Sullair air compressor series for being environmentally friendly are the S-Energy and the DSP series. Both compressors have Variable Speed Drives (also referred to as VDS). This allows the compressor to control the motor’s speed at many different levels instead of one precise point, which can increase the energy efficiency of the air compressor in the right circumstances. This means you only pay to compress the air you need, which helps increase energy efficiency and saves you money. Those interested in VDS compressors but do not have enough need for it can also consider having a spiral valve on their compressor.

The DSP Series

Oil Free DSP Sustainable EquipmentThe DSP series is oil-free, meaning that the oil does not encounter the air being compressed. In fact, the DSP series has ISO 8573-1 Class Zero air, which means that this air surpasses Class 1 qualifications- all without needing as much additional filtration equipment as oil flooded compressors. This eliminates the chance of oil damaging sensitive machinery through the air and makes the condensate byproduct safer for disposal. When air purity is critical, the DSP series is a great choice.

All DSP compressors come with an oil-demister, which further retains the oil used to make it even more efficient. Another feature the DSP series offers is the patented high pre-cooler design. This prevents premature after-cooler failure and increases the durability of the compressor further. Another feature of the DSP series compressor is the optimized rotor design. Typically, oil-free compressors use PTFE. However, with proprietary MOS2 coating, Sullair maximizes the lifespan of the air-end and protects your investment. Finally, a standard DSP series compressor has a totally enclosed, fan-cooled (TEFC) motor and an optional NEMA 4 Wye-Delta starting cabinet. The TEFC motor means that outside contaminants do not enter the machine, which prevents long-term damage, and the NEMA 4 starting cabinet further protects against dust & harsh weather.

The S-Energy Series

Sustainable EquipmentWhile the S-Energy compressor series is oil-flooded, meaning that oil mixes with compressed air and the condensate, there are ways to minimize harm to the environment and increase efficiency. Sullair S-energy compressors are engineered for reliability, durability, and performance. These units can help you optimize efficiency and are in for the long haul. They can last up to 100,000 working hours if you treat them right.

S-Energy units come standard with a TEFC motor & NEMA 4 Wye-Delta starting cabinet, just like the DSP. Additionally, Sullair used their fifty-five years of experience designing lasting air-ends to maximize the lifespan of the S-Energy compressors. An S-Energy unit can easily last for seventy, eighty, or even one hundred thousand working hours with the correct maintenance. The last standard S-Energy sustainability feature is the WS control system. Its enhanced functionality means that an operator can receive energy usage reports on their computer, tablet, or smartphone and better control the outputs of their compressor.

Sustainable Air Compressor Attachments

Sullair offers many auxiliary products to help keep your operation environmentally friendly. Northwest Pump recommends the following products to help optimize energy efficiency and improve the longevity of your compressor and its components and other equipment and products. First, help separate harmful oil from condensate by using an oil/water separator. This keeps the condensate safe for drains, pipes, and accidental spills and allows for safer oil disposal.

The following sustainable attachment is the SULLIMAX Condensate Drain. It works using an automatic drain to remove condensate at a specific temperature without releasing compressed air. This reduces compressor maintenance and reduces energy use, and maximizes savings. According to Sullair’s trials, a facility could see a return on investment for the SULLIMAX in 150 days.

Finally, every compressor needs fluid or oil to keep it running, and Sullube is one of the top compressor fluids on the market. It protects the Diamond warranty on the S-Energy series and is also biodegradable. This means that handling or disposing of condensate with Sullube is faster, safer, & cheaper. Another feature of Sullube is that it is non-varnishing and cleans existing varnish off surfaces.

What Northwest Pump does to keep your equipment sustainable

Northwest Pump has a few tricks up our sleeve to lower your carbon footprint as much as possible. Our technicians and representatives offer site & utility assessments for new projects. These audits can determine how much a facility will spend on utilities & how to minimize pain points in the production flow. From there, we can offer customizable solutions to serve the needs of our customers best. Additionally, our service team provides customizable rotating equipment service plans. These plans mean our service technicians arrive at your facility and maintain your air compressors and pumps. Our service team also offers recycling services for air compressor filters & oil.

Next Steps

Looking for your sustainable equipment solution? Start the conversation by emailing us at sales@nwpump.com or calling 1-800-452-PUMP. Interested in our service capabilities? Reach out here for service requests or call 1-866-577-2755.

Seasonal Facility Maintenance Checklist

Seasonal Facility Maintenance Checklist

Summer is just around the corner, and with the change in season, now is the perfect time to check your entire facility and prevent emergencies before they happen. Here are ten ways to check the health of your pumps and air compressors and a pair of seasonal facility maintenance checklist printouts below to keep on hand.

Compressor Checklist

   □ Change your oil

Whether a compressor is oil-flooded or oil-free, the start of a new season is the perfect time to refresh the oil on a compressor. Keep in mind, that some brands need specific lubricants. For example, Sullair compressors need genuine Sullube to keep within warranty. Additionally, why not conduct an oil sampling? This also protects the diamond warranty, and lets you know about the health of your compressor.

   □ Check your oil cooler & aftercooler

One of the many uses of oil in the compressor is to reduce the heat within the machine. This process protects the machinery from unnecessary damage, and why checking the oil cooler & aftercooler should be on your list.

   □ Check your package air inlet filters

The easiest way to check if the packageseasonal maintenance checkup air inlet filter needs a replacement is by hovering your hand over the top of the compressor. If you feel a breeze, then your inlet filter is working just fine. If there is a weak breeze or none at all, it’s time for the filter to be cleaned or replaced. This check is especially helpful for compressors that are in environments with more dust or other particles in the air that can clog up filters.

   □ Check the make-up air

In a similar vein, checking the room a compressor is in is also important. The three points to consider are: making sure that the air surrounding the air compressor (make-up air) is free of particles and other contaminants, making sure that make-up air is adequate, and making sure that the temperature in the room can withstand compressed air that is 15°F higher than the ambient temperature.

If you don’t have a manometer to check the adequacy of your make-up air, one easy test is to test the compressor room door.  Is it difficult to open when you open the door, or does it try to slam shut when you let go?  If so, you should consider consulting one of our specialists to help you redesign your make-up air to the room.

   □ For Variable Speed Drives Only: Check your cooling fan & filter

One of the benefits of variable speed drives is that if the machinery is not used continuously, the compressor will be far more efficient in stopping and starting. However, this means that the cooling fan may wear down easier in the shut-off process. Now is the perfect time to make sure your cooling fan & the filter to it can beat the summer heat.

Pump Checklist

□ Check Oil/lubrication on pumps

When conducting any kind of seasonal equipment maintenance, checking oil is a vital first step. For a pump to run properly, the rotating or moving parts must be able to move freely, and the stationary parts must stay where they need to be. So, making sure that those moving parts are properly lubricated is the first thing to check on your pump.

□ Lubricate Bearings

Similarly, making sure that the joints & bearings on your pump are lubricated is also very important. However, it is even more important to make sure that your bearings are not over lubricated, as this also damages your pump. Consult your pump’s manual or user guide to know how much lubrication is needed for your bearings.

lubri-up is a device that can speed up your seasonal maintenance processFor facilities that do not want to spend the time to check the user manual for every pump and then lubricate every bearing, A.W. Chesterton offers the Lubri-cup as the perfect solution. This device automatically dispenses the preprogrammed amount of lubrication to the pump. One Lubri-cup can reduce a facilities manager’s workload by two days, which means your team can spend more time on other tasks than just lubricating pumps.

□ Check Mechanical Seals and Packing (if applicable)

The more leaks a pump has, the less efficient it will be. One of the easiest places for leaks to occur is in the seals. So, if your pump has mechanical seals to prevent leaks, check those fairly often. If there is a puddle underneath a seal, you need a new seal. The same also goes for pump packing as well.

□ Check the Coupling Element

Image from Pumps & Systems

If your pump has a coupling element, it will be located between the motor & pump (see image to the right). If your motor & pump are not properly aligned, you will wear out not just the coupling element but the motor & pump as well. So, if you look at your pump and there is shredded material below your coupling element, call your pump service provider immediately.

   □ Feel your pump

Our pump technicians also recommend checking your pumps at startup by placing one hand on the motor and one hand on the pump where it is safe to do so. When your pump turns on, you should feel smooth vibration. If you feel a lot of vibration or your pump is louder than usual, that means it could be experiencing cavitation or air pockets. These air pockets damage the interior of the pump, which can then lead to replacing a pump earlier than expected.

Next Steps

Download an air compressor-specific seasonal facility maintenance checklist by clicking here. Download the pump checklist by clicking here. If you need help completing this checklist, why not consider Northwest Pump’s Rotating Equipment Service Agreements. Email our service team at service@nwpump.com or call us at 1-866-577-2755 to have a customized service plan of your own.

Gilbarco’s Passport POS System

Gilbarco’s Passport POS System

Are you looking for simplicity, control, and flexibility in your POS system? Don’t look any further because the Gilbarco Passport Point-of-Sale System is just that. Investing in Passport today means investing in the POS technology of tomorrow.

With Passports touchscreen and intuitive design, Gilbarco will have your business’s employees trained within 20 minutes or less. Passport’s unmatched simplicity allows you to focus on your strategy, not your technology. Extensions within the Passport ecosystem allow you to serve and reach your customers across your entire site and entire network site.

Manage Smart. Stay Secure. 

By being first to market with an outdoor EMV solution, Gilbarco has honed the EMV transition process with special features like functionality that ensures no bank card is left behind by consumers.

Passport’s easy integration with third-party systems and powerful reporting and tracking tools give you everything you need to run and manage a cutting-edge fuel retailing system. The Method of Payment Report calculates credit and debit transactions for fuel, merchandise, and car wash sales to reduce card processing fees.

Additionally, Passport provides sophisticated alerts and safeguards that help your employees perform at their best and secure your investment. It all adds up to tighter security, fewer surprises, and better results for you, your employees, and your customers.

 

More Partners. More Possibilities.

Gilbarco’s POS Passport has more than 120-certified partners, allowing you significant flexibility to most effectively meet your evolving needs.

Here are the partners that cover all your needs: Back Office Systems, Broadband/WAN Networking Solutions, Car Wash Controller, Electronic Loyalty Programs, Integrated Loyalty Programs, Mobile Payment Processing Networks, Proprietary Fleet / Auxiliary Network Security Camera, and Tank Gauges.

Third Party Developer Support

This portal is specifically designed to support third-party companies interested in interfacing. Gilbarco Passport point-of-sale systems and/or developing applications for use on the new Encore Experience forecourt applications solution.

Next steps

If you are interested in Gilbarco’s POS System, we currently have stock in our branches and can ship your product out today! 

  • MOC Pricing (call for bulk discounts)
  • UPS included

Contact our POS contact, Tim!