Farms and ranches across California use a wide range of electric motors to operate pumps that move water from wells, canals, and reservoirs to irrigation systems, livestock, and other needs. As part of your season start-up or preventive maintenance, a megger test is recommended because it helps ensure motors are ready to run. Operating motors that have been idle for …
Understanding VFD terminology helps users to ensure proper application in the field. This article and the attached PDF file details 50 of the most important VFD terms that VFD users should understand to more effectively specify and maintain their drives. What is a variable frequency drive and how are they used in agriculture? VFDs are used to regulate the speed …
With years of VFD experience, we’ve seen many cases where growers experience costly pump downtime and expensive repairs for not properly protecting their VFD pumps. Conversely, we’ve also seen many cases where downtime and repair costs are avoided through the use of a well-protected VFD panel. With that in mind, this article provides an overview of VFDs and how to …
If you’re farming or ranching in California, you’re likely using Cornell centrifugal pumps or something similar to pressurize irrigation systems and move water. Cornell began manufacturing pumps for agriculture when the company launched in 1946. Since that time, Cornell engineers have continued to make improvements in pump design and function. Today, Cornell’s pumps are known around the world as the …
Growers and irrigation districts are in various stages of adopting automation for their pumps to reap the benefits of greater precision, reduced labor requirements and monitoring to improve operations and comply with regulations, like SGMA. At the same time, California’s electrical grid sees the timing of energy usage–both on a regular basis and during grid emergencies like we saw this …
As a part of our ongoing commitment to providing informative irrigation related resources for growers, ranchers, and ranch/farm managers, we have compiled a summary of vertical turbine pump troubleshooting instructions for pumps commonly used in ag irrigation systems across California. This article is based on material published by Peerless Pump, a leading supplier of vertical turbine pumps. Although this is …
