Vertical Pump Motors are primarily used with pumps of all sorts - centrifugal, sump, turbine, and in-line process. The unique vertical P-Base mount, however, makes these units useful for other applications, including crop irrigation, aerators, mixers, fans, gearboxes, and cooling towers. They mount directly to the equipment they drive through a D-flange connection base, which should be stable with the shaft perpendicular to it with minimal run-out.
Vertical pump motors are typically either solid or hollow shaft. Similar to most motors, solid shaft units are coupled to the pump's shaft with a keyed coupling. A hollow shaft vertical motor, however, actually goes inside the motor's hollow shaft and couples at the top of the motor. These typically have an adjustment nut at the the top that allows for simple adjustment of impeller depth.
Vertical motors are designed to take high loading in the axial direction, but little in the radial direction. Due to the load expectation, vertical motors typically have a single thrust bearing, along with a single guide bearing. Thrust bearing selection is based on load, with alternatives available to handle anywhere from 10 to 1,000 times the axial load of a typical horizontal motor.
With a variety of enclosures and thrust values, vertical mount pump motors can be designed for indoor and outdoor use. They do, however, come with a safeguard drip cover to prevent rain from getting into the opposite drive (fan) end. All frames have cast iron construction and premium mechanical features to protect motor components from chemicals, corrosion, and abrasives in order to extending motor life and enhance performance.
