The Mini dredge has a high chrome iron impeller. High chrome iron impellers are usually only found in severe duty industrial slurry pumps because they are so hard they are expensive to machine. The top abrasion resistant impeller material is high chrome iron. The next level above cast iron is ductile iron. Cast iron is popular inexpensive material, and serves adequately for non-abrasive pump applications. You will find that most trash pumps have a cast iron impeller. The second most vulnerable component to abrasive wear is the impeller. Our seal spring is tucked away in a recess machined in the pump housing, sealed away from abrasives and debris. Lazy pump manufacturers, leave that spring exposed in the water way behind the impeller, rendering it vulnerable to abrasive wear and to collecting stringy material & debris. Also, in order for mechanical seals to work, they all utilize a stainless steel compression spring to hold the seal faces together. Our seals have a large inside diameter with a lot of space between the seal and the shaft preventing seal damage from shock. When a hard piece of debris (rock, wood, etc) hits the pump impeller, it deflects the shaft momentarily and fractures the seal. Small diameter seals fit snug on the drive shaft. We also make the seal much larger in diameter than those found in most “trash pumps”. Silicon carbide is a premium seal material that is utilized in most industrial grade pumps.

The Mini dredge pump is equipped with an oversized silicon carbide shaft seal. A leaky shaft seal will disable your pump completely, by allowing air to enter the pump case instead of water being drawn up the suction hose. The shaft seal is the component that seals the engine shaft as it enters the pump case. Carbon/ceramic is the cheapest seal material there is and is a strong indication that your pump is designed to pump water only. Cheap trash pumps usually utilize small diameter carbon/ ceramic shaft seals. The agitator water jet system is necessary to deliver kinetic energy (energy of motion) to the sediment to take it from a solid state rendering it a fluid slurry.Ĭheap trash pumps are not designed to withstand abrasion or shock. First of all, a self priming pump alone is not very effective in removing sediment.

Gold mining dredges