Electric Motor HP

[David Lyman]

I have a Hinman C63 pump and am looking to use an electric motor to run it. I now have a small Hp gas engine ,maybe 3-5 hp, and am wondering what size motor it would take to run it. The gas motor ran it at just above an idle. Also wondering if I could use a coupler set up or belt as it is with gas engine. Thanks for your help.

[lpakiz]

David, if you use pulleys and a belt, you can adjust the speed of the pump to the recommended RPM. Not so with a direct coupled system. Also, if you don't need the CFMs, you can gear it slower for less heat and less wear and tear, and potentially a smaller (cheaper to run) electric motor.

[madmapler]

Generally, it takes less electric hp. than gas engine hp. to run a pump. If you ran it just over idle then you would want to gear down the electric motor considerably to achieve the same rpm thus reducing the required hp. further. I'm guessing you don't have many taps on this system.

[BreezyHill]

The Hinman pumps are great little pumps the C63 is a one milker unit so it will be putting out around 5 cfm at 15-18". This unit will do very well on a 1 hp motor. You could use a 3/4hp but I would run a 1 to not heat the motor as much. It can be direct driven if you use a VFD(variable frequency drive) to slow the motor but I would not recommend it since you are looking at a pump that was a slow rpm unit. I would suggest calculating the rpm that you were running at so that you can duplicate that speed with the electric motor so you will be satisfied with the electric motor performance.

Ben