Reduce School Bus Fleet Costs with DurA-Tek Prime

Watch this video and see how DurA-Tek Prime from AMETEK Dynamic Fluid Solutions is changing the game with their brushless technology, enabling you to save thousands on maintenance costs!

 

For your convenience we have transcribed the video below. 

Introduction 

It's simple math:

  • One plus one equals two and
  • Two times two equals four.

You get it. So, when is zero greater than one or two or 10?

When you're talking about AMETEK DurA-Tek Prime coolant booster pump -- the new brushless, sealless booster pump that's changing the face of the industry itself.

"In the school bus industry, the DurA-Tek Prime pump is like nothing we've ever seen before," said Stephen Brown, Vice President of Brown Transportation Inc.

"Yeah. This pump changes everything," added Charlie W., bus mechanic.

School bus driving in harsh conditions.There are over 400,000 buses on the road today, and every year 30,000 new school buses are placed in service in the U.S. Whether traveling over rough roads or the most extreme weather conditions, today's school buses and their drivers face the difficult challenge of transporting the most precious of cargo without incident day after day, year after year.

"So, our vehicles -- whether they're coaches or school buses -- are all built to last. Our school buses are 12-, 15-to-18-year life. So, they're around a long time. But some of the components that are used don't have as long a lifespan. And we find that we're replacing them on an ongoing basis," said Stephen Brown, Vice President of Brown Transportation Inc.

Problems With Brush-Based Technology

One of those problems is the engine's coolant booster pump responsible for heating and cooling the buses interior and defrosting its windows. For years, the standard industry solution used a brush-based motor with a seal pump. This pump has proven to be a nagging maintenance issue, developing seal leakage, resulting in diminished operating life and frequent downtime -- adding unnecessary costs to the life of the bus.

"It seems like I'm always replacing these old coolant pumps, which means the buses are in here getting serviced and they are not out on the road. That means our maintenance costs keep going up," added Charlie W., bus mechanic.

Why DurA-Tek Prime is the Best

Brushless technology has no electrical contact or wear.Remember that math lesson.  Zero is greater because the DurA-Tek Prime coolant pump utilizes zero brushes and zero seals resulting in zero leakage. That adds up to a highly efficient performance, far greater product life and zero maintenance.

Now that's the type of math that everyone gets. A closer look inside shows what separates the DurA-Tek Prime booster pump from the competition. It's magnetically coupled design operates with no seals and has no contacting or wearing surfaces. Bottom line, it cannot leak. And its brushless motor commutates electronically switching stator fields through rotor position sensing. So, there's no wearing of electrical connections.

What does that all mean? Well, let's compare. With brush-based technology the motor uses a carbon brush and commutator that leads to wear and repeated maintenance. The sealed pump uses a rotating carbon seal that typically fails within 12 to 24 months causing coolant to leak into the environment, creating a hazardous condition. As a result of the failure mode, these brush-based sealed pumps need to be replaced every two years -- if not sooner.

The Savings

The average cost of a new pump falls between $160 to $250. With average school bus life of 12 years, you need six pumps over that time at a cost of $960. Adding to that is unscheduled bus downtime and associated labor costs to remove and replace the inferior pump.

With brushless technology, there's no contact or wear on electrical connections. It uses a magnetically coupled sealless pump, meaning no wear and no leakage. There's no maintenance involved, and it's designed to last the life of the school bus.

Price range is $350 to $400 and it's the only pump you'll ever need to buy -- a real game changer. Standard warranty for a brush-based seal pump is one year. If used as a replacement, DurA-Tek Prime warranty is three years, for new bus builds or as a dealer installed option, the warranty rises to seven years.

Finally, fleet managers take note. Let's say you carry 100 buses with the average 12-year lifespan. Using the DurA-Tek Prime coolant pump versus the brush-based design will save you $1,747 per bus -- or $174,700 across your fleet. Straight back to your bottom line. And the longer your bus has remained in service, the greater the cost savings.

Conclusion 

"So, we have over 300 vehicles on the road every day. So anytime we have an opportunity to eliminate a reoccurring problem and put in a product like the DurA-Tek Prime pump and eliminate one factor from our constant ongoing things makes our life a lot easier. And makes it a lot easier to do our job every day. How can you argue with that," states Stephen Brown, Vice President of Brown Transportation Inc.

The DurA-Tek Prime coolant booster pump from AMETEK. Do the math. You'll love the results.