What is a Jockey Pump

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Written By: Dakota

Davis

Edited By: C. Wilborn

Last Modified Date: 20 July 2011

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A jockey pump, or a pressure-maintenance pump, is a small

apparatus that works in conjunction with a fire pump as part

of a fire-protection sprinkler system. A jockey pump is

designed to keep the pressure elevated in a fire-suppression

system so that the main fire pump is prevented from

running unless absolutely necessary. It consists of a motor, apump and a controller.

When a fire sprinkler is exposed to heat, the pressure in the

system drops significantly and a valve opens, releasing

water. The main fire pump provides the pressure to the

system that creates water flow when this occurs. The

jockeypump maintains the normal pressure in the system at

an artificially high level. When just one sprinkler is activated,

the pressure drops so drastically that the fire pump starts

working, and the fire department is alerted. The jockey

pumpworks as part of the fire pump's control system,"riding" on top of the larger pump like a jockey does on a

horse.

There are two basic types of jockey pumps. A positive

displacement regenerative turbine pump uses low

horsepower to generate high pressure at a low flow rate, but

it operates on close tolerances. When these tolerances—

which refer to how much the size of a machine part can

deviate from the standard before it prevents the machine

from operating properly—degrade even slightly, the pump

may no longer be able to generate enough pressure. It alsohas the potential to produce a very high pressure, causing

pipes to burst. The other type of pump, the centrifugal

pump, is a simpler machine and is not subject to such

tolerances.

A jockey pump usually is run by an electric motor and should

never be linked to power within the fire pump controller.

Both three-phase and single- phase electric motors are

acceptable options. Single-phase motors have lower

horsepower capabilities, which may limit the pump's

performance, depending on the amount of pressure and theflow required. Nevertheless, both three-phase and single-

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phase motors typically allow the pump to function in the

same way.

The controller is the component that causes the jockey

pump to start. It is activated by a drop in pressure or by a

selector switch. A three-phase controller includes these

pressure and selector switches, along with a contactor, a

circuit breaker or a disconnect switch, and overload

protection. A single-phase controller may be just as

complicated, or it may have only pressure and toggle

switches. Both are acceptable options for use with a jockey

pump.

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Discuss this ArticleDiscuss this ArticleDiscuss this ArticleDiscuss this Article

mandyeatsmandyeatsmandyeatsmandyeats

Post 4

The turbine pump is able to push liquids to

higher heights than the simple centrifugal

pump. That is probably it's biggest benefit.

littlerascallittlerascallittlerascallittlerascal

Post 3

If the regenerative pump has so many

tolerances, is there any benefit to it over thecentrifugal type? Is one type better suited to

certain types of buildings than other types?

I'm doing a unit on building safety for my

Regarding Non ConsciousBiological Entities asHuman

Joshua Foer on the UseMemory to Prolong YourLife


23-Oct-11http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-jockey-pump.htm



engineering class and I'd like to learn more

about this.

anon78487anon78487anon78487anon78487

Post 1

Nice article about the jockey pump but

something confuses me:

If we assume the water as an incompressible

fluid, steel piping as non deformable piece of equipment and if we assume no hydraulic

accumulator fitted in the piping system, then:

In a standby mode, the jockey pump

(centrifugal type) should operate

continuously (24h/day) because if the jockey

pump stops the system pressure will drop

instantly. Is this true or I missed something?

Editor's reply: Thank you for visiting

wiseGEEK and for contributing to thediscussion forums. For security reasons, we

are unable to list e-mail addresses in posts.

Thanks.

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