2BV Series Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps

2BV series: model numbers, vacuum limits and replacement checks

How do I read a 2BV model number?

In a 2BV model the digit after 2BV is the subfamily (2BV2, 2BV5 or 2BV6) and the last three digits are the frame: frames 060–071 are the small two-pole sizes, from the 2BV2060 at 27 m³/h to the 2BV2071 at 110 m³/h (2,840–2,880 rpm, G1" or G1½" ports), and frames 110–161 are the larger sizes, from the 2BV5110 at 165 m³/h and 1,440 rpm to the 2BV5161 at 500 m³/h and 970 rpm (DN50–DN80). Gardner Denver's L-BV2/L-BV5 operating instructions give 50 Hz speeds of 3,000 min⁻¹ for 2BV2, 1,500 min⁻¹ for 2BV5110–2BV5131 and 1,000 min⁻¹ for 2BV5161 before motor slip, which is what the speeds in our table correspond to.

Are 2BV5 and 2BV6 pumps of the same frame interchangeable?

Not without checking the drawing: in our table the 2BV5110 and 2BV6110 both give 165 m³/h with a 4 kW motor and DN50 ports, but they weigh 105 kg and 145 kg, and the 2BV5161 and 2BV6161 weigh 320 kg and 439 kg. Gardner Denver Nash lists both the 2BV5 and the 2BV6 at 160–580 m³/h down to 33 mbar abs, so capacity alone does not tell them apart. We quote against the exact prefix on your nameplate and send the outline drawing with the quotation.

How low can a 2BV pump go, and what limits it?

Every 2BV in our table with a published vacuum figure is rated to 33 mbar abs, the same limit Gardner Denver gives for the L-BV2 family. Its 2BV2 060 data sheet adds that the pump runs cavitation-free down to 80 mbar abs, that the built-in cavitation protection must be connected for lower inlet pressures, and that about 10 mbar abs needs a gas ejector; its published curves assume 15 °C water as operating liquid and 20 °C intake air, with ±10% tolerance. Put your working suction pressure and seal-liquid temperature in the enquiry — the performance curve we return is drawn at your temperature, not at the catalogue's 15 °C.

Which original 2BV pumps do you replace?

Our 2BV pumps carry the same industry model numbers as the Gardner Denver Nash / Elmo Rietschle 2BV2, 2BV5 and 2BV6 ranges and are built as dimension-compatible replacements: before quoting we check flange size and orientation, foundation bolt pattern and shaft height against the original drawing, and if it doesn't match, we don't quote. Each frame with full data in the table opens its own page — the 2BV6161, for example, lists 500 m³/h, 15 kW, 970 rpm and DN80 ports with its wear parts.