Inspector Pumphead’s Classroom: Training with Alderon Industries


Pump Products staff members recently attended a technical training session with the national sales director of Alderon Industries, one of the company’s newest manufacturing partners. Alderon specializes in making high quality control panels, floats and alarms.This session was part of a continuing effort by the team to better educate themselves on the products we carry and in turn help customers choose the best products for each one’s need and budget.

Ben Moy of Alderon conducted the illuminating training session using a PowerPoint presentation and several display control panels as physical examples. He started by laying out the history of Alderon Industries.

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Breakdown of a panel

Initially founded by one of the lead engineers of SJE Rhombus (then SJE Electric) control panels, Alderon’s purpose was to create a new generation of control panels. One of the original Alderon designs introduced a rubber gasket in the lining of the panel door to keep out rain. The inspiration for the company’s name indeed comes from the planet from “Star Wars”; the two cofounders were watching the classic sci-fi film while brainstorming potential names (though as any geek can tell you, the planet is spelled Alderaan in the movie).

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Some Alderon panels and floats

Moy walked the Pump Products crew through the basics of the popular “Check It” series of control panels. Perhaps the defining feature of this panel series is the ease of connecting the pump and floats to the right terminals due to careful labeling. Moy noted that with other panels, confusion can often reign.

“In a lot of states, the only person who can set up a panel is a certified electrician. So a municipality will order the panel and have it sit for days, weeks even,” he said. “By the time the electrician comes, they’ve thrown away the instructions and no one knows what goes where.”

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Application engineer Nick taking detailed notes

All Check-It panels carry labels on the cords for the pump itself, the “off” float, the lead float and the alarm float (if applicable) to connect to the correct terminals. Moy also demonstrated how the circuit board is hardwired into the terminal and into the HOA (Hands Off Automatic) switch. Additional features in the panel include a pump run indicator, float switch indicators and alarm power indicators. Moy also demonstrated how a jump wire within the panel gives an alarm notification for manual reset. The jump wire can also be removed for automatic reset.

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A Check It panel

The Pump Products team was also given a sneak preview of some exciting new Alderon products that could be due for release in March. Be sure to check back in this space for more information on them.

“This was a really great technical training session in the sense that we were given a good demonstration of how the products look and how they operate,” according to Pump Products application engineer Lee. “Seeing the detail in how the panel works will definitely help us in giving advice to customers.”

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The circuit board within the panel

Pump Products is continuing to add more sessions to better understand manufacturer products. Be sure to take a look at the Alderon controls that we carry and call if you have any questions.

Pump Products application engineers are standing by to help you find the right pump, as well as to provide price quotes, stocking availability and shipping information. Call our toll free number 1-800-429-0800 to speak to an expert today.