Four decades of experience have told us what is important to customers.
For Professionals specifying hydraulic equipment, hand pumps are important. It must be reliable in an emergency, capable of handling specific fluids, and resistant to your operating environment. Let’s run through the design philosophy on a Micropac pump.
Why do we recommend the right material for the job? Why use 316 stainless when coatings are cheaper?
Our Micropac MT cartridge pump uses coated parts and is a great solution in the right application. Coated parts have big limitations.
Our MW series were our first product over four decades ago and our design pedigree was developed from that unit. The right materials and design for our customer applications.
Our flagship MW-3 and MD pump units are 316 stainless because that’s what our customers demand. We have always been focussed on the right materials for the job and providing gear that won’t corrode out or seize up. Cheap construction isn’t everything. Coated parts are great in the right application. Just pick the right application. If you need an inexpensive Micropac C10-2 cartridge hand pump for mineral oil, construction is plated carbon steel and anodised aluminium alloy. We sell thousands of this quality product. That may meet the requirement 100%. Move to more demanding applications like marine, offshore or process and coatings may be cheap but not provide that essential corrosion resistance for the working fluid or the environment. Probably a bad choice. If a plated steel pump seizes after 12 months, that probably isn’t a good call. Also consider a Micropac hybrid pump which enhances materials where it is important and functional parts may be coated. For example, our MT-3 cartridge pump with a hard chrome 316 piston rod and hard anodised alloy clevis. Or the workhorse MW-A pressure test pump with anodised alloy parts but our unique bonded 316 barrel liner and a rugged hard chromed 316 piston rod to provide corrosion resistance. Talk to us about what we can offer for your application.
What types of fluid can Micropac pumps handle?
Most standard mass market hydraulic pumps are optimized for mineral oil and struggle with low-viscosity or demanding media. The specialist part of the Micropac range is engineered to be truly multi-fluid compatible by design.
A sketch of our innovative poppet valve used on our Micropac multi-fluid pumps for over four decades.
What Makes Us Different? Our multi fluid pump ranges use soft seat and poppet check valves instead of conventional leak prone ball valves. This precise sealing architecture handles low-viscosity fluids—like water, glycols, and offshore control fluids—with significantly less leakage and greater reliability. If you are running on mineral oil, we can certainly supply our low cost catalogue fluid power units with ball check valves on hard seats. They are perfect for the right everyday application. Move to more demanding fluids and high integrity systems and ask us about the poppet check valve MW, MD, PPS and the rest of the family of Micropac high integrity units.
Fluid-Specific Sealing: Our pump design allows for easy, factory-fitted seal customisation. We offer Viton®, EPDM, and other materials beyond standard Nitrile, ensuring that your pump is chemically compatible with your specific fluid media, eliminating the need to adapt an oil-based pump for a water or a more specialist job. 40 years ago, we could see that competitor pumps used moulded seals where special seal compounds just were not offered. Our design allowed easy seal swap. So, if you want to ask us about running your Micropac pump on brake fluid, specialist heat transfer fluids, synthetics, eco-fluids or a massive range of other media, just ask our Engineering support for the best seal for the job.
Why is serviceability important for a hydraulic hand pump?
Serviceability has been in our DNA for over four decades.
40 years ago, people told us that throwaway products were not what most designers and specifiers wanted even then. A disposable component increases lifecycle costs and creates unnecessary waste. Since the 1980’s, supply chains have extended throughout the world and are now dominated by low cost producers. There is still a place for well engineered and serviceable equipment made in the UK. Sarum Hydraulics believes a professional-grade pump is a long-term asset.
Serviceable, Not Throwaway: Our pumps are engineered for easy maintenance. Components like the valve seats are fully replaceable, meaning a worn seal or internal part doesn’t require scrapping the entire unit. You can restore the pump to peak condition with a simple, low-cost service kit. If you need support, as a specialist UK manufacturer we are here to assist you.
Reduced Downtime: This serviceability ensures a lower total cost of ownership and minimal downtime over the pump’s decades-long lifespan, supporting both your budget and your sustainability goals.
When should I choose a Two-Speed pump?
Our 316 stainless MD 2 speed pump or test set built on our multi fluid pump technology.
Our Micropac PSP 2 speed pump offer our proven design in an industry standard format.
As experts on hand pumps and manufacturing a wide range of types, two speed pumps are a big part of our specialist capability. If your application requires both high flow and high pressure, a Two-Speed pump (like the Micropac PSP or MD series) is essential.
The Balance: The pump features a high-displacement (fast) stage for rapid fluid movement at low pressure, quickly filling a cylinder or circuit. It then automatically switches to a low-displacement (slow) stage to achieve extreme maximum pressures (up to 1000 bar) with manageable effort for the operator.
The Benefit: This feature prevents operator fatigue and saves considerable time on large-volume testing or actuation applications.
How do Micropac pumps handle hazardous or specialized environments?
Label for Micropac ATEX /IECEx explosion proof hand pump setting out the prescribed information.
We offer dedicated model lines that meet specific regulatory and operational demands.
For Hazardous Areas: Our -AX series pumps are ATEX and IECEx certified to mechanical standards (Zone 2G/22D). Manual hydraulics are inherently safer and more cost-effective in potentially explosive atmospheres than electric equipment that requires complex explosion-proofing.
For System Integration: An interface with a common standard can be a winner for system designers. Our compact C10-2 Cartridge and CETOP interface pumps are designed for OEMs and system builders who need a reliable, minimal-footprint manual override that mounts directly into industry-standard hydraulic manifolds.
For Testing within particular constraints such as the PED or standards for testing composite hydrogen pressure vessels. Do you need to test on inflammable media, such as pressure testing a FI fuel system on petroleum? Or pressure cycle testing a hydrogen composite pressure vessel. Our standard equipment may be able to meet your requirement around demanding Standards. We have probably seen the application before.
In Global Markets, you are going to have to confront extreme heat and cold, incredibly remote locations and very punishing environments. Cold starts at -40 degrees C. Desert heat of +50 degrees C. Large temperature swings over 24 hours. Splash zones in the tropics. If you are exporting gear throughout the world as we do, these extremes are everyday occurrences, not academic. We’ve seen a lot of them and know what the design challenges are.
In summary: The Micropac design pedigree is defined by its ability to perform in the challenging applications where standard pumps can’t meet the specialist needs. We provide the material integrity, fluid compatibility and design experience needed for a true “fit and forget” solution.
Do you need to specify a pump for a corrosive subsea environment or an ATEX-rated process plant? Or your own specialist demands from your user? Contact our expert team for guidance on configuring the exact Micropac pump for your requirements.
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