The reciprocating pump’s cylinders pull its fluids from the suction manifold. When the suction manifold has trouble refilling with fluid, the cylinders will take in vapor and create a void in the cylinder. This is called cavitation, and it produces a very adverse reaction that is transferred into the fluids.

When you install a suction stabilizer off the suction manifold port, this gives the manifold extra capacity to pull fluid from and eliminates the manifold’s opportunity to lack fluids, thus eliminating cavitation.

The second benefit the suction stabilizer offers is eliminating negative forces in the fluids produced by the pump’s valves opening and closing rapidly, creating a water hammer effect. The suction stabilizer’s compressible element is designed to absorb these energies and smooth out the fluid flow. This causes pump isolation or, in other words, the reciprocating pump is now isolated from the charge pump, and vice versa. The negative energies produced by the reciprocating pump never make it back to the charge pump, which extends the life of the pump expendables.