Goulds Aquavar e-AB Booster Pump

The e-AB3 is a packaged constant-pressure booster built around the Xylem Smart Motor — an ultra-premium IE5 permanent magnet motor with the variable speed drive integrated into it. Goulds publishes it as delivering efficiency well above a standard IE3 NEMA premium asynchronous induction motor, averaging 15 percent energy savings against comparable pumps, and eliminating up to 50 percent of the energy a full-speed pump would use.

The problem it solves is the one every booster solves, stated plainly: water loses pressure to friction on its way to the house, and the higher the flow the more it loses. More homes on the main, longer runs, more fixtures open at once — as use rises, the e-AB3 changes pump speed to keep line pressure constant. Large supply tanks are eliminated.

Goulds rates the range from family houses up to ten-floor apartment buildings and commercial building services, across seven configurations from 1/2 HP to 2 HP. Every kit ships complete — pump, Smart Motor, gauge, tank and tee.

The e-AB3 runs single or multi-pump systems with automatic lead/lag and alternation for up to three pumps — with no external control panel and no PLC. The intelligence is in the Smart Motor, so a three-pump set costs three pumps rather than three pumps plus a fabricated panel and a commissioning visit. Automatic test starts and smart cyclic changing of the lead and lag units share run time across the set.

More pumps also hold more pressure at the flow the building actually draws. Each pump carries a share of the water, so each sits higher on its own curve. The one figure that does not rise is the maximum head at zero flow, which is fixed by the pump model.

Multi-pump control is a published capability of the Smart Motor. Goulds publishes no combined performance table for a grouped e-AB3, so size a set against the system curve rather than by multiplying a single-pump maximum.

Goulds publishes the e-AB3 as a selection matrix: find the boost you need down the left and the flow you need across the top, and the cell gives the configuration number. Goulds states it in its own words on this table — the psi figure is boosting pressure, not total system pressure.

Then read the configuration number against the part number:

Best operating range: the matrix above is the published operating envelope. A duty point inside it is a supported selection; one outside it is not. This is where the pump turns the most electricity into water pressure. Ask for more flow than it can deliver at your setting and it runs at full speed continuously, which is where motors and seals wear out. Sizing a booster to the building rather than to the headline numbers is what makes it last.

All configurations are 230V single phase input and NEMA Type 3R, and all are supplied with a pressure transducer. Source: Goulds Water Technology Aquavar e-AB3 technical brochure. Where a duty point falls between cells, call 1-888.510.4036 and we will confirm the selection against the factory curve.

The figures below are the pressure this pump adds. That is what a pump curve measures — the impeller does not know what pressure is already on its inlet.

1AB3 — up to 12 GPM — PSI boost at flow

2AB3 — up to 23 GPM — PSI boost at flow

1AB3 — up to 45 GPM — PSI boost at flow

HSC20 — up to 50 GPM — PSI boost at flow

HSC30 — up to 50 GPM — PSI boost at flow

2AB3 — up to 75 GPM — PSI boost at flow

3AVN — up to 75 GPM — PSI boost at flow

5AVN — up to 120 GPM — PSI boost at flow

5AVN — up to 127 GPM — PSI boost at flow

Zero flow is the shut-off point — a ceiling, not a working point. Points are anchored to the printed hydraulic-selection tables in the Goulds Aquavar e-AB2 technical brochure BAQUAeAB2 R8 (March 2023); the HSC20 and HSC30 models are read from the Goulds HSC performance curve and rounded down where uncertain. Single- and three-phase input versions share a curve and are listed together. Convert psi to head by dividing by 0.433.

Constant pressure control — The default mode, and the reason most of these are bought.

System curve control — Matches a system curve on multistage pumps such as the e-SVE or e-HME.

External signal control — Follows an external control signal where a BMS or process controller is driving the setpoint.

Stops at zero demand — The pump stops when nobody is drawing water, rather than idling against a closed system.

Stops on water failure — The pump stops if the supply fails.

Inverter and motor sensors — Failure and over-temperature sensors on both the inverter and the motor, protecting against under- and over-voltage.

Automatic test starts — The set exercises itself rather than seizing between demands.

Fault memory and run hours — Inverter fault signals are stored and an operating-hours counter runs, which is the first place to look when a system misbehaves.

Nothing to configure — Goulds states all of the above ships in the standard package with no configuration needed.

This model has no app or remote connectivity. It runs from its own controls and needs no network connection.