Legacy V10 and V20 vane pumps: reading the longer order code
The V10 and V20 platforms have been built for decades, and the pumps from the earlier catalogue period use a different order code from the current one. Today’s current V10 and V20 codes carry eleven positions; the legacy ones carry fifteen, and several positions hold different letters. Our page on the current code covers the modern version — this page is about the legacy one — the older generation, still in service on plenty of machines — so you can read the nameplate on a pump that has been running for years.
The short version
- The two codes are not interchangeable. A position that means one thing on a current pump can mean something else on a legacy one.
- Legacy V10: ring sizes 1–7, shaft codes include 12, inlet letters include F, H, K, P, S and T.
- Legacy V20: ring sizes 5–13 (the current platform starts at 6), shaft codes include 15, and the code carries one extra position — a shaft seal item — which shifts every position after it.
- Legacy pumps can have a cover with a function: a flow-control cover or a priority-valve cover, with their own flow and pressure-setting positions.
- Legacy manuals give the rated capacity and the relief setting, but no performance tables — no maximum pressure, speed or flow curves.
- Send us the nameplate code. We confirm the replacement against it rather than against a current catalogue page.
What makes the legacy code longer
Both legacy codes start the same way as the modern one — an optional seal prefix, the platform letter, the series number — and then diverge. Two things matter most:
- A cover position. The legacy code has a position for the cover type: a flow-control cover, a priority-valve cover, or the standard cover (which is left out).
- Function-cover settings. When a flow-control or priority cover is fitted, two more positions come into play: the orifice flow and the relief setting.
On the legacy V20 there is one further position between the outlet code and the shaft code — the shaft seal type. Because it sits in the middle of the string, every position after it shifts by one. That single detail is the most common reason a legacy V20 code gets misread against legacy V10 documentation.
Position by position: legacy V10 against legacy V20
| Position | Legacy V10 | Legacy V20 |
|---|---|---|
| Seal prefix | omitted, or F3 | omitted, or F3 |
| Platform | V | V |
| Series | 10 | 20 |
| Cover | F flow control / P priority valve / omitted = standard | same three choices |
| Mounting | 1, 2, 23, 26, 29 (including foot and flange versions) | 1, 2, 3 (PTO), 4 (end), 6, 23, 26, 29 |
| Inlet | F, H, K, P, S, T | D, E, F, P, R, S |
| Ring size | 1–7 USgpm | 5–13 USgpm |
| Outlet | standard cover: K, P, S, T — function covers use their own matrix | standard cover: F, P, S — function covers use their own matrix |
| Shaft seal | — (V10 has no such position) | S = double-lip seal with open bearing; omitted = single-lip seal with closed bearing |
| Shaft | 1, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 27, 34, 38 | 1, 3, 6, 11, 15, 38, 62 |
| Outlet position | A–D | A–D |
| Orifice flow | only with a function cover: code 1-1 = 1 USgpm on a P cover, 2-2 = 2 USgpm on an F cover | only with a function cover: 2.5–12 USgpm |
| Relief setting | A–K = 250–2500 psi, only with a function cover | A–K = 250–2500 psi, only with a function cover |
| Design | design or modification number | 11 = standard V20; 12 = V20P (priority-valve cover); 22 = V20F (flow-control cover) |
| Rotation | L = left-hand; omitted = right-hand | L = left-hand; omitted = right-hand |
The shaft codes are the giveaway
If you are trying to work out which generation you have, look at the shaft position. Codes 12 and 15 do not exist on current pumps: 12 appears only on the legacy V10, and 15 only on the legacy V20. If your nameplate carries either, the pump is a legacy unit and the current code tables will not read it correctly.
Ring size helps too: the current V20 starts at ring 6, while the legacy V20 starts at ring 5.
What the legacy manuals do not tell you
The legacy documentation is a parts and service document, not a performance catalogue. It gives the rated capacity behind each ring size (measured at 1,200 r/min and 100 psi) and the relief-setting letter table, but it carries no maximum pressure, maximum speed, flow or input-power figures. If you need those for a legacy pump, they have to come from the original installation drawing for that build — we will not quote a number we cannot stand behind.
What we can always do is confirm the replacement from the code. Send the complete nameplate string, including the design number and the rotation letter, and we will check the mounting, both port groups, the shaft and the seal.
Four things that go wrong when ordering
- Reading a legacy code with the current tables. Positions moved and letters changed meaning between generations.
- Missing the V20 shaft-seal position. Everything after it shifts by one, so a code read from the wrong template is out by one position from the middle onwards.
- Assuming the cover is standard. A flow-control or priority-valve cover adds positions that a standard-cover code does not have — and changes which outlet letters are valid.
- Quoting a ring size that the platform never offered. Legacy V20 goes down to ring 5; current V20 does not.
Send us the nameplate code
The nameplate code is the only reliable description of a legacy pump. Send the whole string — and a photo of the nameplate if the lettering is worn — and we will confirm the replacement before you order. All units we ship are new aftermarket replacements, quality checked before dispatch. Contact us with your code.
You can also browse the platforms directly: V10 · V20 · V200 · VTM42 series, V10 single pumps and V20 single pumps.
