The short answer is that Beck actuator pricing is very competitive … generally within +/- 5% of other brands. However, most people do not realize that there are at least two pricing scenarios in the municipal water market, which greatly affects the price of Beck actuators to the owner.

1. The first scenario is when the owner purchases directly from Beck, typically as a maintenance replacement of another brand. This is very transparent, as Beck sells directly to owners without a middleman. Here, our pricing is very competitive.
2. The second scenario involves capital projects, which is nontransparent due to third-party involvement. Even when sole sourced, Beck charges the same amount and will never price-gouge because of preferred status. However, Beck has no control over third-party markups. When actuators are bundled with valves and other equipment, third parties do not generally have to itemize pricing.

Whether it’s a maintenance replacement or capital project, our goal is to be as 100% transparent. We offer our pricing upfront to engineers, owners, general contractors, and other potential customers, so they can shop for the most economical valve, and allowing actuator purchases directly from Beck. This can save many thousands of dollars from unnecessary markups on a capital project.

On numerous projects, we have caught third parties marking up our actuators 2-3 times, which is absurd and very frustrating. They literally make more money than Beck on a pass-through product. Often, the valve sales rep also represents an actuator competitor, so their natural inclination is to make Beck appear as expensive and unattractive as possible, hoping that the potential customer will not consider Beck. Unless there’s transparency up front, the Owner never knows what they actually pay for the actuator, regardless of the actuator brand.

The short answer is: They are distinguished by their MOTOR. Any actuator design starts with the motor selection, as it dictates the gear train, housing, lubrication, electronics, protective devices, and ultimately, the actuator performance criterion. Whereas other electric actuators use an 1800 RPM squirrel-cage induction motor, Beck actuators use a 72 RPM, permanent magnet, NO-BURNOUT motor. The benefits of using a low-speed, no-burnout motor cannot be overstated. Lower speed translates to less wear, less heat, better control, and higher reliability. This is as true for actuators as it is for pumps and fans.

Since Beck motors spin (25) times slower than squirrel-cage induction motors, our design can use a very simple and efficient (95%) spur-gear train consisting entirely of ductile iron and steel. Conversely, high-speed motors in traditional electrics require a very inefficient (30%) steel worm gear and bronze worm wheel. Bronze naturally wears when repeatedly engaged by a steel worm gear, which makes the worm wheel inherently sacrificial. This leads to performance degradation in the form of “drifting” limit switches, sloppy control, poor repeatability, motor hunting, motor overheating, etc.

• Beck’s simple motor and gear train design allows for permanent lubrication (lithium-based grease). There are no oil baths or grease fittings and NO preventive maintenance is recommended.
• Because the Beck motor uses permanent magnets, it requires very little power (120VAC) and draws no inrush current when starting. This is why Beck motors will never overheat or burn out. Consequently, Beck actuators do not require any thermal overload protection, torque limit switches, motor starters, or reversing contactors. These “protective” components in traditional electrics can be problematic themselves.
• Beck’s permanent magnet motor starts/stops within 25 milliseconds and does not coast or overshoot like high-speed, high-inertia induction motors do. Consequently, Beck actuators provide very repeatable and precise control, which does not degrade over time.
• Beck’s limit switches do not drift and remain true to the actuator shaft (and valve) position indefinitely. Traditional electric actuators couple the limit switches to the high-speed motor shaft. As mechanical slop inevitably develops in the bronze worm wheel, a difference occurs between the valve shaft position and the limit switch activation point. This forces technicians to recalibrate limit switches, and the need grows more frequent over time as the worm wheel continues to wear. This simply does not happen in Beck actuators.
• The Beck Group 11 quarter-turn design dates back to the late 1960s. Replacement actuators and parts from that era continue to be manufactured in the USA and fully supported. Nothing has been obsoleted in nearly 50 years.

Typical Electric Actuator Gear Train

Beck Actuator Gear Train

Very early on, Harold Beck made the bold decision to sell his innovative products directly and personally to the steel mills of Pittsburgh. He learned quickly that third-party sales reps really only care about price. They have line cards filled with multiple products, which discourages the simple act of listening to customer needs and offering solutions based on value. The ”easy” route for sales reps is to push the least expensive products for the quickest sell. He also wanted to give owners a direct line of communication to address questions and issues more quickly and efficiently.

While initial price is always an important factor, Harold Beck understood that most customers place more value on product quality, reliability, and performance. Higher reliability translates to less downtime, higher productivity, lower maintenance costs, and fewer service calls. Better actuator performance can result in lower turbidity levels, less frequent backwash cycling, reduced energy costs through improve air flow control (wastewater), lower chemical addition costs, etc. To this day, Beck’s highest core principle is “our customers must be treated with fairness and honesty, and customer satisfaction is the key to success.”

Step #1 would be to call the factory at 215-968-4600. You will speak to one of our several applications engineers, whose job is to provide troubleshooting assistance. Beck actuators are so simple to troubleshoot that a diagnosis over the phone is accomplished 99%+ of the time. Since we manufacture our own products in Pennsylvania, we always have a full inventory of spare parts to ship on the same day. If the problem requires actual service, Beck has field service technicians available for site visits. These can often be scheduled and arranged within a day or two. That said, except for capital projects where startup assistance is required, it’s extremely rare for customers to require field service visits from Beck. As an example, the city of Raleigh and Durham plants have been using Beck since 1991 and have never required a paid field service visit. This is the norm.

In general, Beck offers two different valve-mounting options: direct-coupled and bracket/linkage.  A direct-coupled approach connects the valve stem directly to the actuator stem. In this arrangement, the actuator delivers a constant linear torque to the valve stem throughout the entire range of travel, so the actuator must be sized to overcome the valve seating torque times a 1.5 safety factor. A bracket/linkage approach utilizes free mechanical advantage to deliver a characterized, variable torque profile to the valve, where more torque is delivered at the valve seat than at the valve open position. This torque profile mirrors the required torque by the valve itself, as valves need a lot of torque to seat/unseat and much less torque as they open. Therefore, a bracket/linkage arrangement often allows for the specification of a smaller and less expensive actuator. This arrangement has the added benefits of providing better control resolution, opening the valve more slowly off the seat and external adjustment to get tighter valve shutoff.

Direct-Coupled Connection

Bracket/Linkage Connection

1. Beck actuators can modulate continuously without fear of motor burnout or overheating, which is a very common problem throughout the water/wastewater industry. When an actuator motor overheats or burns out, the plant loses complete control of the valve, which can lead to high turbidity levels, low/high DO concentrations, expensive repairs, field service calls, etc.
2. Beck actuators can provide very tight control … down to 0.1 degree steps sizes. Aside from stabilizing process variables, systems integrators can more easily tune the control loops. When a 25% signal is given to a Beck, it will go to 25% … every time.
3. Using Beck eliminates the need for preventive maintenance and oil changes. In the current climate where municipalities are understaffed, it’s very common for preventive actuator maintenance to be set aside. This can lead to more frequent problems with traditional electric actuators. With Beck, it’s not even a concern. Beck’s benchmark for full-load life testing is 50 million cycles versus about 2.5 million for a traditional electric.
4. Even for very large valves, Beck actuators can operate off of 120VAC power, which is preferred by most electricians from a safety perspective.
5. Because of their low power consumption, Beck actuators can be operated off of a small and inexpensive UPS.
6. Beck offers a 3-year warranty on its products.
7. Given its extensive background in the industrial market, Beck can sometimes offer unique solutions and expert advice. As an example, Beck actuators can be remotely mounted from valves that are located either high in the air or down in a vault. This provides operators and technicians with easier and safer access to the actuator. It can also move an actuator out of a potential flood area.