The Maximum Continuous Output Pressure and Maximum Output Flow from the “Pump Specifications” in Figure 1 are important in order to understand how many cutting heads you will be able to run with a pump. These numbers can be used in conjunction with the following “Flow Rate Through an Orifice” in Figure 2 to determine the number of cutting heads you can use.

<b>Example 1</b>: 50 HP Pump, 1 Cutting Head, 60,000 PSI, 1.1 GPM water output
<ol class="steps">
 	<li>If you were looking at the 50 HP pump, from the “Pump Specification” chart you would know that your pump puts out 1.1 gpm at 60,000 psi.</li>
 	<li>You would look down under the “60” column (corresponding to the 60,000 psi pump) in the “Flow Rate” chart until you found a number equal to or less than 1.1. In this case, you would end up at the cell with 1.00.</li>
 	<li>You would then follow that row across to the left to see the maximum size orifice you could use for single-head cutting. In this case, the cell shows that a 0.014” would be the maximum recommended orifice for one head at 60,000 psi.</li>
 	<li>If you were in a tight spot where you only had a 0.015” orifice you might be able to use it by running the pump at 55,000 psi.</li>
</ol>
You would be at the 1.1 gpm limitation of the pump. If there were any water leaks in your system between the pump and the cutting head, you would likely have a pump “over stroke” situation where the pump would try to cycle too fast attempting to create the required pressure. With modern pumps, there is no harm done if this happens. The pump is simply shut down to protect itself from damage and an error message is displayed for the operator.