stubborn leak on hayward super II pump - repair / replace?

[jml999]

Moved to a new place a few month ago, have in-ground pool w/ a caretaker infloor system, built in spa, and heater. Have been slowly fixing leaks all over the equipment -- main pump is a hayward super ii, older version with the two screw down locks on the non-threaded strainer trap top.

Originally noticed seeping between top of seal plate and pump housing - replaced the gasket between the two and also new shaft seal and diffuser volute gasket. Still leaking between the pump housing and seal plate. Had a "pool guy" over and he suggested pump may have run dry at some point and warped the seal plate.

This past weekend I replaced the motor mounting plate, the seal plate, and shaft seal (again) and the pump housing gasket (again) - still leaking.

Caveat is originally the entire equipment pad was covered in landscaping rock (not sure what the prior owner was thinking here) -- so this time i removed all the rocks down to actual concrete the pumps and filter are sitting on (3-4 inches deep) -- leak seems to be coming from under pump now more than the sides and could have been leaking there the whole time too. The concrete the pumps are on of clearly cracked and water damaged -- who knows how long it was leaking - i suspect now that there is a crack in the underside of the pump housing -- Unfortunately there are no unions in the plumbing so i'm about to where i need to cute the pump housing out and take a good inspection of it. If cracked should I replace the housing (200ish) or replace the pump entirely (450ish)?

Also -- i've come to notice the heater is plumbed out of sequence..

My understanding of a normal install is pump -> filter -> heater -> returns ----- mine is plumbed pump -> heater -> filter -> returns. The lines from the pump to the heater and back are probably 8 feet and not supported by anything at all except the pump and heater mainfolds themselves, otherwise they float in mid air and clack against the house when the pump kicks on. Considering cutting it all out and redoing it -- plumbing has clearly been jacked with before as it's almost coupling after coupling, very little usable piping left. Replacing all will likely mean new push/pull valve on skimmer and at least 3 new jandy 3 way valves (maybe adding 150 dollars to the plumbing cost)..

Thanks!

[Watermom]

Hi jml999 and welcome to the Pool Forum! This area --- pump repair -- is not my forte! So, I'll let someone else advise you on this one. Just wanted to say hello and welcome you to our forum. Hope you'll find the answers you need!

[jml999]

Thanks for the welcome! Leaning toward just replacing the housing (cheapest option) to get it going through this season and then redoing the equipment pad in the fall. Phoenix summer heat is right around the corner - concerned that with me only being able to work on it on weekends I may get caught in the sun -- not fun when it's 110 out!

[PoolDoc]

It's unusually for the motor to outlast the wet end -- can happen, but not that common in my experience.

If I was working on your pool as a service guy, I'd be unwilling to replace wet-end only, because I'd figure it would all be likely to fail before summer was over, and you'd be PO'd at me, because I didn't 'fix your pump right'! Of course, if I saw your pump, I might be able to tell why the wet end was failing, and be able to determine that the pump hadn't experienced much wear and tear. Otherwise, I'd walk away from the job rather than replace wet-end only, because I'd figure it was a warranty problem waiting to happen.

[jml999]

Thanks for the info -- going to replace the volute/housing as I am just looking to get through (motor on it is already a rebuild) -- I have plans to install a new variable speed pump altogether over winter - just can't do that investment right at the moment. Will see how it goes.

[PoolDoc]

If you just want it to last 1 season, that's not unreasonable.

good luck!