Another humming pump...........

[aylad]

Haven't turned the pump on in my pool for a couple of weeks, but decided to shock it yesterday before it goes completely green (too cold to swim anymore this season). Hums, nothing else. Tried the 2 x 4 trick, doesn't make a difference. Took the pump part of it apart, nothing wrong that I could feel or see. Brother is coming to look at the motor part, see what he can do. Hoping he can figure it out, and soon, as it goes greener by the day.....at least I have a bunch of bleach ready for it when he gets it working again!

[AnnaK]

Hope it's fixable and you don't have to buy a new one.

You could just pour some bleach in now and mix it in with the brush or leaf net.

[aylad]

Yeah, I did that, but I really need my filter..........I hope he can fix it, too.

Janet

[waste]

Hey, Jan. Sorry the pump's not working!

Can you remind me of the model of your pump?

The first thing for you or your bro to check is that the shaft spins freely. If it doesn't, see if you can get it to spin, the motor might be louder than usual, but should work.

Let us know if the shaft can be manually turned - I'm thinking either the bearings are shot or the start capacitor is. Also, I would listen to any advice Al has to give on this!

[aylad]

It's an A.O Smith 1 HP pump. I have taken the whole assembly apart except for the motor itself--I don't know enough to be comfortable taking that part apart--and everything outside the motor appears to work fine. I'm going to look up an old post of mine and edit this one with the link about the impeller, but if I'm mistaken the impeller on this pump isn't supposed to turn. If that's true, should I be able to turn the shaft from the outside of the motor? There's a part of the shaft that sticks out a few inches from the motor that the impeller screws onto. Should that part turn?

Janet

Edit: Here's the thread from last year that describes the impeller situation--specifically my post #9. I think this motor is now about 4 years old. http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...acing+impeller

[Watermom]

I just chided Al for not seeing this post from you! Hopefully he'll pop on soon!

[waste]

Yes, the shaft should freely turn. If it doesn't, it's probably the bearings that got wet last year when your impeller snapped off. Did you change the shaft seal assembly when you replaced the impeller?

If not, I'll 'double down' on my guess that the bearings need to be repacked. (for everyone's edification: when you change out an impeller, it's best to replace the shaft seal assembly as well- it's another $10- 20 but, the seals are prone to failure once removed and can/ will leak, which puts the bearings and other motor components in jeopardy of failing or seizing up).

I hope Al will clarify things for me ( I don't always express myself properly on the 'nuts and bolts/ physics' part of repairing things)

[aylad]

I'm almost positive that we did change the seal assembly at that time, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. I do remember replacing one set of seals but not sure if it was between the pump/motor or the motor and housing. But when we replaced the impeller shaft, we never had to open up the motor itself--the part that broke off was outside the motor, does that make sense? I wish I still had my pics but they were on my phone and got erased in the last backup glitch. I think I emailed them to Al, maybe he'll still have them. I have to work tomorrow, but maybe Monday I'll have a chance to open it up again and see whether the shaft spins or not. My brother hasn't had a chance to get out here yet, looks like I may have to call a pro if I have any hope of getting it done before it actually gets cold out......

Janet

[Poconos]

Hi Jan,
Ted is right on so far. If the shaft is seized then you will hear a real loud hum and after some short time the thermal breaker will open. That's located in the back of the motor where the wires enter. With a seized shaft the motor pulls a lot of current. If the shaft turns freely and the hum is a low level then there are two possibilities. One the starting capacitor has opened or two, the starting switch contacts are really crummy. That 2x4 trick may or may not work. It won't if the contacts are really bad.
Gotta run....back later.
Al
More: Smacking the motor will sometimes shock the switch contacts enough to make contact. If the shaft turns freely and the hum is loud then probably the starting capacitor is shorted.
Al

[aylad]

okay, status on my pump (we won't talk about the Mountain Dew colored pool at this point! )

The impeller was seized up, but some working back and forth freed it up and now it's working with no problem. Put the pump back together, it makes all the right noises and works fine--except now it's leaking like crazy. When I first put it back together, there was a small leak from underneath the motor where it meets the housing. Took it back apart, repositioned the gasket between the motor and the housing, and put it back together-- it still works, but now is leaking worse. Thought maybe I put the gasket back in the wrong place, but there is a channel for it there and I can't imagine any other way to put it on. Anyway, everytime I take it apart and put it back together, the leak gets worse and worse.

Because the motor itself works now, I'm looking at the pump pieces. The impeller and diffuser are fine, so the only thing left to replace are the seals. I read somewhere that if the impeller seal is going bad, it will cause a progressively worse leak on the bottom side of the pump, so hubby is now on his way to the pool store to get a complete set of seals and gaskets. We'll just replace them all and see what happens from there. At least I got it running long enough to get a shock dose of bleach in the pool, but I don't want to keep running it until it's no longer leaking for fear of really screwing up the motor.

Al, I left you a couple of phone messages, but I think I answered the question already that I had for you....