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Thread: Possible pump motor bearing failure?

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  1. #1
    mas985's Avatar
    mas985 is offline Lifetime Member Whizbang Spinner mas985 3 stars mas985 3 stars mas985 3 stars
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    Default Re: GOT VACUM GAUGE!!! Possible pump motor bearing failure?

    The pressure drop in both the suction and pressure side indicates a problem with the pump itself and for some reason the pump is not pumping as much water during this period. This could be caused by several things but since you replaced so many parts, I suspect it is a lot air entering into the pump chamber.

    The lid gasket can go bad so the pump lid does not seal. But if that happens, you should see air in the pump basket. Also there can be cracks in the lid or even the pump housing which can draw in air into the pump. This can be due to a lot of air entering the pump. If that is happening, then the filter should fill up with air and you should see air coming out of the returns. Most of the time if there is a crack in the pump housing it is on the pressure side so you can easily see water leaking out but if it is on the suction side, it will be harder to detect. Does the pump leak any water when it is off? Also, when you used the shaving cream did you put any on the front half of pump housing?
    Mark
    Hydraulics 101; Pump Ed 101; Pump/Pool Spreadsheets; Pump Run Time Study; DIY Acid Dosing; DIY Cover Roller
    18'x36' 20k plaster, MaxFlo SP2303VSP, Aqualogic PS8 SWCG, 420 sq-ft Cartridge, Solar, 6 jet spa, 1 HP jet pump, 400k BTU NG Heater

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    Default Re: GOT VACUUM GAUGE!!! Possible pump motor bearing failure?

    So on a whim I went and got fresh rubber parts lube from leslies.... In case my tube from last season was broken down... yeah much different consistency...

    One more time for giggles i gutted the pump. lubed up the ring between the power half and suction half.
    lubed the pressure side union
    lubed the suction side union
    cleaned the lids groove with soap and water to get anything out of it.... lubed the lid ring again..
    lubed the diffuser ring
    reassembled...

    Under no load meaning main and both skimmers wide open, has been purring for an hour now on high speed, I have yet to close skimmers to try and vaccumm this is the most I have gotten wide open in a month... water feature is flowing full bore... I may just bask in the glory of having high spped and stick to the idea of buying a robot to clean...


    down to two culprits that lid is shot and thicker silicon bought me a little more sealing power, though the seal is new... or the union is not quite lining up... will check and retighten.....

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    mas985's Avatar
    mas985 is offline Lifetime Member Whizbang Spinner mas985 3 stars mas985 3 stars mas985 3 stars
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    Default Re: GOT VACUUM GAUGE!!! Possible pump motor bearing failure?

    Also, check the pump drain plugs.
    Mark
    Hydraulics 101; Pump Ed 101; Pump/Pool Spreadsheets; Pump Run Time Study; DIY Acid Dosing; DIY Cover Roller
    18'x36' 20k plaster, MaxFlo SP2303VSP, Aqualogic PS8 SWCG, 420 sq-ft Cartridge, Solar, 6 jet spa, 1 HP jet pump, 400k BTU NG Heater

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    Default Re: GOT VACUUM GAUGE!!! Possible pump motor bearing failure?

    funny thing... 100% of the time I once the sound starts... stop pump... do one simple thing...

    so after awhile on high today, skimmers, main, returns, and water feature wide open. It finally started doing it again...

    turn pump off, open strainer lid, close strainer lid.... restarted and pressure instantly returned to 20... no chatter and off&running again......

    Before removing the lid I turned it off and on to see if the action of off/on does it... no, still chatter... removing and reseating the lid seems to alleviated its troubles consistently at this point... how long varies has gone as long as two hours that I was outside before switching to low... or simply turning off...

    I want to say today was about an hour before chattering returned... but still reseat the lid and viola!

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