Replacing a motor on a pump, and getting the correct size for your pool?

[mitchryan912]

I did just take everything apart to get things ready for a warranty replacement motor to arrive tomorrow. I did notice the above, that this seal was slightly crooked. Could this cause a major problem?

I never noticed any odd sound until just after I hooked up the pump to some plumbing I re-did (took out two shutoff a and replaced them with a pair of 3-way valves.) Everything seemed fine until a few minutes after running the pump. It was struggling to reach full prime, and it might have been because the water level was too low (pulled all the water out of the skimmer), so I shut it off and filled the pool up a few extra inches over the course of 3 hours. Turned it back on later that night and it sounded really funny, with a sort of him to it like it was seizing up.

FWIW, the pump had run fine for a full week up until I decided to change up the plumbing in an attempt to convert a vac line to an either/or line (vac or return.) There may have been a problem in the height of the new plumbing to the first valve, which was about 8-10" above the pump intake port.

[mas985]

I think you may have the seal in backwards. The ceramic end (white) goes into the motor mounting plate with the ceramic facing towards the impeller. The carbon side (black) faces the ceramic on the impeller side.

And yes, the surfaces must be perfectly parallel and flush or it will ruin the seal and cause friction issues.

[mitchryan912]

This is exactly how it was on the original seal with the pump, from the factory. I just put a new seal in when I got the 1st replacement motor.

I think my wet end has it configured backwards, with the seal part with the spring mounted into the motor mounting plate.

[mitchryan912]

Here's the motor mounting plate. The portion of the seal with the spring is installed here, and the ceramic (white) side faces this half of the seal.

[mas985]

That is backwards. The spring side goes on the impeller side and the white ceramic goes in the mounting plate. That is what is probably overloading the motor. But you probably have ruined the seal so I would replace it.

[mitchryan912]

It doesn't, though. The spring side won't fit in the impeller (too big) and the ceramic side is WAY too small to go in the mounting plate.

I'm guessing this wet end is backwards compared to most others?

[mitchryan912]

Mounting plate close up:


Spring on impeller, which doesn't fit:

[mas985]

My mistake. Waterway evidently decided to do things differently than most pumps and flip the seal. I just assumed they were the same and I shouldn't have.

You had the seals installed correctly although you need to make sure the white ceramic seal is bottomed in the impeller. The surfaces need to be perfectly parallel when they meet. Also check the seal surfaces for any damage.