I have a 1 HP Waterford Systems swimming pool pump by Sta-Rite. I am a new, first time pool owner and I just made a huge error. I had my pump running for approx. 24+ hours with the valve shut off (therefore no water was going to the pump). It's been raining, so I've not been in the pool to notice that it wasn't moving water. As soon as I got in and nothing was coming out of the return jet, I jumped out and opened the valve. Everything works like normal, but my question is--Did I just doom my pump to an early death? My manual says it could damage the seals, causing leaking and flooding. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Did I just ruin my brand new pump?
- Thread starter ticketblender
- Start date
Welcome to TFP.
The bad news is that you could have damaged the seal. The good news is that if you don't see any water leaking out between the motor and the wet end you're probably ok.
The bad news is that you could have damaged the seal. The good news is that if you don't see any water leaking out between the motor and the wet end you're probably ok.
svenpup
LifeTime Supporter
The elaborate on what Bama said, if you do see water (even a small amount) leaking onto the motor shaft, you should replace the shaft seal immediately. This is cheap and easy to do. If you don't do it, the water will ruin the motor itself, and that means $$$.
Thanks for the answers. My next question is this: did I even need to have that valve closed in the first place? When not running your pump, do you have to close the valve that is before the pump, or do you leave it open? (I watched my owner's video and read all my manuals and don't see the answer to this question.)
I once blew up a clients sand filter by leaving the return valve closed. Expensive mistake.
The valve is probably only there to make it easy to do pump/filter maintenance. I don't know the layout but if the valve must necessarily shut off when the pump stops you could consider inserting a check valve that closes automatically when the pump stops and then automatically opens under pressure when you restart the pump.
Well, looks like I got lucky. Our maintenance guy at work thinks it probably never quite went dry even with the valve off. He figures it probably lost it's prime and was left with some water in it.