Seized Pump

[SeaBear]

Okay - so i've been lurking for months and can't thank everyone enough for this forum. Bought a house with a pool (my first) in July and so far this forum has answered all my questions (without me needing to post) and my pool is humming along and crystal clear!

Well... I say humming along.. Actually, not as of about 2 hours ago when, after vacuuming a windy day's supply of leaves, I turned the pump back on and it seized. I hit the switch and instead of turning, I just got a buzzing sound. Shortly thereafter water started leaking from the pump (around the motor area).

Not sure whether the pump seized, or the seal between the impeller and the pump broke loose, or what. No idea whether this motor is going to run again or not. I am planning on calling my pool guy tomorrow unless someone can persuade me differently (although I probably could take this one on myself I am about to head off on a business trip and will not have the time).

I'd be interested in any feedback as to what may have happened? Would a broken seal cause the motor to seize (or vice versa), or do we just have to pull the motor and see if it can still be turned.

Also on the basis that i'm most likely going to be replacing at least the motor, i'd be interested in opinion on whether it might be worth replacing the whole pump (and what to replace it with).

Current dead pump is a Hayward Super II, 2 HP. Century B130 motor. It drives a 11Kgal pool with SPA and spillover and suction cleaner (Hayward Navigator), hence the 2HP size. I'm definitely interested in something more efficient and have been considering a 2 speed. I'd like a variable speed, but i'm not sure how well that would fit (both the pool and my budget).

Any advice before I call the pool guy would be very welcome.

And just for the record, and by way of thanks:
FC 4.0, CC 0.0, pH 7.7, TA 70, CH 260, CYA 30, BOR 50

 

[TFP_wanna_be]

...hmmm...... A tight fit you have there.... Its 'possible' you 'may' be able to free the pump by manually turning the shaft. With the power off, locate the service cap on the butt of the motor and remove it. You can then spin the motor... Of course that wont help the leak....

BTW - congrats on keeping such a nice pool!!!

 

[Ranger987]

There are several possibilities, but based on your description, the buzzing & the immediate leak, it sounds as though the impeller may have spun off the motor shaft when you turned it off. This would bind the motor and cause a leak.It could also be that the shaft seal somehow broke/bound up the motor. You'll have to remove the rear half of the motor in order to see the problem, if you feel comfortable doing that. Based on the tight installation, you'll probably need to disconnect the union just in front of the pump and also disconnect the union where the pump outlet meets the filter. This will allow you to move the pump around so you can take out the 6 bolts that hold the back half into the front half. When you reassemble, you'll want to replace the housing gasket.

 

[SeaBear]

I had the pool guy out this morning to fix it. The impeller had indeed spun off the shaft as Ranger987 predicted. It had also jacked the shaft of the motor back and jammed it - but my pool guy was able to get it freed back up. New impeller, new seals and it's humming along nicely now.

Having watched the strip down, i'm pretty confident that I can do it if needed again in the future.

Thanks for the advice