Replacing Pump Motor Hayward Super Pump

[mjtraynor73]

Hello all

I needed to replace the motor in my pump, it was old and also ran dry for a couple of hours which finally killed the bearings and seals. After doing quite a bit of research I thought this looked do-able for someone with moderate DIY skills.

I have bought all the parts - new motor, new seal plate and seals and gaskets. I took apart and have put back together replacing old for new. When i put the electricity back on, and restarted the pump it simply hums. I switched it off quick.

So the question is any idea what i can have done wrong?

Could i have wired it incorrectly? It still has its factory configuration of 230 volts, which is the same as the old one. I did not change this on the motor.
The old wiring had 3 wires. Green for Ground, then a Yellow wired to Line 1 and a browny/yellow (confusing) wired to Line 2. I have connected the green to the Ground screw. The new motor has Line 1 and Line 2 constructed the opposite way round but i have checked and i have wired it up with the same wires on L1 and L2 as before. (I also have read elsewhere on this forum that it does not matter which way around as long as one wire on each L1 and L2.

So before i resort to getting an electrician- anyone any suggestions?
Thanks
Mike

 

[Qwaxalot]

First thing to do is to make sure the impeller and shaft spin freely.

Double check your wiring, then make sure that you actually have 230 volts to the motor.

Check at the breaker for 230 volts between the two terminals, then check at the switch for 230 volts. then after removing L1 & L2 at the motor, 230 volts between the two wires.

If the voltage is correct, and you're sure you have it wired correctly and the impeller spins freely, you have a bad motor (it happens)

 

[mjtraynor73]

Thanks Quaxalot for the good advice. I'm somewhat closer but not there yet!

I first checked the voltage to the pump itself, not expecting this to be different from before and the old pump was set for 230v. The voltmeter stated it was just over 230 (234 varying). So this was OK. I did not check the electricity voltage any further back up the line to the house? Do i need to????

I then stripped the pump back to the just the motor. To do this had to remove a couple of the electric parts at the back so that i could hold the shaft and loosen the impeller. Once it was stripped back to the motor only, i retested and the motor ran fine. I ran it for just a few seconds. At this point i was suspicious that previously maybe there was an issue with some of those connections on the back of the pump.

I then rebuilt it back with the impeller hand tightened and ran it again for a few seconds still working fine.
Now feeling confident, i put it all back together to the housing. Grounded it, filled the strainer housing with water and fired it up. It all worked EXCEPT unfortunately it was leaking quite badly and then after about 10 seconds the motor started to smoke. Not sure if water getting in may have caused the smoke - thoughts? I also checked that the pump is indeed set at its factory setting of 230v and it is.

New Questions:
Wheres the most likely place for the leak?
What casued the smoke?
What to do next? :? posting.php?mode=reply&f=5&t=50511#

Note i replaced the shaft seal, housing gasket, (SPX1600T) and the Diffuser Gasket (SPX1600R) Seals.

 

[mas985]

Wheres the most likely place for the leak?

Probably the seal. make sure it is installed in the correct direction.

What casued the smoke?

Probably extra load on the motor.

What to do next?

Find out where the pump is binding. Probably in the diffuser or impeller ring.

 

[mjtraynor73]

Mas985 - think you are on the right tracks!

The impeller had binded really tight, it was a real effort to get it back apart. Once i did. I can see part of the seal has cracked and broken into 3 pieces. I am very suspicious that i had put this on the way as you suggested. The other ceramic part has also marked in that short time so suspect this must be assembled wrong. I have attached a few photos- can you advise?

I will have to reorder this seal again. In the meantime i really need to run the pump, should i be OK replacing the broken part with the old seal from my previous pump for a few days? It looks to be in reasonable condition.

Picture 1 and 2 Show the seal - it is now broekn in 3 places.
[attachment=2:35xsze0u]Seal now broken 1.JPG[/attachment:35xsze0u]

[attachment=1:35xsze0u]Seal now broken_2.JPG[/attachment:35xsze0u]

Picture 3 shows the other ceramic part in the seal plate and shows the grind marks. (this is brand new!!). Is this re-usable for a few days?
[attachment=0:35xsze0u]Seal Ceramic 3.JPG[/attachment:35xsze0u]

So is it fair to conclude the seal was in the wrong way causing the impeller to bind which in itself cause extra stress on the motor and hence the smoke????
Also the shaft seal being in the wrong way- would you expect that to cause the quite fast leak from the main strainer housing?

Thanks for your help and quick response.

 

[mas985]

Definitely a possibility that it was installed backwards. and yes, you can use the old seal temporarily. In fact, you might just want to use it until it develops a leak although you will need to be on top it so the motor bearings do not rust. Here is a good set of instructions:

http://www.inyopools.com/HowToPage/how_ ... _seal.aspx

 

[mjtraynor73]

Thanks for the advice i rechecked seal was in correct way i have refitted with old seal, however cannot make it water tight. Tried twice carefully putting it back into housing and it leaks water bad. I followed last instrucyions to the T. I did not even try to start the pump. I'm reluctantly going to get a pro in to finish install. I don't know what else to do. Many thanks again