Pentair Pinnacle 3/4 HP (P/N 34855) Leaking from Bottom

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JZeld

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Oct 13, 2012
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Love this forum and I am learning a ton already! My wife and I purchased the home we now live in and included with the home was a Endless Pool. The pool is filtered by a Pentair Pinnacle 3/4 HP (part number 34855, PMP PFII p1 3/4 W/3' CRD). I'm not sure of the gallon size, but we're talking about something the size of a few hot tubs, not a mammoth pool. Recently I noticed an ever so slight leak coming from the underside of the pump. When I say slight, I mean about 1 ounce every 5 minutes. Regardless, I want to try and fix this or replace the pump. I am not sure of the pump age, but is it likely that the seals have gone bad and that is why I am seeing the slight leak? What is the general lifetime of such a pump? This one was put in sometime around 2007-2008.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.
 
Thanks! Really appreciate it. Should I be replacing all of the seals at the same time or just the shaft seal? I would guess that if I have the pump open I should do them all. How long, generally, should it take me to replace the seals? Anything else I should look for/do when I have it open?

Thanks again!
 
Many times you can get a seal kit that includes them all ... would not hurt.

If you knew what you were doing, might take 15-30 minutes. Should not take more than an hour.

The only other thought is to Inspect the impeller and clean out anything that could be in it.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
Thanks JBlizzle! I ordered and received my seal kit today and was going to undertake the seal replacement. I went to turn on the pump, which hasn't been running (turned it off and removed automatic timer) and I had the water diverted at the valves (didn't want the seal to totally fail -- yes, unlikely -- and have a swamp), removed the air and tried turning it on. Nothing. All I heard was humming noise coming from the motor, like the motor was seized. I emptied some water out of the filter and then refilled and then turned on again and then it worked. Is this a symptom of something?

If it is broken, anyone have a suggestion for a replacement? This is for a 2700+ gallon Endless Pool. Could I get something like the Pentair SuperFlo?
 
UPDATED w/ PICTURES: Pentair Pinnacle 3/4 HP SEAL REPLACEME

I've taken the plunge and have taken apart the Pentair Pinnacle. I was following this great guide (pentair-whisperflow-seal-replacement-how-to-w-photos-t10763.html) but once I got in I realized not everything is quite the same. I got myself into a little trouble and I can't figure out the proper positioning of the two seals. I'm unsure if it is supposed to seat on the opposite side of the seal plate (see picture labeled "SIDE 2"), or right on the other seal (bone side -see picture of "SIDE 1")? I'm at a loss because I thought it was the opposite side but I can't get it to seat on that side. The diagram seems to have them together without the seal plate in between. (see diagram below)

DIAGRAM
Pinnacle_schem_webL.gif


Any help isVERY appreciated because all I have right now is a bunch of parts lying around.
 
I can't remember this pump off hand since it's been a while since I replaced one, but it either sits on the back of the impeller on the shaft, or it just slides over the shaft. the carbon fiber(black) piece mates up against the ceramic(white) piece.
 
So close...but so far away

Please help. I'm at a loss.

I had to take a break because of various other projects caused by the hurricane (tree removal mostly), but I'm back at it and very frustrated. I found a manual for my pump and think I have everything aligned. I attempted to put everything together and when I put got to putting the impeller back I did not tighten it all the way out of fear that the impeller would rub and burn out the motor, etc. When I put water in the pump, water went everywhere. I cleaned up (learned my lesson that I need to put water in the basket!), took everything apart again and put it back together. This time I tightened the impeller down as far as I could. Put everything back together, put water in the basket (none leaked out), and finished up. I then started up the pump and heard a squealing noise. Turned off pump and started it again. Same squealing noise. It sounds like the impeller is rubbing. So, my question is how much do I tighten the impeller? The manual (see attached picture) seems to indicate to tighten it until "the impeller is tightened to the shoulder of the shaft." Does that mean when it is just touching, but not tightened as far as it tightens? Should water leak out if I don't tighten enough?

Thanks for all of your help. Really appreciated.

UPDATE: I took the pump apart again, loosened the impeller and re-tightened by hand only. I then lubed the impeller lock screw o-ring with some teflon grease and put it back together. This time when I started the pump all that happened was a humming noise. Not sure if I cooked the motor, or how even to tell. Any guidance appreciated.
 

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If you're sure you put it back together correctly then you should tighten the impeller until it seats against the shoulder. It will get tighter when the pump is running.

With the pump apart does the motor squeal when it's running. A squeal usually means a bad bearing. Have you checked the bearings?
 
Thanks Bama. I'll check the bearings, but it seems like the propeller stopped moving the second time I put it back together. Can I run the pump (plug it in) without water in it? Just want to make sure as that would make trouble-shooting that much easier.
 
I tried taking it apart back down to the diffuser and plugged it in and it still just hummed. Unplugged it and tried to manually turn it from the back of the unit and it is VERY difficult to turn. Would this be the missing shim? How would I determine if it is a missing shim? I've posted a quick video of the symptoms here: http://youtu.be/QNbfQ-UukGA

Thanks for any help anyone can provide. I'm about to give up on this one.
 
take the diffuser off, does it turn? if so, the bolts on the housing/motor mount are too tight. loosen them, screw on diffuser and spin shaft to see if it spins easily. If so, start tightening down the bolts and spin the shaft until you get it just right.

I have done this a few times and melted a few diffusers and impellers together.
 
Thanks DBFan. I removed the diffuser entirely and I still got the same result, no movement. and the humming. I shut it off and tried to turn manually and it was very difficult. Anything else I can do, or should I be looking for a replacement?
 
Unfortunately I think I'm in over my head. Can anyone recommend a replacement unit. This is for an Endless Pool (about 2700 gallons) that gets minimal use so it shouldn't need to be the most. Thanks for the help everyone
 
JZeld said:
Unfortunately I think I'm in over my head. Can anyone recommend a replacement unit. This is for an Endless Pool (about 2700 gallons) that gets minimal use so it shouldn't need to be the most. Thanks for the help everyone
Click to expand...
You're probably not in over your head yet. You've been working on the pump and it sounds like you've tuned it up well.

Now you've got, it sounds like, a problem with the motor. You probably need a start capacitor. I can do the stuff you've done, but I don't do motor repairs. Take it to a pump repair shop and they'll know exactly what to do. Either look one up in the Yellow Pages or Google. If you know your way around electric motors, you can probably fix it yourself.

Good luck!
 

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