Motor Bearings or Pump Seal??

[BikerBill]

I have a 1.5 HP Pentair Whisper Flo inground pool pump (0 177451 - 03). I hear a scratchy/screechy noise coming from the pump/motor assembly. The noise has come and gone for a few years now. I'd like to avoid a catastrophic failure in the height of pool season. I plan to replace the seal or bearings myself.

How do I isolate what's making the noise? I pulled the plastic cap that's on the back end of the motor. The bearing looks clean and shiny. I've felt both ends of the motor and don't feel anything conclusive as far as vibration. What's my next step?

 

[Rossterman]

Seals will leak Water when bad, normally introducing water to the front bearing Area eventually causing failure if bad enough. If the unit has some years on it, why not rebuild it with new bearings and a new seal now before it eventually fails? It’s any easy to do, 2 hour job at most And parts are pretty cheap. I rebuild my main Circ pump every 3 years or so when bearings get noisy. Also make sure to buy quality bearings (skf, fafner, toyo, etc) vs cheap chinese ones or you’ll be redoing it again next year.

 

[BikerBill]

I had meant to include the age of the pump/motor but forgot--it's 12 years old. I live in Massachusetts so we don't have a long pool season here. The pump never runs more than 4 months in a year, 10 hours a day.

Your suggestion is probably the right thing to do. Don't try to find just what's making noise now, replace everything. I'll check into tracking down the parts.

I assume I'll need a 3-arm bearing puller and a drift to pound on the new bearings. Any other special tools needed for this?

 

[Rossterman]

my equipment is 14 years old and other than changing a motor due to windings failure, everything is going strong with just seal and bearing replacments every few years. Having a bearing puller helps for sure. You can also warm the new bearing in the oven at 125 degrees and it likely will expand enough to drop right on. If not, just remember to only tap on the inner race so as not to damage the bearing. I keep an extra start capacitor, o-ring, seal, and bearing kit on the shelf since I have 3 pumps that all use the same parts.

 

[Duxdweller]

Bill - does it sound like this?

 

[Bama Rambler]

A few years ago some WhisperFlo pumps had a squeak caused by the slinger between the motor and wet end. It would come and go as you describe.