Pentair Whisperflo WFDS-26 Noisy

[nick1427d]

My 1 1/2 hp whisperflo, not even a year old yet is not sounding right. It also seems to be underpowered. Seems to have good power and connections to switch for two speed use. Took off impeller cap and it seems to spin freely. Not covered under warranty according to Pentair because I did not have it installed "professionally". Awesome!

I have a local pump repair i'll probably end up taking it to. Making sure it's not something simple first.

IMG 5780 MOV - YouTube

 

[mas985]

Have you taken it apart to inspect the impeller?

 

[nick1427d]

I have not. Is it just the 6 or so bolts that connects the motor to pump housing?

 

[mas985]

Just the outer bolts. Don't remove the inner motor bolts.

 

[nick1427d]

Impeller looks clean, I wiped some small debris around seal and out of inside of impeller. Reattached everything and it's still loud. Pump seems to be running fine.

 

[mas985]

If there is no interference, then it is probably the motor. If you run the motor without the wet end, does it still make the noise?

 

[nick1427d]

Yes. Called Pentair again and they refuse to warranty it because I cannot provide proof of install.

 

[mas985]

Have your removed the back end of the motor to see if there is anything that is interfering with the motor shaft there?

The only thing left would be the bearings but it would be very odd to happen so soon.

 

[nick1427d]

Took it to a pump shop yesterday, bearings were going out already, replaced with higher quality. They let me watch them take apart and fix, nothing else abnormal. Took it home hooked back up ran fine all day and night. This morning I turned it on, ran for about 2 hours on high setting as I was adding chemicals. Switched it to low a bit ago and the motor started making funny noises, quit and was smoking. Took off switch, verified leads and connections. Turned back on ran fine on high, the minute I switch it to low, it makes terrible noises and shuts off and smokes again. Thinking bad switch? Can I just wire it for high until new switch arrives?

 

[mas985]

You can bypass the switch but you might want to directly wire it for low speed and see if it still smokes. Could be a bad low speed winding.