Pump Slow Drip at Motor Assembly; Question on Plumbing Configuration

[n4trombl]

Hi folks, been a while here but could use some more expert advice. Had my pool just over 3 years now, and like everyone in south Texas this week been keeping an eye on things with the below freezing temperatures. Everything seems to be working ok, however, I went out to spot check pumps this morning and noticed a small wet spot next to the pump that runs our lower set of spa jets. Further inspecting I saw water drops coming out of the motor assembly connection point. It only looks to be occurring when the pump is on at full pressure, as when it is off it dries up. So my question is A) is this a common point to find a leak at and B) is this something fairly easy to address? I'm plenty handy and comfortable acquiring parts and disassembling/reassembling, just never had to before on any of the pool equipment.

And with that, if it is something that can be fixed fairly easily, I do see and it makes sense that the Pentair instructions state to drain the pump out so you can do the disassembly. Well interestingly enough, this pump serves my lower spa jets as I mentioned. And the plumbing seems to be configured in such a way that if I remove the lid on this pump, the water just continues to spill out everywhere. So needless to say, cleaning the basket out has to be a speedy process. My assumption is that this line is completely under pressure at all times with the pressure/weight of the filled spa pushing into this line all the way back to the pump. So I was curious, did they miss adding some type of check valve possibly to prevent water for just continually spilling out of the top of the pump? Or is this how additional jets are normally plumbed in?

My thought is if I have to do any work to this pump, I might as well confirm any additional work that needs to be done to address the way it is plumbed...or if that is the correct way, then I'll most likely need to drain the spa first before servicing this pump. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

First attempt embedding Youtube link so if it doesn't work I've got a couple still shots of the leak attached as well.

Pump Leak YouTube

 

[ajw22]

I don’t see any models for your pump or filter in your signature.

Look in YouTube videos for how to replace the shaft seal for your model pump.

Pump Seals - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[1poolman1]

Hi folks, been a while here but could use some more expert advice. Had my pool just over 3 years now, and like everyone in south Texas this week been keeping an eye on things with the below freezing temperatures. Everything seems to be working ok, however, I went out to spot check pumps this morning and noticed a small wet spot next to the pump that runs our lower set of spa jets. Further inspecting I saw water drops coming out of the motor assembly connection point. It only looks to be occurring when the pump is on at full pressure, as when it is off it dries up. So my question is A) is this a common point to find a leak at and B) is this something fairly easy to address? I'm plenty handy and comfortable acquiring parts and disassembling/reassembling, just never had to before on any of the pool equipment.

And with that, if it is something that can be fixed fairly easily, I do see and it makes sense that the Pentair instructions state to drain the pump out so you can do the disassembly. Well interestingly enough, this pump serves my lower spa jets as I mentioned. And the plumbing seems to be configured in such a way that if I remove the lid on this pump, the water just continues to spill out everywhere. So needless to say, cleaning the basket out has to be a speedy process. My assumption is that this line is completely under pressure at all times with the pressure/weight of the filled spa pushing into this line all the way back to the pump. So I was curious, did they miss adding some type of check valve possibly to prevent water for just continually spilling out of the top of the pump? Or is this how additional jets are normally plumbed in?

My thought is if I have to do any work to this pump, I might as well confirm any additional work that needs to be done to address the way it is plumbed...or if that is the correct way, then I'll most likely need to drain the spa first before servicing this pump. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

First attempt embedding Youtube link so if it doesn't work I've got a couple still shots of the leak attached as well.

Pump Leak YouTube

Not uncommon for an older Whisperflo to leak at the body gasket, especially in the colder weather. You could try to tighten the bolts on that side of the sealplate, but not more than about 1/8 turn or the tank body can be damaged. Likely just need to replace the gasket. It doesn't appear to be leaking from the shaft seal in the video or pictures. That would show as a leak under the motor.

The existing gasket is in a groove in the sealplate and likely is the original "white" material. They get flattened and stiff after long use. Remove the 6 bolts holding the pump together, separate the body, remove ALL of the old gasket. Not sure how close the motor is to the building, but you need to move it back about 4"-5" to get it completely out of the tank body. Also, the conduit may present an issue with moving the motor back.

In the cold it is good to put the new gasket into a cup of warm-to-hot water so that it expands a little and will remain in the installation groove. I like to fill that groove with pool lube so that the gasket stays in place when you set the pump sideways to install.

This is a picture of an OEM gasket:

 

[n4trombl]

I don’t see any models for your pump or filter in your signature.

Look in YouTube videos for how to replace the shaft seal for your model pump.

Pump Seals - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks @ajw22! Signature updated...forgot it squeezed on number of characters so had to do some modifying. But I will take a look at shaft seal how to just in case it isn't doesn't end up being the body gasket.

 

[ajw22]

Thanks @ajw22! Signature updated...forgot it squeezed on number of characters so had to do some modifying. But I will take a look at shaft seal how to just in case it isn't doesn't end up being the body gasket.

It is more important that we know what filter model and size you have, which I still don’t see, then the type and size of your channel drains.

 

[n4trombl]

Not uncommon for an older Whisperflo to leak at the body gasket, especially in the colder weather. You could try to tighten the bolts on that side of the sealplate, but not more than about 1/8 turn or the tank body can be damaged. Likely just need to replace the gasket. It doesn't appear to be leaking from the shaft seal in the video or pictures. That would show as a leak under the motor.

The existing gasket is in a groove in the sealplate and likely is the original "white" material. They get flattened and stiff after long use. Remove the 6 bolts holding the pump together, separate the body, remove ALL of the old gasket. Not sure how close the motor is to the building, but you need to move it back about 4"-5" to get it completely out of the tank body. Also, the conduit may present an issue with moving the motor back.

In the cold it is good to put the new gasket into a cup of warm-to-hot water so that it expands a little and will remain in the installation groove. I like to fill that groove with pool lube so that the gasket stays in place when you set the pump sideways to install.

This is a picture of an OEM gasket:
View attachment 550366

Appreciate the info @1poolman1...I was hoping it might just be a gasket that needs to be addressed. Well aware that these things in most applications eventually need replacing as they begin to wear. I will certainly give this a shot. Now I just need to figure out if I do a spa drain down to below those jets and see if that keeps the pump from just spilling over when the lid gets removed.

 

[ajw22]

Appreciate the info @1poolman1...I was hoping it might just be a gasket that needs to be addressed. Well aware that these things in most applications eventually need replacing as they begin to wear. I will certainly give this a shot. Now I just need to figure out if I do a spa drain down to below those jets and see if that keeps the pump from just spilling over when the lid gets removed.

Get winterization plugs and put them in the jets to stop the outflow.

And you probably need to remove the drain covers and plug the suction side also.

 

[1poolman1]

Appreciate the info @1poolman1...I was hoping it might just be a gasket that needs to be addressed. Well aware that these things in most applications eventually need replacing as they begin to wear. I will certainly give this a shot. Now I just need to figure out if I do a spa drain down to below those jets and see if that keeps the pump from just spilling over when the lid gets removed.

Raised spa? Have a large washcloth or small towel ready, open the pump lid, and push the cloth into the suction pipe tightly. Unless the spa is above the level of the pump outlet pipe it won't flow back that way. Or, just drain the spa into the pool below the level of the jets, or further, and you should have no problems.

 

[n4trombl]

@ajw22 @1poolman1 Greatly appreciate the recommendations! Thankfully I'm not in too tight of a bind given no leaking when its not running, but will want to get that changed sooner rather than later since I run the pump daily to keep the water moving throughout. Those ideas should definitely help me work around the overflowing issue. Thanks for the quick replies as well!

 

[JamesW]

Turn the pump off and snug up the bolts to see if that fixes things.