My Superflo VST is a mess inside

[IceShadow]

I was getting a 0002 error on my pump, and had to spin the impeller from behind with an Allen wrench to get it to start whenever it stopped. I took it apart, cleaned up some pine needles that had gotten into it, and put it back together. Wife noticed some water leaking, and someone here had recommended I change the shaft seal when I took it apart the first time, so I did. Took it back apart and…the old shaft seal had disintegrated. My pump is a mess inside. >.< Photos:

Old shaft seal:



Inside of the seal plate after I’d taken out the hard ceramic part of the seal:



I scraped out as much as I could of the rubber melted to the seal plate.



Whatever goes behind the seal plate around the shaft was also really damaged.




And the seal plate itself seems all pitted and trashed inside.



So…pretty sure I’m buying a new seal plate. Probably the impeller too, to be safe. But I can’t find a diagram that includes the piece behind the seal plate that was around the shaft to replace that. Anyone know what that is so I can buy a replacement?

Also I can’t find the replacement parts for this model online. They appear to be for a 342001 and not a 342002, which this one is. Anyone have a bead on that?

 

[ajw22]

See if pages 508-511 help you identify the parts...

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/parts-sheets/product-catalog-parts/pool-pumps-parts.pdf

 

[IceShadow]

See if pages 508-511 help you identify the parts...

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/parts-sheets/product-catalog-parts/pool-pumps-parts.pdf

Thank you. I’m not seeing anything listed behind the seal plate. So I’m thinking it was just a hardened piece of melted rubber from the back side of the pump seal.





I have a new shaft seal already. So I think I need to replace the seal plate and the impeller to be safe. So I need parts C105-238PDCA (impeller) and 356071 (seal plate) since manufacture date is 12/2019. I found the impeller on one site but I can’t find the seal plate anywhere.

 

[IceShadow]

Looks like 356071Z is the newer version of the seal plate in the 2022 Pentair catalog. Still can’t find it online anywhere. >.<

 

[IceShadow]

Ugh. Feeling like I’m going to have to replace an entire $1k pump I bought two years ago because I can’t find a $100 part for it.

 

[IceShadow]

Hm. The ceramic plate side of the pump seal feels like it’ll still fit tightly into the seal plate. Does it matter if the seal plate is chewed up around the middle a bit? If I put this back together and use it, is it going to catastrophically fail?

 

[ajw22]

Let’s see what @JamesW thinks.

 

[PoolStored]

There is NOTHING behind the ceramic seal seat. You press it into the plate like your first picture in the last post.

I would try it. Press it in, mount the plate. Clean the face of the ceramic and the seal. Push the seal on the shaft, thread the impellor back on. Reassemble. It should not fail catastrophically. It will just leak water.

If it leaks, then get a new plate. You should be able to re-use the shaft seal if it does leak. You might take some 400 grit to the press in area of the plate to remove the melted rubber and give a good face for the press in ceramic.

 

[PoolStored]

So I’m thinking it was just a hardened piece of melted rubber from the back side of the pump seal.

^^^This.

 

[IceShadow]

Also @wireform - you were right >.>

 

[PoolStored]

If the seal plate is bad, and your pump was purchased after 11/2020, the right part is 356071.

 

[IceShadow]

If the seal plate is bad, and your pump was purchased after 11/2020, the right part is 356071.

The manufacture date on it is 12/2019. But I can’t find 356071 anywhere online, or 356071Z as mentioned on page 489 of this:

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/catalogs/2022-product-catalog/2022-catalog-by-section/sec22-rp-pumps-2022-lowres.pdf

I only found one website that even has the part listed and it says out of stock.

 

[PoolStored]

Your best bet is the dealer locator. Dial for $$. See who has one or can get one. Call Inyo. There's one out there.

I'd still try to clean it up. Take your time. Had a suction side leak in my Superflo. Polished the faces of the unions and the pump cap. 320/400/600 grit. It worked. Just take your time and I bet you can get it smooth as a baby's B*tt.

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[W.J.Christy]

From what i recall, a touch of silicone sealant around the ceramic seal is recommended. This is typically done to help negate any uneveness or pitting on mating surfaces where a tight seal required. I would say touch it with the sand paper like recommended and add a LIGHT coat of silicone around the seal and all should be well.

 

[PoolStored]

From what i recall, a touch of silicone sealant around the ceramic seal is recommended. This is typically done to help negate any uneveness or pitting on mating surfaces where a tight seal required. I would say touch it with the sand paper like recommended and add a LIGHT coat of silicone around the seal and all should be well.

MECHANICAL SEALS NEED A WATER-BASED LUBRICANT. If you don't have a water based lubricant, use a solution of liquid dish soap in water as lubricant. Never use grease, silicone or oil as an installation lubricant for the shaft seal.

 

[W.J.Christy]

MECHANICAL SEALS NEED A WATER-BASED LUBRICANT. If you don't have a water based lubricant, use a solution of liquid dish soap in water as lubricant. Never use grease, silicone or oil as an installation lubricant for the shaft seal.

Not for lubricant. Silicone sealant, like caulking or adhesive, around the OD of the seal. See at about the 6 min mark.

 

[PoolStored]

You only want lubricity for install. Silicone sealant will attack the rubber.

 

[Toxophilite]

With the rubber-based ceramics, they end up getting a compression seal on assemble pressure. Adding too much of anything other than lube can compound the main issue with housings if there's going to be issue, and that is being out of concentric on the base of the bore. If that's out of whack due to damage/wear, the ceramic and carbon will not mate properly. I spent a good part of my prior life rebuilding hundreds of marine pumps with 2-piece seals, and sometimes you get away with reusing a damaged bore, and sometimes, you don't.

 

[W.J.Christy]

So what i am gathering is the pentair video I linked to is incorrect where pentair specifies the use of a silicone based sealant around the od of the shaft seal where it enters the bore of the seal plate?

Wrong video... Sorry this is the right one. No sealant mentioned.

 

[PoolStored]

So what i am gathering is the pentair video I linked to is incorrect where pentair specifies the use of a silicone based sealant around the od of the shaft seal where it enters the bore of the seal plate?

Correct. You want a water based lubricant (U.S. Seal Lube) so that it lubricates when you put it together, but is short lasting, leaving the mechanical seal.