Intelliflo VSF humming but not priming

Jump to latest Follow Reply
M

Moroserock

Member
Oct 15, 2023
13
Gilbert, AZ
Hi all, hoping anyone can provide some guidance/expertise on what might be going on with the pump. Background story... pump ran dry, but probably squirted a bunch of water over the pump and everything before it ran dry. (Filter dome was off, timer was on for the power, I was away, and yea...)

When I turn it on, it hums but doesn't turn the impeller or fan. The impeller and fan are not seized or jammed up. Easy to turn with a finger.

Two links below showing videos of the type of humming. It's not loud and whining like there something wrong with the bearings. I've had that happen to a previous pump.

In the first video, this was a surprise because the pump kicked on to start priming (whereas before it would not turnover). I turned it off because I wasn't expecting it and wanted to put some more water in the tank to help it along.

In second video, this shows what the current state is and I can't get it to turn over again. Previously got it to turn over twice, but pretty sure that isn't going to happen now. It's odd... just hums, but not an alarming hum. Fan and impeller not spinning at all while this humming is happening.

Video 1 - surprise it kicked on
IMG_1889.MOV

Video 2 - current state humming
IMG_1890.MOV
 
M,

In your first video it sure sounds like the pump is running to me.. I find it hard to believe that the fan is not turning... :scratch:
The fan sucks air in, it does not blow air out.

It sounds as if the motor is running in the 2nd video..

It is not priming because most likely you have a suction side air leak.

A missing pump lid O-Ring?
A closed valve?
A warped pump assembly due to running dry??
The impeller could be broken..

Show us some pics of your whole equipment pad..

Let's see if we can get @JamesW to chime in...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
You're probably going to need to take it apart and check the impeller and replace the seal.

Then, you can see if the impeller maybe sheared off and if the shaft turns.

Remove the unions and reinstall them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jimrahbe
Thanks guys for the fast responses here.
Jimrahbe said:
M,

In your first video it sure sounds like the pump is running to me.. I find it hard to believe that the fan is not turning... :scratch:
The fan sucks air in, it does not blow air out.

It sounds as if the motor is running in the 2nd video..

It is not priming because most likely you have a suction side air leak.

A missing pump lid O-Ring?
A closed valve?
A warped pump assembly due to running dry??
The impeller could be broken..

Show us some pics of your whole equipment pad..

Let's see if we can get @JamesW to chime in...

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the fast response Jim! Yea the first video was unexpected and it was working per norm.

I observe the fan, when it's just doing the humming (2nd video), and it's not turning. However, it's not jammed because I can move it easily.

*O-ring on lid is tight/sealed. Even if I had the lid off, prior it would prime and pull and sounds different power wise and pull water in if I dumped water in it. Now the water in the tank doesn't move at all.

*Valves open and exact same position as before the event of running dry.

*Warped assembly or impeller issue - To be determined
 
JamesW said:
This shows 1,402 watts, which is really high if the shaft is not spinning.

Check the other metrics like system pressure, power, gpm, speed etc.

View attachment 535865

Click to expand...

Hey James, I checked the other stuff. The reads once it gets to similar wattage above with the humming, no priming or water flowing, etc...

3450 RPM
21 GPM
37 PSI

Not sure how smart the Intelloflo hardware/software is or if it's just doing calculations based on wattage ...

What do you think of those numbers?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
The drive puts out 3 phase power to the motor and it varies the frequency to change the pump speed.

I suspect that the three phase output is defective causing the rotor to lock up and not rotate.

The drive measures the current to estimate flow and pressure.

You can check the voltage and current going into and out of the drive to see if it is correct.

You can use a jumper between the drive and the motor to check the voltage between AB, AC and BC, frequency, current on each leg, power, power factor etc.
 
Last edited:
For example, at 2,500 watts, it will estimate the flow to be 80 GPM.

There are several different ways to measure power.
Power input (Real, Reactive, Apparent).
Power Output (Real, Reactive, Apparent).


1697419594060.png

1697419550599.png


 
JamesW said:
Click to expand...
Thank you James. Drive failure was one of the things I wasn't really considering because the screen was still working and not blank like many of the other videos I watched. I'm going to take a look at the vids and information you sent me. Stay tuned!! I probably won't post until next weekend; I travel this week for work so won't be able to dig into it like I want to. Green pool ahead! lol
 
Hi again... so I replaced the impeller and got the impeller spinning again. However, now, I keep getting overcurrent error when the RPM's ramp up. I can run it on 1500 RPM's but that's not enough power to get it going it appears. It's just moving water around filling up the bowl, but not pumping it through to give it enough to do any good cleaning. What do you guys think of this?
 
Last edited:

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply