Where is the leak coming from?

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J

John Maynor

New member
Jul 17, 2019
4
Tucker, GA
Pool Size
29000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I recently replaced my heyward super pump motor. Replaced with a Century 1.5hp.
When starting it back up, water is shooting out from the motor. I've replaced the impeller, the seals and the seal plate itself and I keep getting the leak. I've watched 3 different YouTube videos on disassembling and reassembling and I am sure I'm doing it correctly. What could this be?
 

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Welcome to TFP! :wave: That certainly appears to be a seal plate leak. Did the new seal appear to line-up correctly wit the plate and motor face? Any chance it slid or got pinched on you while assembling? Maybe disassemble again, double-check, the apply a thin layer of pool lube just to keep it in place? Make sure the seal plate and motor face themselves are not damaged or cracked. Then tighten the bolts snug, but do not over-tighten. You can snug them up more if needed, but over-tightening can do just as much damage.
 
Thanks for the reply! The new seal plate seems to line up correctly. I bought a new seal plate because as you can see in the picture below (in the middle) I kind of dug out some of the plastic when removing the old ceramic seal. When I hooked it up the first time, I figured I damaged the seal plate, so I bought a new one.
 

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There should only be a couple potential points of failure in this scenario. The first is the seal plate gasket that should prevent water from shooting out like in your first pic. The other is the shaft seals that go in the plate and on the impeller. Usually if those were installed incorrectly water seeps out and drips asking the bottom, but shouldn't spray like in the pic unless perhaps it's a really bad seal failure. You're sure you ordered the correct seal kit yes? No visible defects on the motor face or seal plate area?
 
I replaced the seal plate gasket and yeah no defects I can see on either plate. I'm so frustrated trying this five times now. Think I'm just going to replace the whole unit and get a variable speed pump. Any suggestions? 1 1/2 inch connections.
 
John Maynor said:
Whole unit is 10+ years old.
Click to expand...
That looks to be a Hayward Max Flo pump. Their Max Flo VS should slide right in.
On the subject of the leak at the seal, it looks like the seal bellows portion is being installed backwards. On a new seal there should not be that dark ring on the ceramic portion until many years of operation have gone by.
Its easy to think that the rubber-ring portion that appears on the stainless-steel of the bellows is the sealing part, but it is the other side. Installed backwards and you will get that spray out of the motor as water is being pumped into it past the seal.
 
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