Hi,
A few weeks ago, I replaced the motor on my Whisperflo pump with a new Century motor -- the pump seal was busted, leading to a bad bearing, and I was unsuccessful this time in replacing the bearing on the old motor (rusted bolt).
Within minutes of putting the new motor in commission, I started getting a drip/dribble of water from the bottom of the new motor's housing. The pool store guy suggested running it for a day to see if it cleared itself up. It didn't.
Yesterday, I replaced the pump seal again, and turned it on this morning, and the same thing happened -- within a minute of priming, I've started to get a continuous drop of water out of the bottom of the motor housing.
The first seal came from the pool store, the second one from Amazon, different brands, so it's not a bad batch of seals or something like that.
What could I be doing wrong?
Here's my procedure:
-- Remove seal plate and motor from main pump housing
-- Removed the diffuser
-- Removed the impeller
-- Removed the seal plate from the motor
-- Used a flat-head screwdriver to remove 1/2 of the seal from the impeller.
-- Did the same to remove the other half from the seal plate (popping it out from the back, easy peasy)
-- Cleaned the recesses on the impeller and seal plate using a toothbrush, wiped dry
-- Greased the sides and back of both parts of the seal with a small amount of silicone grease
-- Both times, I've been *very* careful not to let anything touch the front of either half of the seal.
-- Pushed new seal into the impeller and seal plate (both times, getting it to seat in the impeller took considerable force, as in, hammering through a folded clean cloth. The seal plate side was easy, using a clean PVC fitting and a few light taps of a hammer).
-- Re-assembled seal plate, impeller, and diffuser.
-- Tested impeller by rotating it a tiny bit to ensure it bounced back. The first time I did this on the *second* seal, the impeller would not turn freely, so I disassembled and found the ceramic part on the impeller was not seated all the way. I hammered it in more and reassembled and it worked fine.
-- Replaced funnel-looking deal, greased seal plate gasket and diffuser o-ring and ensured they were in their places.
-- Reconnected motor assembly to pump housing, tightening bolts using an X pattern.
-- The second time, I waited 24 hours before filling the pump with water and turning it back on. The first time, I didn't.
This isn't my first rodeo -- I've replace the seals at least twice before that I recall, replaced the motor before (same as this new motor, a B2854), and even replaced the bearings in the old motor. As before, I'm following the directions on both YouTube videos I've found (from Wet Head Pool Supply and YourPoolHQ) and the directions in the Whisperflo manual.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
A few weeks ago, I replaced the motor on my Whisperflo pump with a new Century motor -- the pump seal was busted, leading to a bad bearing, and I was unsuccessful this time in replacing the bearing on the old motor (rusted bolt).
Within minutes of putting the new motor in commission, I started getting a drip/dribble of water from the bottom of the new motor's housing. The pool store guy suggested running it for a day to see if it cleared itself up. It didn't.
Yesterday, I replaced the pump seal again, and turned it on this morning, and the same thing happened -- within a minute of priming, I've started to get a continuous drop of water out of the bottom of the motor housing.
The first seal came from the pool store, the second one from Amazon, different brands, so it's not a bad batch of seals or something like that.
What could I be doing wrong?
Here's my procedure:
-- Remove seal plate and motor from main pump housing
-- Removed the diffuser
-- Removed the impeller
-- Removed the seal plate from the motor
-- Used a flat-head screwdriver to remove 1/2 of the seal from the impeller.
-- Did the same to remove the other half from the seal plate (popping it out from the back, easy peasy)
-- Cleaned the recesses on the impeller and seal plate using a toothbrush, wiped dry
-- Greased the sides and back of both parts of the seal with a small amount of silicone grease
-- Both times, I've been *very* careful not to let anything touch the front of either half of the seal.
-- Pushed new seal into the impeller and seal plate (both times, getting it to seat in the impeller took considerable force, as in, hammering through a folded clean cloth. The seal plate side was easy, using a clean PVC fitting and a few light taps of a hammer).
-- Re-assembled seal plate, impeller, and diffuser.
-- Tested impeller by rotating it a tiny bit to ensure it bounced back. The first time I did this on the *second* seal, the impeller would not turn freely, so I disassembled and found the ceramic part on the impeller was not seated all the way. I hammered it in more and reassembled and it worked fine.
-- Replaced funnel-looking deal, greased seal plate gasket and diffuser o-ring and ensured they were in their places.
-- Reconnected motor assembly to pump housing, tightening bolts using an X pattern.
-- The second time, I waited 24 hours before filling the pump with water and turning it back on. The first time, I didn't.
This isn't my first rodeo -- I've replace the seals at least twice before that I recall, replaced the motor before (same as this new motor, a B2854), and even replaced the bearings in the old motor. As before, I'm following the directions on both YouTube videos I've found (from Wet Head Pool Supply and YourPoolHQ) and the directions in the Whisperflo manual.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!