Maybe I'm over thinking this...but from everything I've researched, this seems like a 50/50 opinion type of thing. What's you guys opinions? To me it seems like the sealant would be beneficial because it will prolong water from getting under the lip and behind the seal. Just need to be careful not to get any on the face of the seal.
Silicone sealant under lip of new shaft seal?
- Thread starter CajunGuy
- Start date
CJadamec
TFP Expert
Where is the fifty fifty opinion coming from? What sources did you find that sealant is a good thing for a shaft seal. The lip seal on the shaft is designed to be able to move on the shaft. As soon as the seal moved, and it will, the sealant will no longer seal the lip seal.
Maybe I'm confused, but the shaft on my WhisperFlo motor slides right through the spring side of the seal that is seated in the middle of the seal plate. Are you telling me that both sides of the seal spin once the pump is turned on? When looking at my setup, it seems like the spring side lodges on the seal plate and wouldn't move, only the shaft would spin inside it. Again, not really sure how it works, I thought only the white ceramic side seated in the impeller spun.
Read this thread Step 8 Pentair Whisperflow seal replacement How-to (w/ photos))
CJadamec
TFP Expert
Ceramic spins. Carbon doesn't spin. Carbon on the shaft is spring loaded and will move slightly as the shaft floats on its bearings and undergoes thermal expansion. It's not the seal moving so much as the shaft moving realative to the seal. At best silicone will do nothing at worst it will cause the seal to leak or fail premature.
- May 3, 2007
- 16,880
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
On some pumps, the ceramic is in the seal plate and does not move while the carbon spins.