AO Smith SQ1052 Booster Dismantle

[snoopy7]

Hi TFP,

I have an AO Smith SQ1052 booster pump for the cleaner that, when turns on, hums but does not seem to spin or pump. I attempted to remove the motor so I can try to manually spin it. It has a square flange attached to the volute but as I tried to remove the 4 bolts to the flange, two of them seemed to be "welded" on and I cannot remove the motor from the volute. Could anyone share some knowledge and experience on how to troubleshoot this situation, how to attempt to possibly take apart and repair the pump, or possibly make the decision to buy a new booster pump?

Thanks and Happy President's Day!

 

[Smykowski]

Can you post a picture of the "dry" end of the pump? The cap should come off to expose the end of the shaft, and if you're just troubleshooting free movement, you shouldn't need to undo the 4 bolts.

 

[snoopy7]

I'm having trouble uploading my 4mb jpg file so I'll keep trying there but I did fail to mention that I tried that side where there are 2 small screws and a side port where the power lines run into. I did remove the screws, loosened the boot running the power lines, but failed to get any movement at all with the end cap, if in fact it is a removable cap. It seems like it should be removable since the screws are there but it was shut solid. Again, I'll try and get a picture up as I'm getting error messages from the site.

edit: ok, file is up but sorry it's fairly pixelated due to resizing and reducing the resolution.

 

[Smykowski]

Wait for more opinions, but it looks to me like that end cap should come off, exposing the wiring and the end of the shaft. As long as the screws are out, you should be able to gently tap it off using the business end of a flat head screwdriver.

 

[snoopy7]

Yeah, agree with you that it seems I should be able to take that off but after first gently trying to tap it off with a hammer and a flat head...then not so gently trying to tap it off around the "seam", I get no movement. Perhaps I do need to be more persistent and I've seen other ones do that but after failure to get it to come off, I lost confidence that it even comes off on this particular brand/model.

 

[JamesW]

The cap does come off. Sometimes they can be quite difficult to remove. If you can get the flat end of a screwdriver to catch on the edge of the cap rim, you can use a hammer to tap on the screwdriver to get the cap to move.

AO Smith is the motor. If you can show the whole pump, we can better assist.

 

[snoopy7]

Wow it must be really stuck then. I'll focus on that rim and try to get it off but I'll post a pic on Wednesday when I can get to it next. Thanks to the both of you for the input thus far.

 

[JamesW]

I'm guessing that you probably have the Hayward pump. You have to remove the 8 screws holding on the front part so that you can get to the impeller. Once you get the back cap off, you hold the shaft and unscrew the impeller. Then you remove the 4 cap screws holding the motor to the mounting plate.

 

[snoopy7]

James, it looks similar but I don't see the 8 screws to the impeller as the Hayward seems to show. Perhaps I could remove the silver round bracket attached to the volute? That screw is also hard to turn. Here's what it looks like in its full from the top view.

 

[JamesW]

Wow, that thing looks pretty old. I don't think that I have ever seen that brand of pump before. To get to the impeller, you have to remove the band clamp (the big stainless steel clamp holding the two pieces together).

It sort of looks like a repurposed well pump.

Based on what I can see, you are probably better off going with a whole new pump.