Housing gasket leak!

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H

humpndunk

0
Aug 2, 2011
10
Florida
Every morning when my pool pump starts running, it has to pump large volumes of air out of the system before water emerges from the jets. There has been a leak under the pump for some time. (It's a Pac Fab Challenger 1hp.) I changed the housing gasket - still leaked so I changed the pump shaft seal (PS200) - still leaks! If I mess around and pull the housing off, then put it back together, I can maybe change the volume of the leak, but after the pump cycles off/on a few times it gets worse again. I tried loading the gasket up with silicone lube - that didn't help. I tried it dry, still no good. Any ideas?
Also, what's the difference between the square housing gasket I'm using and the round o-ring I just heard about today? Different model years?
 
have you check all sealing surfaces for any nicks or other anomalies? Are there any pinched areas on the O-ring? Close inspection of all mating surfaces again might reveal the problem. Check also for any rough spots in the casting, especially near the mating surfaces.

When you reassemble, are you just torquing the band clamp? Or are you getting the nut snug then tapping the ring then repeat many times to bring the nut up to full torque specs?

Could you possibly have a bad (bent) ring?
 
Mating surfaces seem smooth. O-ring not pinched. The band clamp is unfortunately in a tight place. I've used a rubber mallet and lightly tapped around it as I tighten, but I can't reach all sections of it.
Here's an update though: The gasket (square vs. round) fits very nicely into a square groove in the housing. I've been questioning why it is that the groove is let's say 3/16" deep, and the gasket is also 3/16" thick, so it only comes up flush to the top of the groove and doesn't really contact the mating surface of the seal plate with any pressure. What I did yesterday was take the old gasket and painstakingly with a razor slice it down the middle to create a whole new gasket about half as thick as the original. I then stuck that new gasket into the groove as a filler, and put the full-sized gasket in on top of it, then I reassembled and put the band clamp back on. Presto - no more leak. (At least no more water leak. I'm still getting air in the system overnight when the pump is off.)
 
Yes, it is Part #14 on the schematic. If there was a recall or technical service bulletin, as they say in the automotive industry, I'd like to know about it. I'd order that new round O-ring in a minute if I thought it would fit in the square groove.
 
You may benefit from a check valve at the pump intake. But this won't completely solve the problem of where the air is getting into the system.

Does your filter have an air release valve on top? If it does, that could be the culprit, allowing water to drain back to the pool when the pump is off.

- - - Updated - - -

In the industries I've worked in, there are times when changes like that are made, especially with what you described with the seal ring. Often the profile change is made to address this, by going to a thicker profile round over the almost too short square. I can't say for sure, but I bet if you measured the square ring, and the round, you would find the round has a larger profile that will barely fit in the groove, and stand proud of the surface. Your solution works, though, and that is the main thing.
 
, but if that was allowing air in when the pump is off, wouldn't it be squirting water out under pressure?
Click to expand...
Yes, almost always.

If you get air in the system when the pump is running, you have a suction side leak. If the pump runs for hours with no air in the system yet lets water drain back down (and air appears in your pump basket) then the leak could be on the pressure side.

If the air leak is on the pressure side it is normally accompanied by water leaking when the pump is on.

By far, suction side leaks are the most common. There is an article in Pool School.
 
Update: My housing gasket started leaking again, so I ordered the round profile O-ring, instead of the square. Presto! Works like magic, no more leaks. So if you've got the Pac Fab Challenger pump, and it's leaking, make sure you get the round O-ring. It comes in the go-kit. If you order the O-ring only, you're going to get the square one.
 

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