Intelliflo not pumping well?

[skeeter_ca]

Hello,
My pool cleaning guy notified me that he notice my Pentair Intelliflo VS3050 was not flowing water very well. He said he believed the pump motor was going bad because it was hard to turn the impellor? This pump has run dry a couple times due to low water level. I was planning on pulling the pump out today and disassemble it for inspection. Is there anything I should check before and after I remove it? What common problems I should look for?

skeeter

 

[Spa Owner]

Well that's an interesting way to diagnose a motor issue.

As the pump has run dry several times, I would think the first two items to check are the mechanical seal and the internal diffuser plate. Either or both can be damaged from running dry and either will make the impellor hard to turn.

I think I would simply replace the mechanical seal.

The diffuser may be more difficult to diagnose. I think it is a case of removing parts of the wet end until the motor turns freely and replacing the last part removed and see if this fixes the issue.
HTH

 

[JamesW]

The back of the motor should have a hole where you can insert an Allen wrench into the shaft to rotate the shaft and impeller. See if the motor is hard to turn.

 

[skeeter_ca]

Ok the VS-3050 has a slot in the back of the motor shaft. I removed the pump and disassembled. The impellor turned fine for me. Unfortunately I did not try to turn it by the shaft until I had it disassembled down to the impellor. didn't know that trick till it was too late. Everything is looking fine except for a lot of corrosion on the motor to pot adapter piece. see pics. maybe it's not the pump. maybe my pool guy was wrong. Need to look for maybe and obstruction somewhere. The filter gauge was reading 15 psi.

 

[JamesW]

Looks like you probably had a seal leak. I would replace the seal and put it back together to see how it runs.

 

[Jimrahbe]

...maybe it's not the pump. maybe my pool guy was wrong....

s,

After being a member here since 2013, why would that shock you?

Based upon history, it would be more of a shock, if he had been right..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[skeeter_ca]

ok before I hook it back up again I just want to be 100% sure it's wired up correctly. The is 240v. The two reds on the pump connect to the two blacks and the yellow/green connects to the green? Correct?

skeeter

 

[JamesW]

Do you have a picture?

 

[skeeter_ca]

Yes but I have exceeded my allotted MB/day.

Thank you, But figured it out I was correct with the wiring sequence.

skeeter

 

[Spa Owner]

s,

After being a member here since 2013, why would that shock you?

Based upon history, it would be more of a shock, if he had been right..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Still very sad though. Makes me wonder