INTEX 14" Krystal Klear Sand Filter Pump Make Noise

[KrisIL]

I make this tutorial to help others with replacing the bearings. I do not take responsibility of any damage be done to the parts.
All right. First thing you have to do is remove the old bearings ( I used bearing removal tool) and put new ones on. Before you put the new bearings on snap E clip on both sides of the shaft. They act as a stop for the bearings. Now put the new ones on as close to these clips as possible.

Then place two red spacers inside front bearing housing

Next slide in the shaft into front bearing housing

Next slide on coil housing over the shaft and make sure front bearing housing tab and coil housing notch align

Then slide on black and red spacers on the rear shaft

And then rear bearing housing

After that bolt on the bearing housing to the bottom of the case

Next what you want to do is to remove the black plastic piece in front of the pump by removing 3 screws from it

\
This will help you a lot with putting on the 3 long screws that holds both bearing housings together.
I used my cordless DeWalt drill and I set up the clutch on 7 . This way it bolt on the long screw tight but it did not damaged screw head.

Next put the black piece back attached to the front of the motor using 3 screws.

Then slide the clear plastic impeller on the back of the shaft. Slide it on enough so you will be able to place the E-Clip on the front of it. ( I forgot to take a picture of it but check the photo below. I marked the plastic housing that goes over the impeller.DO NOT PUT THE IMPELLER HOUSING BACK ON YET!!!! )

After you slide on the impeller snap the E-Clip in front of it.
Next install blue plastic piece with tube outlet in it on the front of the motor. But before you do that place the rubber gasket on the shaft.

Next screw on the front white impeller wheel. Screw it on with one hand and use other one to hold the back impeller. After that place back impeller housing back on

The next step will allow you to install bottom bolts on the front blue impeller wheel housing.
Rotate the housing with outlet tube 90 degrees . It might be little tight and you might use some force to do that

After you place the bolts and nuts on the housing rotate it back so the outlet tube is pointing upward. Bolt on everything together. And do not forget to place ground cable in the back of the housing

Here is the image of the bearings I used

This is not he best tutorial but it might help somebody. If you have more question do not hesitate to ask.

Good Luck

 

[jerallen]

Great tutorial! Good tip about rotating the pump to get the bottom bolts/nuts in, those are buggers. I used tape folded double on the end of a screwdriver to hold the nuts in place when installing those bottom 2. I noted that if I ever do this again I would tape those nuts in place before reassembly.

 

[Backyard Luddite]

Very interesting discussion!

I also have the Intex combined Sand and SWG filter system. My question is on the SWG. After I got everything (new Intex pool and filter) installed and modified (inwall skimmer, hard plumbed everything, PVC fountain, etc.) my Intex filter system worked great. Then a month later I heard a sound coming from the motor in the SWG like there were ball bearings loose in the motor housing. I called Intex and they quickly replaced the control unit - the entire SWG side of the combined filter (27 lb. shipment).

I had the new control unit in SWG mode (for 4 hours) and the green lights indicated everything was working properly. 3 days later the new control unit started registering low salt and 91 errors. I never experienced those with the first SWG control unit I had. I added more salt but still got the low salt warnings. Then the problems system shut downs began. About 5 minutes after the filter would come on the whole system would shut down with the red LED system light illuminated. I've unplugged it several times (even switched outlets) and tried to restart it but it usually only runs for a few minutes and then shuts off again. A couple days ago I started the system but this time I turned the fountain on as soon as I started the filter. The system worked great until we left the pool about 40 minutes later. As soon as I turned the fountain off, the red LED service light came back on and the filter stopped working again. Since I figured it might be water flow-related, yesterday I turned the system on three or four times with different adjustments to the ball valves on the inflow and outflow PVC pipes. Each time, the system shut down after 5 minutes and the red LED system light illuminated. I then turned the ball valves to full open position and switched the system back on - this time I immediately put the system into FP mode (non SWG). System worked as it should for a few hours until I shut it off. For the rest of this summer, I will most likely be in non SWG mode 9using bleach as if there wasn't an SWG component) unless I can figure out why the system keeps shutting down in SWG mode.

Did any of you experience the red service light, low salt, 91, etc. errors prior to the ball bearings failure? I want to make sure that these aren't the first signs of ball bearings failure in most units.

As I wrote above, I didn't experience the red LED and other various errors with my first Intex control unit. I turned it on one morning and hearing the obvious bad noise I just shut it down. Over the winter, I will pull apart the first unit and check the condition of the impeller and ball bearings. Thanks for all the suggestions on different ball bearing options!

Any other possibilities/suggestions for SWG failure leading to system shutdowns? The SWG system hasn't run enough to accumulate any calcium buildup on or in-between the plates.

 

[KrisIL]

If this helps then I had similar problem with Low Salt 91 error and what I need to do is to lower the Total Alkalinity to under a 100. Before it was about 360-380. Or check your connections. Maybe your plumbing is clogged somewhere which prevents the water flow. And your unit have a auto shut off relay which prevents the pump from overheating. How is the flow when you turn on the pump?

 

[Backyard Luddite]

If this helps then I had similar problem with Low Salt 91 error and what I need to do is to lower the Total Alkalinity to under a 100. Before it was about 360-380. Or check your connections. Maybe your plumbing is clogged somewhere which prevents the water flow. And your unit have a auto shut off relay which prevents the pump from overheating. How is the flow when you turn on the pump?

Pump flow is always very strong. I thought it might be flow-related because the SWG mode worked fine for a while when the outflow ball valve was decreased significantly to direct water out of the fountain. The system shut down when I turned off the fountain. I decided to try multiple flow options. I closed the ball valves slightly on the outflow, then the inflow, then both with multiple variations. The system continued to shut off in SWG mode after 5 minutes in every case. Works fine in FP (non-SWG) mode with the ball valves fully open so it has to be something else because flow rate shouldn't be impacted too much with the SWG switched on. I designed my hard plumbed PVC setup with as few turns and drops as possible to minimize the strain on the Intex motor. Here's my setup: http://www.flickr.com/photos/97900083@N03/9358654251/

TA has always been 70. It's been as consistent as my PH levels - 7.2 98% of the time.

I haven't seen anything on an "auto shut off relay" but that seems to be what is happening. Something in the system shuts it down after about 5 minutes when its in SWG mode. I

 

[KrisIL]

Then probably faulty sensor. Did you try to clean the plates with vinegar?

 

[Backyard Luddite]

Then probably faulty sensor. Did you try to clean the plates with vinegar?

It's certainly an option, but this is a brand new control unit - Intex sent a new one - so the new one has less than 30 hours run time. No calcium buildup noticeable. But I'll try it to see if it helps. Other forum posters write that cleaning the plates helped - others say no. I thought with my low run time that I'd try and eliminate other possible contributions first.

 

[PoolBoyJay]

I've got a quick question about the bearings. My pump is less than a month old and mine started making the bearing failure noise that is in the first video. I've been running my pump only an hour a day so that I don't mess up the motor too bad. I've talked with Intex and I have a repacement motor on the way under warranty cause this one is making the grinding noise. Well I needed to get the manufactures date on the motor before they would process my claim and I had to get my wife and father-n-law to take the cover off while I was at work to get the date for me. She unplugged the power and drained the water cause the date was on the bottom of the motor. Now after being put back together the motor turns on but doesn't spin.
Question is can the bearing be so messed up that it's causing the motor to cease? I've got new bearings for it on the way and I'll be replacing them so I can get this up and running, while waiting on the replacement pump/motor.
I've had to take the wet side off before and spin the impeller by hand to free it up before, just wondering if replacing the bearings will fix the issue?

 

[brendafolkes]

I think you can replace the bearing and check if it helps?

 

[KrisIL]

So they just removed the top cover of the motor? Or they have to remove more stuff?

 

[PoolBoyJay]

Ok well I took my motor apart to change out the bearings and my bearings were completely different. The bearings that were on my pump were the 6000 series which are 10mm ID and 26mm OD 8mm thick. My motor also didn't look like yours with the cover and 3 screws mine had no cover and 4 bolts holding the motor in place. Just an FYI. I believe mine was a refurbished unit, well atleast the motor cause it looked as if it had been gone through before, but I purchased new. Long story short I got my new motor system from Intex Saturday and everything is running smooth so far

 

[Bama Rambler]

It would be nice if you could post a picture of that motor.

 

[KrisIL]

Ok well I took my motor apart to change out the bearings and my bearings were completely different. The bearings that were on my pump were the 6000 series which are 10mm ID and 26mm OD 8mm thick. My motor also didn't look like yours with the cover and 3 screws mine had no cover and 4 bolts holding the motor in place. Just an FYI. I believe mine was a refurbished unit, well atleast the motor cause it looked as if it had been gone through before, but I purchased new. Long story short I got my new motor system from Intex Saturday and everything is running smooth so far

It's because you have a bigger filter then I do.

 

[wetchem]

I know old thread; however I'm in the same boat. The motor sounded like plastic on plastic squeel and the seized up.
I've everything pulled apart except for the impeller in the volute body... is there a set screw that I can't find, does it screw on CCW, press fitted and I just need a wonderbar to pry it off or what?

 

[wetchem]

Follow-up:
- The impeller... there's no pool shop in town that I can this to, nor any repair place for that fact, so that we can match the impeller.
I've been looking at the pump repair sites that list these for other pumps (for example: Impeller 1-hp Single speed or American 3/4HP impeller ) so that when I break this stupid fiberglass part I can order a replacement.

- Same thought, different part, the wet-side pump seals... any clue?

If I could just get this stupid impeller loose I might just replace the power-end like we do a work - but those use a spin-coupler so if the impeller jams the motor can spin free to the over-rpm limiter shuts them down.

 

[Charlie_R]

If (and it's a big if) the 2650 is constructed similar to the 2500 with a different impeller, it should screw off. I think they use the same motor with different endcaps.

 

[wetchem]

OK, appears that the threads may have seized but good... on the 1600gph impeller.
So, if I break the impeller getting off, anyone have any idea as to what an equivalent impeller would be?
I have a Fastenal shop handy in town (imagine that, no Target, no major mall, but a Fastenal shop) that I can get the 608RS/ZZ bearings from just need to figure out what the equivalent impeller is.

 

[Charlie_R]

When I needed a few Intex parts, I put an ad on craigslist for used pump/filters. You probably won't find anything compatible with Intex equipment except Intex.

If I could justify the cost, I'd be buying normal pool equipment.

 

[KrisIL]

If you are talking about the round wheel impeller then you just need to screw it off. Not easy task. You have to make sure shaft is not rotating

 

[Charlie_R]

On the fan end of the motor shaft there is a screwdriver slot. You can hold the motor shaft with that, and use a strap wrench on the impeller. The longer the pump has been in service, the harder it will be to remove the impeller. Get some PB Blaster, and spray the motor shaft/impeller connection. That could make it easier to remove. Be sure to use anti-seize compound when you reinstall it.