My Superflo VST is a mess inside

[IceShadow]

Ok. Cleaned out the seal plate as best I could.



Set in the shaft seal with soapy water best I could.





Now to reassemble.

 

[PoolStored]

Looks good!!!

 

[IceShadow]

Reassembled.




Now to start it up and see if it primes.

 

[IceShadow]

Pump started and sounds ok. No strange sounds. Takes like five minutes to prime - always nerve-wracking.

 

[PoolStored]

I think it will be fine.

 

[IceShadow]

Not seeing the water come in yet. Now starting to worry

 

[PoolStored]

Did you fill the volute with water?

 

[IceShadow]

Did you fill the volute with water?

Yep, I can see that getting pulled up by the pump. Double checked the lid was tight, and the union before the pump has an o-ring. Gonna try again and then check the union from the pipe direct to the pump, though it wasn’t taken apart.

 

[PoolStored]

Lube all the o rings with silicone. Lid, both pump drain plugs and union. Make sure drain plugs are in and tight.

 

[Newdude]

 

[IceShadow]

Lube all the o rings with silicone. Lid, both pump drain plugs and union. Make sure drain plugs are in and tight.

Yep, did that. I’d think if it was something in the pump it would leak out the water I put in it to prime instead of not priming….

 

[IceShadow]

Hmm. What if I close my water inlet from the pool, and put water down into the top of the pump to fill it from that end?

 

[1poolman1]

Hmm. What if I close my water inlet from the pool, and put water down into the top of the pump to fill it from that end?

Won't make any difference.

 

[IceShadow]

Won't make any difference.

Wouldn’t it show if there’s some sort of leak on the pump itself? What in the pump would cause it to not prime if the lid is sealed, plugs are in, unions on suction side are secure?

 

[1poolman1]

Wouldn’t it show if there’s some sort of leak on the pump itself? What in the pump would cause it to not prime if the lid is sealed, plugs are in, unions on suction side are secure?

Pressure testing a pump can be dangerous, lid can blow.

 

[IceShadow]

Not putting it under pressure. Just filling with water first. Upon reflection that won’t matter because excess water not needed to prime would just fill the air spaces elsewhere in the system.

Still don’t know why it wouldn’t prime, even if the shaft seal wasn’t tight against the seal plate. Wouldn’t it push out water instead of taking in air?

 

[1poolman1]

If the sealplate is bad it can cause a pump not prime, same as a bad seal. Never made sense to me, but I've seen it dozens of times.

 

[PoolStored]

There is a suction side leak. Go through it again. Clean the orings for any dirt, clean the mating surfaces, relive again. This happened to me too.

 

[IceShadow]

There is a suction side leak. Go through it again. Clean the orings for any dirt, clean the mating surfaces, relive again. This happened to me too.

There’s only two unions before the pump, and both were checked at least three times. Pump lid checked and lubed again. Unless my jandy valve started leaking, not much else to check. :/

 

[PoolStored]

Yeah, I would listen to @1poolman1. Never steered me wrong. If he says it’s the seal to seal plate because the seal plate got damaged, that’s prolly it.