Pinhole leak at Hayward pump

[pgershon]

In September 2020 I replaced my spa pump motor, keeping the old housing and changing the seals etc. It is a 1.5 HP Century motor in a Hayward Super Pump housing. I had been seeing water around the pump but could never find a leak. Today I noticed a pinhole sized leak when the pump first turns on, that seems to stop once the pump is running for a few minutes. The photo shows the water leaking. Seems like water is coming out the inner rubber seal.

I am wondering what is the best way to address? Can I just open the housing and close it, adding lubricant to the gasket? Of do I need to rebuild other parts of the pump like the seal plate or the shaft seal?

 

[wireform]

There's a seal in there goes by the part name of seal plate gasket.

 

[pgershon]

I bought the pack of seals and gaskets. Think I can change just the seal plate gasket and leave existing shaft seal from 2020? Certainly easier

 

[pgershon]

I replaced the seal plate gasket yesterday (as well as the shaft seal and the complete gokit package). The pinhole leak on the side from my photo is corrected, but I developed a new leak from the other side - same area.

Any ideas how to correct? Should I try to just re-lube and rebuild?

 

[Bill1974]

Is the leak at the mating surfaces or through the wall of the pump? If at the mating surfaces, clean all the the mating surfaces and where the gaskets go too and install new seals.

If it's though the wall, it probably best to replace it. If you can find where inside the pump housing it's leaking from, you could apply some CA glue or waterproof epoxy over the crack/split/hole to seal it.

 

[pgershon]

Is there a lubricant I should or should not be using? I have been using Magic Lube (PTFE)? I have read conflicting info. Also how best to clean surfaces? Prior leak was from middle of right side of seal plate. Now leak on on bottom side of seal plate. I am pretty sure its leaking at the mating surface. Only other possibility is that I cracked the seal plate when tightening bolts.

 

[Bill1974]

You can put lube on any of the seals, just not the faces of the rotating ceramic shaft seal. The few seal kits I have used came with a small packet of grease, and that is what I have used.

When you tighten down the bolts holding the pump together, tighten them in a cross pattern and in stages. Maybe you got a bad seal, look over it closely for nicks, creases, folds, etc. Generally these are pretty forgiving and easy to rebuild.

 

[pgershon]

I opened up pump today, and applied new lube to the impeller gasket and to the seal plate gasket. Pump still leaking from bottom. Is It worth it for me to try replacing the seal once again? This leak started when I put last seal in a week ago. Definitely a different problem than the initial pinhole leak which I could see. Old leak went away after pump ran for an hour or so. New leak is less water/hour, but constant- does not go away.

 

[pgershon]

I opened up pump today, and applied new lube to the impeller gasket and to the seal plate gasket. Pump still leaking from bottom. Is It worth it for me to try replacing the seal once again? This leak started when I put last seal in a week ago. Definitely a different problem than the initial pinhole leak which I could see. Old leak went away after pump ran for an hour or so. New leak is less water/hour, but constant- does not go away.

Another thought. Might I have overtighten seal plate and caused a hairline crack I don’t see? Can buy replacement for less than $40 on Amazon- might make more sense to try that before swapping seal itself.