Hey TFP folks, I have a Whisperflow pump that is giving me trouble. The pump isn't turning on but I do hear the humming noise from the motor for a few seconds before the safety mechanism kicks in. I've done a few things so far to troubleshoot:
I've got two questions/ideas:
- Checked capacitor – no signs of bulging/failure and multimeter resistance test showed it was building up a charge no problem (I don't have a a multimeter that can directly test capacitance).
- Tried manually turning motor shaft – could not do so with only my hand, required putting in a bit of effort to turn the shaft with pliers, which I understand means there is likely a problem with either the pump/impeller (e.g. something blocking it from spinning) or motor itself (bearings worn, etc).
- Partially disassembled the pump – removed pump from housing and unscrewed the diffuser to examine the impeller directly. There wasn't much in the way of debris inside the pump so that doesn't appear to have been the issue. Turned power back on and the motor was able to spin the impeller no problem. In addition, I was able to freely spin the motor shaft/impeller by hand, which I wasn't able to do previously when everything was connected and in the housing.
I've got two questions/ideas:
- How much harder should it be to turn the impeller when there is water in the pump vs. when the pump is dry and has been partially disassembled? Wondering if I can safely rule out a motor (or capacitor?) issue given that the motor was able to turn the impeller fine when pump was out of the housing.
- Any other ideas for what could be going on here? I'm wondering if there could be some issue with how the diffuser and/or impeller are situated inside the pump, thus causing additional friction when the motor attempts to spin the impeller with everything connected.
