I have a whisperflo pump with a century motor which was leaking at the seal plate suggesting I should replace the shaft seal. This is my first repair of the pump. Just have done filter cleanings and such but videos on YouTube looked like it would take like 20 min. And at 20 bucks for a gokit seemed like a good thing to try myself.
I have made a valiant effort and learned some things although ultimately unsuccessful. Maybe my mistakes can help someone else
Bought a GOKIT from amazon, looks good except it turns out the main pump seal gasket replacement is too large (turns out Pentair changed the size in 2008?) although when I called Pentair they said my pump is from 2010 but the gasket On there now seems to be pre2008. So maybe they replaced the pump seal with a pre 2008 one?
took off the main pump seal bolts. Not horrible but it’s not a super accessible location and I can only access from the top.
removed the motor from the pump. So far so good but the diffuser gasket seems to be either missing or fell off.
tried to remove the impeller without disconnecting from electrical because it’s a difficult area to carry a big motor in and out of that location. Can’t open by hand. Off to Home Depot to get a strap wrench.Pointed toward a professional one. Brought it home and tried it but couldn’t get it off due to configuration of this wrench. Went to Home Depot, bought a cheaper one which is thinner. Tried to open it and still couldn’t get it. Fine. Took a large plumbers wrench and tried carefully, heard a crack. Crud. At this point I had nothing to lose. Tried the strap wrench again and after what seemed like forever, finally was able to remove the impeller.
Felt like I was at the home stretch, just needed to take off the seal plate. The bottom bolts are rusted in where it was leaking. Wd40, still nothing.
At this point I’m giving up. Called leslies pool, explained my situation and they asked me to bring it out. They graciously agreed to help me. Left it there. The next day they said they couldn’t remove the bolts at all. Recommended a motor replacement with a new seal plate. They interestingly said I didn’t need an impeller even though there were two fine cracks. Okay fine, the motor looked like it was falling apart anyway so agreed. The next day I called and they said they didn’t have the motor so they would have to order (or get a whole new pump at 900) At that point I said forget it.
brought it home, put it all back together and put it back in place. Turned it on. At least it still runs although the leak looks slightly worse.
at this point I have some breathing room to either buy new stuff (now that I know how everything is put together ) or just hire someone to replace it
moral of the story. I learned a lot but took two steps backward.I was worried about the replacement of the seals when I should have been worried about the simple bolts that had been in for so long they had rusted out.
I have made a valiant effort and learned some things although ultimately unsuccessful. Maybe my mistakes can help someone else
Bought a GOKIT from amazon, looks good except it turns out the main pump seal gasket replacement is too large (turns out Pentair changed the size in 2008?) although when I called Pentair they said my pump is from 2010 but the gasket On there now seems to be pre2008. So maybe they replaced the pump seal with a pre 2008 one?
took off the main pump seal bolts. Not horrible but it’s not a super accessible location and I can only access from the top.
removed the motor from the pump. So far so good but the diffuser gasket seems to be either missing or fell off.
tried to remove the impeller without disconnecting from electrical because it’s a difficult area to carry a big motor in and out of that location. Can’t open by hand. Off to Home Depot to get a strap wrench.Pointed toward a professional one. Brought it home and tried it but couldn’t get it off due to configuration of this wrench. Went to Home Depot, bought a cheaper one which is thinner. Tried to open it and still couldn’t get it. Fine. Took a large plumbers wrench and tried carefully, heard a crack. Crud. At this point I had nothing to lose. Tried the strap wrench again and after what seemed like forever, finally was able to remove the impeller.
Felt like I was at the home stretch, just needed to take off the seal plate. The bottom bolts are rusted in where it was leaking. Wd40, still nothing.
At this point I’m giving up. Called leslies pool, explained my situation and they asked me to bring it out. They graciously agreed to help me. Left it there. The next day they said they couldn’t remove the bolts at all. Recommended a motor replacement with a new seal plate. They interestingly said I didn’t need an impeller even though there were two fine cracks. Okay fine, the motor looked like it was falling apart anyway so agreed. The next day I called and they said they didn’t have the motor so they would have to order (or get a whole new pump at 900) At that point I said forget it.
brought it home, put it all back together and put it back in place. Turned it on. At least it still runs although the leak looks slightly worse.
at this point I have some breathing room to either buy new stuff (now that I know how everything is put together ) or just hire someone to replace it
moral of the story. I learned a lot but took two steps backward.I was worried about the replacement of the seals when I should have been worried about the simple bolts that had been in for so long they had rusted out.
