Replacing bearings on an A. O. Smith 7-177102-05

[anotherpyr]

When I was trying to find out what bearings this motor took, I couldn’t find any info about it on the internet. It was almost as if the motor didn’t exist. Yet it was sold as part of a 2 speed 1hp Hayward Super pump. Other than finding another person looking for the same info, the search was pretty much a dead end.

The motor is interesting in that the back cap is different than the standard A. O. Smith pool motor. So disassembly is slightly different, but basically the same. If you’re reading this post, I found a You tube video on a Century spa pump that is very similar and helped me take mine apart. Basically the difference is the design of the back plate / cap.

The bearings I found were the standard 6203 2RS bearings used in many A. O. Smith motors. They were GBC bearings made in China. But that isn’t why they failed. Apparently mud daubers decided it would make a nice nest.

 

[ajw22]

Mud daubers making a nest in bearings is not something people would think of when a pump fails.

Thanks for sharing the information on the bearings.

 

[anotherpyr]

I contacted Regal Beloit about the motor because I noticed some additional differences when I rewatched the Inyo pools video on changing bearings in an A.O. Smith motor. Specifically I didn’t find the little bearing retainer clip holding the front bearing in. Nor did I find a washer behind it. As far as the clip, there doesn’t appear to be a slot in the shaft for it. I also found not 1 but 2 wavy spacer washers in the end cap. Well one in the end cap when I cleaned the grease out of it and one sticking to the bearing when I cleaned it.

Their response leads me to believe that what I found is correct.

The photos show the motor disassembled with the old bearings removed and the new bearings installed.

 

[PoolGate]

Good job resurrecting the motor. For a bearing failure, most would have tossed it. I fixed a table saw motor once by replacing the bearings. It worked for years after that was still going strong when I sold it and upgraded.

 

[mguzzy]

Yeah good job.. In my experience with the small sample size of my motors whenever I put the effort into fixing a bearing I usually got one more season out of it. Because whatever caused the bearing to fail.. was eating away at some other part of the motor as well.

 

[anotherpyr]

Yeah good job.. In my experience with the small sample size of my motors whenever I put the effort into fixing a bearing I usually got one more season out of it. Because whatever caused the bearing to fail.. was eating away at some other part of the motor as well.

Hopefully I get more than 1 year. It actually failed in the second year after I bought it. I probably should’ve taken pictures of the nest. This motor comes apart much easier than the typical A.O. Smith motor. Nothing to remove from the rear of the shaft. No removing the back cap, just remove the four bolts and tap it out. So the work on this one was more research than anything else.

 

[anotherpyr]

Here it is reassembled. New bearings, seal, and gaskets. I probably have about $45 (actually checking it was closer to $38 - $26 for a Hayward seal and gasket kit, $12 for new Timken bearings) into the whole thing. I’ll post when I swap over to it. And again when it dies so we can debate if it was worth it. It probably won’t be until I open next year. I rebuilt it to have as a backup pump as I can never find what I want locally, and shipping usually means I’m down for at least two days. But I think I’d like to have some data on how long I can expect to go between bearings.

In the meantime the next project is a pump house. The idea is to reduce the debris that the motor is subject to and see if that helps.