Replacing Motor Shaft Seal

[PaigeMark]

Water chemistry is looking great so we finally bit the bullet and fired the pool service. A week later and some investigation into other issues has led me to a leaky Pentair Intelliflo VS pump. I’m pretty sure it’s the Motor Shaft Seal and I have the new parts ready to replace the seal and all the gaskets to the motor housing. I have found some good info online about how to do the replacement but they all show the motors unattached to the other pool equipment.

My biggest question is: After shutting off all power to the pump via the breaker switches, is it necessary for me to remove all wiring to the pump motor in order to work on the shaft seal replacement?

 

[crusemm]

Pics would help, but when I replaced my motor, I found it really helpful to be able to put everything on the bench to work on it. You probably CAN work it in place, but it will probably be worth the trouble to remove the whole thing. In my case it was easiest to disconnect the wires at the timer switch, not the motor end. Be careful of the bonding wire attachment, I had to get creative with mine as it didn't want to come loose.

 

[PaigeMark]

Thank you! I’ll take some pics but after a few minutes of trying to maneuver around the other equipment on the pad, I’m going to disconnect the wiring. I’m probably going to do so at the motor since mine is wired into the Easy Touch and I’m not ready to mess with that end. Thanks for the heads up on the bonding wire. I’ve already been wondering about that. Looks like it’s attached in a couple of interesting places. Pics next...



After taking the photo...the bonding wire attachment makes more sense.

 

[crusemm]

On the bonding wire the issue I ran into is the lug was copper, the lug screw was bronze, and the screw attaching the lug to the motor was steel. All those dissimilar metals meant nothing was unscrewing. Be prepared to cut off something (not the bonding wire) to get it free. In my case I was able to get a dremel in and cut the lug in half, since my new motor came with a new lug. STA-RITE Ground Clip, Bonding Lug

 

[PaigeMark]

Thankfully, the bonding wire was not an issue. The screws were super tight but they came off. The issue I’m having now is getting the impeller to release. It doesn’t want to budge. Taking a break to clean up the sand/dirt around the seals and then I’ll take another shot at it. The motor is six years old but it is in rough shape on the outside. Inside, everything looks pretty good so far.

 

[PaigeMark]

Is there a trick to getting enough leverage on the fan end in order to remove the impeller?

 

[JamesW]

Is there an impeller screw (reverse thread)?

 

[crusemm]

Can you not get the screw off the end? I'm pretty sure it's reverse threaded. How To Replace a Pool Motor Shaft Seal was super helpful to me.

 

[crusemm]

Pentair Intelliflo VS Pool Pump Repair Part 1 is the one you want, about 7 minute mark. My mistake, Your picture is the motor fan, and I thought it was the impeller.

 

[PaigeMark]

Yes, the screw is off (it is reverse threaded). It’s just not budging. The manual tells me to use a flat head screw driver on the fan end of the shaft and hold it steady while turning the impeller counter clockwise. It’s not budging. I’ll see if I can find something with more leverage than the screw driver. Any ideas?

 

[JamesW]

Maybe a flat metal blade like a butter knife horizontally.

Note: Don't use the good silverware.

 

[PaigeMark]

I found that video super helpful...until I got to the point of actually removing the impeller. His seems to come off with no problem. Mine, not so much. Thanks for the help, though! Might just need a little more elbow grease.

 

[crusemm]

Try wearing a pair of gloves and wrapping a rag around the impeller

 

[PaigeMark]

Thank you all for your help! It really was just putting a little more muscle in it...and the rag helped, too. I can’t tell if the pump is leaking because the equipment pad is wet after priming and flushing air out of the filter. However, a lot of the air in the return lines is gone and the pump seems to be humming along. I’ll keep checking on it but I hope we just added a little life to that pump.

Thanks, again! TFP has been an excellent resource and I appreciate all of the helpful suggestions I’ve received since taking on the care of my own pool. I’m learning a ton.

 

[crusemm]

Too late now, but I meant to tell you earlier, make sure not to touch the faces where the seal faces mate up as the acids in your skin will etch the faces and cause them to fail

 

[PaigeMark]

Got that. I had new latex gloves and was careful not to touch those seals. I had some new pvc couplings I used to tamp the seal sections down lightly. Hoping it holds.

 

[crusemm]

It should, those mechanical seals are amazing, I replaced the motor on a booster pump, basically the same amount of work. Not terribly hard, but a few things to be careful on

 

[PaigeMark]

I’m counting on it. No clue on how long those pumps should last. We run it year round in Tulsa so it takes a beating. We think it’s about 6 years old. Next, I need to learn how to work with PVC to replumb a few lines. It can wait, though. This project took all day and I’m worn out. Just glad it’s running well.

 

[crusemm]

PVC is pretty easy, and the good thing is it's pretty Dang cheap. So, go buy a bunch of PVC and some fittings and some glue/primer and build something to practice. I've made a pool toy basket from pvc and some spare casters I had, I built a folding towel rack that's attached to the side of the house. I even built a "kid wash" for a church group. Once your comfortable playing with the spare parts, go tackle the replumb.