screw in shaft of motor won't stay tight

Jump to latest Follow Reply
midtngal

midtngal

0
Silver Supporter
LifeTime Supporter
Oct 26, 2007
546
Nashville, TN
Ugggghhh...here I am again. :( Without going into the lengthy process of what I've had to do for the last week, let me just get to the point/question.... the screw in the motor that attaches to the shaft will not stay screwed in therefore causing it to lose prime. I have had capacitor issues again this week leading me to this and have those resolved and now I can't get the screw to stay tight. :x I have used the removeable thread lock as well as the permanent. The pump will start to prime and then all of a sudden will stop. The motor will still hum, it just doesn't keep prime. The pool has been down for a week now and is starting to get cloudy. I REALLY don't want to have to fight a green pool. Is it time to get a new pump and be done with it? This one is only 2 1/2 years old.

TIA

Karen
 
Ooops....thought it was in my sig. I'll fix that. It's the Pentair Challenger High Flow 1 HP. I did do the threadlock but forgot about the washer. Do you think this will keep the screw in place (the washer, I mean)? This is such a silly issue in my book but it sure is causing me grief!
 
Well, I first tried the removable per advice from a pool guy. I let it stand 24 hours since the instructions said it would be fully set after that. On the permanent, I let it stand about 30 minutes since it said it would be set after 10. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to figure out that it wasn't going to work...again. I will get a star washer and redo it and let it sit overnight and hope for the best. It's 90 degrees here today....sure would be nice to go swimming! :lol:

Thanks for your help...I'll report back with the results!

Karen
 
Hey Karen :wave:

How was this year's Buffett show, no flood this time ? :cheers:

As long as your cl is OK, fire up the concoction maker and swim! :party:


(you do know that there is a place here just to let folks who care about you know what's going on, right? :-D )
 
Hey Ted! :wave:

It was AWESOME of course! :lol: Really was one of his better shows....all old songs. He was in the arena again since we don't have an outdoor venue so he shut down Broadway and threw a street party! REALLY cool! :cheers: :whoot: :party:

I would swim but there's so much Crud (pine needles and the like) in there. I've cleaned some of it out but still plenty on the bottom. I was just thinking of how to go about putting some bleach in. I guess I'd have to swish it around some.

I did just put the star washer on and some more permanent threadlock. I got a little impatient though and gave it 30 minutes. It was priming and all was starting to look good when all of a sudden it stopped filling up the basket and all the water ran out. The motor is still running, just not pulling any water. So I have opened it back up and reloaded on the threadlock and have left it open to dry over night. The screw wasn't completely undone this time but wasn't tight either. I guess my next question is....if this isn't the problem, what could it be? My patience is really running thin at this point. I've already checked and Leslie's is open tomorrow! :)

I'll try to do better with staying in touch Ted. It's your own fault though! You were too good of a teacher! I can do it on my own except for stupid Crud like this. Are you staying busy with your new business?

:lovetfp:

Karen
 
Ahhhh....the great moments of owning a pool! :lol: As I stated on my last post, I left the permanent threadlocker on all night and left the pump open so it could hopefully dry faster. This morning I went to put the pump together because the screw looked to be in place. As I was screwing the bolt on the clamp, I bent the clamp. And the bolt in the clamp had been screwed and unscrewed so many times by now that the threads are stipped to the point that I couldn't even get the pump together! So I immediately call Leslie's and inquire about a pump and a clamp because I'm really over all this at that point and just want to get the pool working at any cost. It was 95 degrees by noon!!!! They had a pump...an Emerson 1 HP is what I've bought. I have it hooked up and ready for the new clamp that I will have to wait until tomorrow to get since they didn't have any in stock and most other pool stores were closed. Pool stores really aren't very bright are they??? :lol: They would probably sell a lot more if they were open on weekends instead of trying to be a M-F 9-5 business.

So here I sit...waiting for Monday so I can get my parts and have a pool again. :blah: :rant: :grrrr:


:lovetfp:

Karen
 
Re: screw in shaft of motor won't stay tight -*UPDATE*

All is right with the world again! :whoot: I finally got to take my first night swim last night and didn't want to get out!

I bit the bullet and replaced the motor. I also ended up having to replace the clamp since I bent it and stripped the screw with all this open and closing of the pump. But I think the real problem here was the seal. When I removed the impeller the seal was almost dust! It was severely cracked and broken off in places. I probably could have gotten all the problems fixed with a new seal if I'd only looked! :hammer: But everything is working like a charm again. I'll just take the old pump to a machine shop and make sure all is fine with it and then store for future use. I bought an Emerson this time because 1) Leslie's was open on Sun. and had it in stock and 2) this is my 5th pump in 4 years....I'm thinking the Pentair ones may have issues. :-D I've had electricians out 5 or 6 times to check the current because that to me spells "issues" with the electrical system but nothing can ever be found. So we'll see how the Emerson does.

Thanks yet again for all the advice and help! It's always a relief to know that I can come here and get help figuring out things.

:lovetfp:

Karen
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Ha! Ha! Ted, my Dad used to tell me that I would be the only woman that died of prostate cancer so I guess you weren't too off base! :lol:

And, if you insist....I will crank up some Buffet and float around the pool with an island beverage! :cheers:
 
My first reaction would be to check the rotational direction of the motor. If it's turning the right way it should tighten itself on the shaft when running.
 
@Ted.....ahhhh the old jage bomb! Had my share and yes, you would be correct...they do go right nicely! :party: :cheers: And don't worry....my world does not let me have peace for very long. I am sure I'll be back with some problem or another before the summer is up. Hey, maybe I'll even join in on a convo or two...ya just never know! :shock:

@chief...thanks, but I think that after replacing everything, I probably could have gotten away with just replacing the seal since it was dang near dust when I opened it up! But, hey....I have my next needed new motor in storage along with 3 others now! :lol: I should be set for quite a while except that again, in my world it's not near that easy................

Happy swimming everyone!
 
Okay....well so much for things working like they are supposed to! :rant: The impeller screw continues to come out. Now it is actually being thrown! I knew it had done it again so I left it alone for the service guy (that I'm still STILL waiting on to look at the screw in the pool) to look at when and if he ever makes it here! (I REALLY gotta wonder how these guys stay in business!) After leaving the pump off since Friday, I thought I needed to go in and fix it to get the water moving in this 100 degree weather. I found the screw in the bottom of the strainer pot UNDER the basket! So I pulled everything apart and re-screwed it all together again. When I turned on the pump, it was starting to prime and all of a sudden I hear it....the screw had been thrown! I have opened it all up again and have left it for now. I wonder if I need to replace the impeller? It doesn't seem to want to screw back on very tight. It is the original one from 4 years ago. Could it be stripped therefore throwing the screw?? It's about the only thing I haven't replaced in the last 30 days. :x

TIA

Karen
 
midtngal said:
Okay....well so much for things working like they are supposed to! :rant: The impeller screw continues to come out. Now it is actually being thrown! I knew it had done it again so I left it alone for the service guy (that I'm still STILL waiting on to look at the screw in the pool) to look at when and if he ever makes it here! (I REALLY gotta wonder how these guys stay in business!) After leaving the pump off since Friday, I thought I needed to go in and fix it to get the water moving in this 100 degree weather. I found the screw in the bottom of the strainer pot UNDER the basket! So I pulled everything apart and re-screwed it all together again. When I turned on the pump, it was starting to prime and all of a sudden I hear it....the screw had been thrown! I have opened it all up again and have left it for now. I wonder if I need to replace the impeller? It doesn't seem to want to screw back on very tight. It is the original one from 4 years ago. Could it be stripped therefore throwing the screw?? It's about the only thing I haven't replaced in the last 30 days. :x

TIA

Karen
Click to expand...
If it's not staying put, either the set screw is stripped, or the threads in the impeller are stripped. Or both.

Since you've managed to take it apart and reassemble it yourself successfully a few times now, you may as well cancel the service call and do it yourself.
 
Yeah, I think it's the impeller. The screw looks to be in good shape. I probably will tell them they don't need to look at the pump, but they still need to come look at my other issue from another thread..... a screw working it's way out of the wall...... just another sh**y day in paradise! :lol: But, I'm also wondering.....I was getting some pressure loss from somewhere as well. When I would turn off the pump, air would start bubbling in the basket and by the time I would turn it back on a few hours later, it was almost empty. No loss of water anywhere that I can tell. The clamp is as tight as it will go....the sides are touching. It's not dripping either.

Not a great pool year this year! :roll:
 
You replaced the motor and that's what the screw threads into right? So it's not that. The screw's probably good, so it's not that. It almost has to be the impeller.

As for the air, it has to be a suction leak somewhere. Pump basket lid, drain plug(s), skimmer weir, water level, etc. are the places you should check first.
 
Okay...new impeller, new diffuser and new impeller screw (along with new pump) has my pump running again! :party: I still have air bubbles in the basket though. :x I did put a new o-ring on the basket AND the impeller. The air bubbles look to be coming from the pool as far as I can tell. I won't have any more time to look into it until tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully by then these pool folks will be there and maybe THEY can figure it out! :lol: I don't get paid to be out in this heat! :lol: I don't see any water leaking anywhere and there are no bubbles coming out of the returns outside the normal SWG-caused ones. Who knows....could be connected to the pool wall/screw issue. Maybe that whole side is getting ready to cave! :shock: :lol:

Guess this saga is over now....Thank God!! Thanks for all the help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply