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Hot tub pump leaking - rebuildable?

bgaidan

bgaidan

Red Skull Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2020
Member Number
2322
Messages
3,199
Loc
NC Triad
I had drained this thing a few weeks ago and just finally got around to filling it back up the other day. Noticed more moisture than normal around the base last night and that the water level had dropped about and inch in 2 days so I pulled the panel today and found that the pump is dripping pretty constantly around the bottom.


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I tried tightening the screws but it didn't help.

Never torn one apart. Are the generally rebuildable? Is it likely a gasket on the outer case or a shaft seal or something?


At first glance, i'm only seeing full pump/motor assemblies at the usually places. I'd assume you can get just the pump assembly...


This is the label on the motor. I'm not finding an exact match to this.....I'm coming up with some that are close that are either 1.5 or 2.0 hp.
1716234464571.png


What do?
 
I found a vid with a teardown of a similar pump. Looks like there's an o-ring on that face. Guess I need to tear it apart and see if I can find a replacement.

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Add said:
More than likely a shaft seal. Yes rebuildable. Pull the impeller and replace the seal
Click to expand...

Guess I should have tried running the pump while watching it first. It's fine on low speed, but at high speed, she's a squirter! :laughing:

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Do you have to pull the whole pump assembly off? Or can you do the seal in place?
 
Add

What's a good source for parts for this thing? Or am I better off just buying a whole new wet end? It's a 1.5hp with 2" inlet/outlet.

That impeller is NOT coming off without getting destroyed. Tried a big screwdriver on the back end of the shaft and it just started tearing up the slot. Also tried channel locks on the shaft between the motor face and the pump and could not keep enough grip on the impeller to move it. Ended up pulling the whole shaft and armature out and there are a couple better places where I can grab on to the shaft with vice grips, but I still can't get a good grip on the impeller without breaking it. Supposedly if you break the cone off the impellers, there's a nut under there that you can turn so that's likely where I'll end up.

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cj3a said:
Left hand thread
Click to expand...

Not according to the 5 or 6 youtube videos I found of the same and/or very similar pump. The pump spins counterclockwise (facing the pump) so it wouldn't be LH.
 
I never had any luck getting the impeller off in the past. When I finally broke it out of frustration it was so rusted that it wasn't coming apart anyways. Just bought a whole new one and got it back together.
 
bgaidan said:
Guess I should have tried running the pump while watching it first. It's fine on low speed, but at high speed, she's a squirter! :laughing:

1716236770910.png




Do you have to pull the whole pump assembly off? Or can you do the seal in place?
Click to expand...
The entire wet end has to come off. Half of the seal is on the threaded stem of the impeller and thr other half is recessed into the back half of thr impeller housing
 
The shaft may have two flats spots on it where a 9/16 box wrench will slip right on and hold it still
 
They sell an impeller wrench that makes removal easier. Otherwise a rubber wrench works great. Do NOT use channel locks on the impeller itself.
Spray pb blaster down the stem into the threads
 
Last edited:
With a combination of vice grips on an unused part of the motor shaft and a pair of oil filter wrench pliers, I got it off without breaking the impeller.

But it's not pretty....
1716253022267.png


And it looks like the seal surface of the impeller is completely gone too
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Apparently it's supposed to look like this:
1716253565813.png


If I'm looking at the parts right, it doesn't look like the shaft is an actual seal surface, so all that chowder shouldn't matter. It looks like that impeller shaft sits inside these two seals, and those are the rotating seal surfaces?
1716253721665.png


The motor shaft itself doesn't have any rotating seal surface other than the one at the front motor case itself, which is in good shape.


I found a NOS complete wet end on Ebay for about $50 shipped so I'm just going to go that route....it's almost the same price as a new impeller + seal kit.
 
The one with the spring around it is what slides over the impeller stem and presses up against the ceramic part recessed into the housing. You will need a new impeller
 
2JZ said:
Safe to say it will leak after you put all that work into it. Just buy a whole new pump complete and be done with it.
Click to expand...
You must be new here. :flipoff2:

Why would he replace the whole thing when he can spend days monkey-fucking-a-football, and pay 150% new price for individual parts?

There might be some kind of lesson, but I'm not seeing it.
 
subybaja said:
You must be new here. :flipoff2:

Why would he replace the whole thing when he can spend days monkey-fucking-a-football, and pay 150% new price for individual parts?

There might be some kind of lesson, but I'm not seeing it.
Click to expand...

Well, $45 for a complete wet end that'll probably last at least a couple years or for $450 for a new pump that'll also probably look like this one within a couple years? Tough call.


Worst case if I put the impeller on and if it looks like the chowdered shaft is causing enough runout to damage the seal, I'll throw it on the lathe and clean it up and turn a sleeve to fit over it.
 
bgaidan said:
Well, $45 for a complete wet end that'll probably last at least a couple years or for $450 for a new pump that'll also probably look like this one within a couple years? Tough call.
Click to expand...
It'll be fine.
bgaidan said:
Worst case if I put the impeller on and if it looks like the chowdered shaft is causing enough runout to damage the seal, I'll throw it on the lathe and clean it up and turn a sleeve to fit over it.
Click to expand...
I just run the motor and drag emery cloth along the shaft. How are the bearings?
 
Damn I'm late. Those are garbage pumps (Design wise). The shafts are carbon steel not stainless. I would have asked for a pic of that shift between the motor and pump. Then I would have told you not to bother. Just keep it for parts and buy another one. You need to really stay on top of your water quality to make those last. Otherwise, just consider them a consumable.
 
This is where I get mine. Just find one that matches your configuration and specs. It's a good company. I got a bad pump that failed after a few months (made noise still in warranty). I contacted them. They sent me another. l had to rip the pumps lables off and send them in. The let me keep the pump. I fixed the issue and have a spare. :smokin:

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bgaidan said:
Well, $45 for a complete wet end that'll probably last at least a couple years or for $450 for a new pump that'll also probably look like this one within a couple years? Tough call.


Worst case if I put the impeller on and if it looks like the chowdered shaft is causing enough runout to damage the seal, I'll throw it on the lathe and clean it up and turn a sleeve to fit over it.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, I was speaking from my own experience, not really commenting on your pump. :laughing:
 
bgaidan said:
Worst case if I put the impeller on and if it looks like the chowdered shaft is causing enough runout to damage the seal, I'll throw it on the lathe and clean it up and turn a sleeve to fit over it.
Click to expand...
You might have waited too long for a sleave. It looks like about a 36 28 36. :flipoff2:
 
M92PV4U said:
That shaft only transfers power to the impeller. The seal rides on the impeller, it will be fine until the shaft breaks.
Click to expand...
Mine didn't. It road on the shaft. But now that you mention it, looks like his had a long sleeve on the impeller. Didn't really look at that pic. :homer: Must have an O-ring on the shaft somewhere to keep water from passing between. Looks like a seal on a plastic impeller sleeve is a dumber idea. :laughing:
 
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