Milking a Pump Impeller

[redfishbluefish]

My skimmer pump is singing. I'm not sure how to put it into words, but a very noticeable hum. At first you can stop the noise by unplugging and plugging the pump back in. That only works for a short time, and the hum returns. What's causing this is a wobble in the impeller. I almost think its a harmonic that is going on....that's why the unplug/plug-in works....until the harmonic comes back.



So here's the fix....I've done it before. You need to pack something into the space between the impeller and magnet. Now you can't use something that totally stiffens it up....such as epoxy. I've tried it, and it doesn't work. You still need that freedom of the impeller turning back and forth. So what I did was cut a very thin strip of the plastic covering on Romex wiring....about 4 inches long and about 1/16 inch, or less, thick

What I do is to start packing it into the base of the impeller and continue wrapping it around while packing it in. I'm not sure if the direction matters. This time I'm wrapping it counter clockwise, as you're looking at the front of the impeller.

 

[vlangel]

How did it work?

 

[redfishbluefish]

How did it work?

Totally silent....like a new pump.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Well that didn't last long...25 days Sure enough, when I opened the pump the plastic piece I put in was out and wrapped around the shaft. I've done this before and haven't had this problem. I thought it was a bit too thin when I installed it. Here it is (below a piece of 3/32 teflon rope)

So I've shown my hand in mentioning the Teflon rope. That's what I'm using this next time:

It's a little bit thicker and is round with a consistent diameter....unlike the cut off wire covering. Actually used one time wrapping of the shaft....a little less than 2/3 of what you see above.

Pump is back in and quiet as can be!