Pump noise

[adam.1]

I have a jebao mdp 13000 I use on my mixing station. It used to be silent but is now making a swirling or almost clicking sound. I pulled the plumbing off and examined the impeller. It looked fine and spun quietly. There was some play in and out but I’m assuming that’s normal? I do see air bubbles behind the impeller also but I think that’s normal may also be normal? Is the pump going bad? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Crabs McJones]

If you take the pump apart, remove the impeller and run it, is the noise gone? That'll help determine if it's the impeller side or the pump side

 

[adam.1]

If you take the pump apart, remove the impeller and run it, is the noise gone? That'll help determine if it's the impeller side or the pump side

I took the impeller out and only thing I saw was some slime which I cleaned out. I turned the pump on with the impeller taken out and the controller showed a very low setting which I am unable to get to when I had the impeller in. I don’t think anything was moving though and would not really turn up probably due to it not sensing the magnet on the impeller. Put it all back together and it was quiet for a few minutes then the click came back. Could air in the system cause this? It’s on my mixing station but I have the inlet go all the way to the bottom of the barrel with a t at the bottom and arms that go out with 90s at the end of each arm. I thought maybe it is pushing water past the outlet of the barrel and creating air bubbles. I’m at a loss here