Author Topic: Pump Leaking, Newbie, pics of problem. (Read 7700 times)

Mr.Lucky · « **on:** August 18, 2011, 01:07:52 pm »

I received this great 3 person hot tub for basically free, and everything works great, except there is a slow leak where the motor shaft goes into a housing. I don't know the term for the housing. I am not sure if I need the whole pump and housing, or if it is even possible to buy them separately. The pump is a HeatFlo, model 601, rated at 1 hp I believe. As can be seen in the pics, there are two hoses that mount to the pump, and two large ones that mount to the housing. I can't tell for sure if the leak is coming from where the shaft enters the housing or from where the shaft enters the pump, although I believe it is from the housing. I have googled the pump model but have come up empty on replacements for it and/or the housing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Greg

Hot Tub Forum · « **on:** August 18, 2011, 01:07:52 pm »

ejf The Spa Guy · « **Reply #1 on:** August 18, 2011, 02:57:57 pm »

you might pull that pump out. it could be the pump seal needs to be replaced,, not a big deal to replace they are on the wetend....

Mr.Lucky · « **Reply #2 on:** August 18, 2011, 03:05:34 pm »

Thank you for the quick reply. Are these seals easily obtained? I have tried to contact the manufacturer of the hot tub, the pump, and the electronics, but all appear to have gone out of business. I am definitely a DIY kind of guy, so I am more than happy to pull the pump and look for some seals.

Mr.Lucky · « **Reply #3 on:** August 18, 2011, 04:36:38 pm »

So I found the culprit, I guess it is called the seal kit. In one of the pics below you can see the tear in the gasket. Now I just need to figure out how to replace it. The first image is the pump info, but some info has been rubbed off. It is a 1 hp pump.

JulieMor · « **Reply #4 on:** August 18, 2011, 05:30:33 pm »

Yes, the shaft seal. I just replaced them on both my motors. But one I must have cracked getting it into the seal plate.

Google your pump manufacturer and model number. That's what I did and found places that had the parts I needed.

Mr.Lucky · « **Reply #5 on:** August 18, 2011, 06:19:44 pm »

Part shipped for $11, thanks everyone.

Mr.Lucky · « **Reply #6 on:** August 23, 2011, 02:46:22 am »

I wanted to wrap this up in case anyone googles and find this thread for their same problem. The problem was the seal. For $11, the new part fixed the problem. Another problem I had was the gfci breaker would trip after 10-15 minutes of the jets being on. Once it tripped, it wouldn't reset with the motor on for about an hour. The new seal has also fixed this problem. So what turned out to be a small leak could have been a much more dangerous issue.

As for which seal was needed, that was a bit tricky as no one had the parts for it. I found out that this part is basically the same for all motors, the only difference is the inner diameter that slides over the motor shaft. Mine turned out to be a 201, which is a 3/4" shaft. I found a great site, I would list them here but it is against the rules. They had a live chat feature, on this I sent them a picture of my part and they told me what would replace it.

Thanks again to those on here for pointing me in the right direction and helping me fix my problem.

JulieMor · « **Reply #7 on:** August 23, 2011, 05:20:13 pm »

My guess is the reason it was tripping is the leak was making it to the electrical components of the motor, rather than because of an overload. GFCI breakers are designed to be very sensitive to power leakage to ground, as what would happen when water is introduced as a conductor. There's enough resistance in water to prevent a normal breaker from sensing a direct short and tripping. GFCI breakers are very finicky and fill that void.

The fact it wouldn't reset for an hour may indicate it's beginning to fail. Breakers that have been "stressed" tend to do that. Eventually they can't be reset and have to be replaced. So be aware you may have to replace the breaker some time soon. But if it doesn't trip anymore, it just may hold out indefinitely. Still, since this is a life-safety issue, you may want to go ahead and replace the breaker, just to be on the safe side.

squale · « **Reply #8 on:** August 24, 2011, 05:02:12 pm »

okay finally figured out what is the causing the tripping... it is the AIR BLOWER... when I disconnected the 2 power leads from the electrical panel to the air blower then NO TRIPPING... it's weird because during my testing I DID get the air blower to turn on.. after disconnecting the wires.. then reconnecting them... the air blower was running for about 2 minutes.. then I turned it off via the button on the LCD panel.. and as soon as I turned it off... TRIP went the breaker again. So now I just left the power wires to the air blower disconnected so the spa is running.

Question is however.. how could the air blower even have turned on for that short while IF the air blower is no good? when it was running it seems perfectly fine... but something with it is causing the breaker to trip.
I looked all over the inside of the cabinet.. the air blower was completely clean and dry.. no signs of water anywhere! The ground wire is properly connected, etc.

Here is a picture of the air blower.. I'm almost positive this is the air blower right?

Hot Tub Forum · « **Reply #8 on:** August 24, 2011, 05:02:12 pm »

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