Water Pumps

[Anonymous Poster]

I've got a problem with my water pump that has me scratching my head and searching for ideas. Its a shallow well pump, not a submersible. I removed the pump this summer to rebuild the well house and reinstalled it yesterday. The pump kicks on but will not turn. I tried to pull the impellor (or is it propellor) housing off to see if any debris is jammed in the rotor but its not cooperating. I'm thinking the housing should just slide off. The pump was drained prior to removal so maybe I have a rust problem? Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could pour into the housing to free things up or how the housing comes apart??

 

[Bird]

Russ, I don't know about your water pump since I don't know what it looks like, but I had a roller pump corrode so that the housing had to be pried apart and I thought I'd break the housing (but didn't) before I got it apart.

Bird

 

[Harv]

Russ -

I had an experience similar to Bird's. Mine was a swimming pool filter pump. I kept looking for another bolt I had missed 'cuz it just wouldn't come apart. It took considerable elbow grease to finally pry it apart.

I believe there was a gasket in there, also, which had become one with the housing. You might try Gunk or Liquid Wrench or some other penetrating rust-eater to get things started.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Its a Myers pump and looks simple enough. Motor on one end, 4 bolt cast housing on the other. The housing is about 8" in diameter and about 4" deep with a "nose cone" on the front which serves as the water inlet. It seems my last few mechanical ventures have all been preceeded by the old expression, "No problem, I can fix this" only to end up with the late night call and the words...."ahh Dad, you busy???" /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif So words like pry, twist, bend, pull and push, make me a little nervous right now (I'm sure you guys can add to the list /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) I once heard that Coca Cola eats rust. Now that would be interesting if it loosened things up. Turn on the pump and get a glass of Cola. Every kid in town would think I'd hit the mother load of soda fountains......... move over Jed Clampett!!

 

[Keoke]

Russ, this is a common problem when centrifugal pumps are laid away with a some water in them. Most likely the back of the impeller is now rusted to the case. Bronze or plastic impellers very seldom have this problem. Also, if the motor got wet the armature may be rusted to the field coil shoes. Try to rocking the shaft between the motor and the housing with a small pipe wrench, channel lock pliers or vise grips first to break it loose.
Before splitting the case take the motor off to be sure that it is not the one that is frozen.
good luck,
george, keoke

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Keoke,
I think we are on the same "train of thought", just in different cars. At first I thought perhaps the motor might be bad but before taking it into the shop, I want to make certain the impeller is not the problem. This is why I'm trying to split the impeller housing from the motor. Unfortunately, like you said, I think something is rusted together preventing me from uncoupling the two. At this point there isn't enough room to get pliers or vise grips on the shaft to try and work things loose. I can get a screwdriver down into the housing through the water outlet port but before probing around with anything like that I was hoping to find some elixir that finds rust to be very appetizing and let it work its magic, if thats the problem.

Hey wait a minute, where's my head at....this is a TRACTOR board isn't it? I'll just chain one end of the pump to my 8N and the other to the Deere and PULL......there's that pull word (see previous post /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif).
And after the pump ends up in a zillion pieces I'll just keep pulling to see what tractor out does the other..../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Bird]

Russ, I think I know exactly how you feel; unfortunately, I've been there./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Liquid Wrench might help, but I wouldn't count on it too much. Now I never heard of using Coke on rust, but I do still remember when it used to rain in Texas, and on a rainy night when the road film on the windshield causes a glare and the wipers won't take it off, Coca Cola is the best cure in the world. Just leave the wipers on low speed, pour the Coke across the top of the windshield, and instant clean./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Of course, if it isn't raining enough to wash it on off the car, it's a good idea to squirt it with a garden hose so you don't have that sticky cola on the paint.

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Took a minute to find the website for Myers Company and got their phone number. If it comes down to hammer/pry bar vs. pump, I'll call them first to see if I can get a replacement housing should the worst happen. Of course with modern technology these days, and my luck, I'll no doubt get the automated answering service that says "for the location of the dealer nearest you that stocks bigger hammers and longer pry bars, press 3............/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. Keep ya posted.......

 

[gordon]

This may or may not have anything to do with your problem but did you check the voltage going to the pump itself. If your pump switch has one set of bad or dirty contacts its possible that you are trying to start the moter and it's sounding like it wants to start but even with the start cap. bumping the votage up it's still not enough to free up the impeller. With the tight tolerences in the pump itself it's not uncommon for them to be hard to turn over by hand. But I've seen others that would spin very freely. So which is correct? Guess it depends on the specs of the pump.

I've used Coke on battery terminals before but never on a windshield. Have to try that one day.

Gordon

 

[scruffy]

Gordon, you would be surprised at the applications for Coke Classic (old formula). I've even used it with tinfoil for cleaning rust off of chrome rims. Wife spray painted (with clear lacquer) the rims to keep them from rusting (I was in Nam) on the Oregon coast. All they did was rust under the lacquer....what a mess. Anyway, worked like a charm!

 

[richh]

Try and take the cover off of the back of the motor, there should be a slot in the shaft for a big screw driver so you can try and move the impeler. good luck

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Decided to swing by the store and grab a bottle of cola last night. At the very least if it didn't work I'd have something to laugh about. Not sure if Coke was the pumps favorite or not but it knocked back a 20 oz bottle without any complaints. I left it to brew overnight. This morning I hooked some juice to it and it fired up just fine! In case someone is keeping score at home, it was Coke Classic. Thanks for all the advice guys!!

 

[Bird]

Hey, Russ, congratulations!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Like I said, I hadn't heard of that use for Coke, but I'll have to try to remember it.

Bird

 

[scruffy]

Great news Russ! I am a proponent of many uses for Coke Classic, but not for drinking(I'm a Pepsi fan)! I've used it for many, many, different things through the years. I've never tried this, but found an article one time that stated that if you put a nail in a glass of coke classic, it would disolve it overnight. Now that is a little hard to imagine, but who knows? Anyone tried it?

 

[Bird]

Yep, scruffy, I've tried it, many years ago the first time I heard that story. The nail won't dissolve (might remove some rust though/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. Aah, the Cola wars are as bad as the tractor brand preferences. I've got a brother and his wife who won't drink anything but Pepsi, my wife has a brother and his wife who won't drink anything but Diet Pepsi, and our daughters thinks Coke Classic is the only way to go. And I buy whichever one is on sale the cheapest. When they come to our house, they have a choice; take it or leave it./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I have a "paper weight" on my desk that is a bottled Coca Cola that has never been opened. My wife bought it in a six pack Thanksgiving Day, 1969, and it has a complete cheese cracker wrapper in it (hasn't dissolved that celophane yet either although the printing on the wrapper has faded until it's no longer recognizable).

Bird

 

[scruffy]

Bird,
I know what you mean about the Cola wars! My Father in Law is a dyed in the wool Coke fan, he has to suffer when he comes to visit at our house. I've retrograded to Diet Pepsi since I developed diabetes a few years back, so he has to doubly suffer now. Coke has always been too sweet to me, but then Coke people think Pepsi is too sweet, darned if I know who's right. I just go with the flow so to speak. Coke will sure clean up battery terminals, rust, and a few other things though! Rust removal works great when combined with tin foil (aluminum foil).

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Here I go again. While at the local landfill today, I found another Myers water pump just sitting there begging to be taken home. This one might need a few bottles of Coke though but if I get it running it'll make a nice backup.