Noisy Reeflo Dart pump!!

[Robert Patterso]

I just put new, better, much better bearings in my Dart pump and it's as loud or louder than it was with the old bearings and they were in bad shape. The armature shaft didn't appear to be bent when I put in a lathe. Not sure what is causing the noise or why.
Anybody have any ideas? It still seems to be pumping water good just way to loud. Nearly drowns out the TV

[Robert Patterso]

^^^

[Pyrrhus]

Maybe the impeller is overtightened on the shaft and making the seal make noise?

[Robert Patterso]

Maybe the impeller is overtightened on the shaft and making the seal make noise?

Hmmm, that might be possible. I was tighter than you know what when I removed it to replace the bearing. There is no stop or shoulder to the impeller to shoulder against so it might be that it just kept tightening itself onto the the shaft. I'll check it out......

[quikenuff]

I just put new, better, much better bearings in my Dart pump

Robert, How did you get the bearings off of the shaft? Mine seem to be pressed on pretty tight. I haven't gotten mine off yet to put the calipers to them yet but what bearings did you go with and where did you get them? I'm planning on replacing the bearings in my primary and my back up pumps.

Did you ever figure out where the noise was coming from after replacing the bearings?

Thanks in advance,
Quik

[quikenuff]

A little googling does a body good.... $20 harbor freight 3 piece bearing/Gear puller made short work of getting them off. reading the model number on the bearing (peer 9R6A) in my snapper (AO Smith JF2K024N) I came up with standard size R6 3/8 X 7/8 X 9/32. Choices on bearings on that size are numerous. Open, sealed, ceramic.. ect Will report back after make up my mind on bearing types, might do one motor in ceramic and one standard chrome steel.

Robert, or anyone else already gone through this, would the ceramic bearing be over kill?

Thanks,
Quik?

[Fish2reef]

I have a snapper and a dart the need this done, is there a tutorial or instructions for this somewhere?

[quikenuff]

If my attempt doesn't end in epic failure I'm planning on makng a tutorial out of my 2nd pump. I went ahead and ordered the bearings http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/3-8inch/Kit711
and
2 of these http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/3-8inch/Kit1058

should arrive Friday or Monday. My plan is to do 1 pump with the standard bearings and one with the ceramics, and see i can find an audiable difference.


Quik

[Fish2reef]

That would be awesome I know locally of a few people interested so I can imagine a lot more in RC

[Robert Patterso]

I have never been able to figure out what is making the noise after replacing the bearings. The Peer bearings are from china. I went with an american bearing. MRC I believe. I have taken it apart and put it back together several times and still the same noise. Same noise as before I replaced them.

[madkeenreefer]

I have a simular problem with sound I think the pump is fine its just the harmonics comming out of the frame its attached to I can't seem to get it to stop reverberating Sp?
in the shop its fine with the open space and background noise but at home under the stand boy it loud, at the moment I'm considering rebuilding the stand base.

[kmu]

How about those foam mats to reduce noise an vibration, do they work?

[dahenley]

do you get noise if you pull the fan shroud off the back, and pull the impeller/housing off the front. and just run just the motor.. that will help diagnose the problem. or problem area.

[quikenuff]

1st pump rebuild was successful. Although I had hoped that it would be quieter than new, it's about the same hum.

I tried the ceramic bearings first, but I found them to be louder than the stock bearings. I'm not 100% sure that I didn't damage the front bearing during installation though. I could feel a little roughness that I didn't feel before installation as I did after. I ended up making a tool to press the front bearing on properly to ensure I wouldn't damage it the 2nd time around.

I'll work on a tutorial when I rebuild the 2nd pump.

Quik

[quikenuff]

Robert,

During reassembly I tried adding a thin film of silicone around the mating surfaces of the end caps, anywhere the caps touched the outer shell of the motor. Didn't seem to do anything to make my motor any quieter, but might work for you.

My motor also had a round wavy copper washer, I guess I'd call it a spring washer, that went between one of the bearings and one of the caps. I forgot which end it came out of so I put it in the front cap. During my first reassemble I forgot to put that back in altogether and got a louder more chattery hum. Did yours have that washer, could you have forgotten to put it back in as well? Not trying to insult you or anything by asking, just commenting on what found during my rebuild.

Quik

[rickcSMF]

Did there seem to be a load on the bearings? What about play? are you sure the bearings are seated 110% straight?

[Robert Patterso]

I ran the motor stripped down to bare bones. No fan, shroud, just motor. All the bearing springs are in place. At this point I will either send it to Reeflo and have them diagnose it, which they will do at no charge, and if it's rebuildable have them do it. $95 bucks. I can't make it work....

[richpoolboy]

is the noise from the motor when its striped down or when the pump is assembled?

[Robert Patterso]

is the noise from the motor when its striped down or when the pump is assembled?

When it's stripped down. I have taken it apart and put it back together several times. It's pretty straight forward as far as assembly and disassembly. I used a bearing press to r&r the bearings. It would be almost impossible to get it out of align. I'm thinking at this point it might be something in the windings, electrical. The noise came on fairly quick. I might try one more time and maybe pack some grease into the bearing housing. I put the armature in a lathe at work to check for trueness and it all checked out.

[crazy4reefs]

My dart is also very loud. I bought it used on RC some time ago and I am just getting around to hooking it up. I'm running it on a basement sump with 8' of head. I know this isn't the best pump for high head pressure but I was hoping to use it until I can afford a replacement. Is it possible the head height is causing it to be loud...or could letting it sit be the issue? It sounds like the impeller is rubbing or something.

[tinman11]

i just recently aquired a used dart pump and it sounds like the front (pump side)shaft bearing is bad. just wondering if the bearing on the fan end is the same size, and did the ceramic bearing make it less noisy or should i just go with the sealed units
thanks kevin.

[dahenley]

sealed bearings are better. (ceramic are noisy. i hear that from many different builds on different equipment)

depending on the type of motor (brand, Reeflo/Sequence/A.O. Smith/Balder)
From what i have heard, they are the same front and back bearings