Sequence Dart issues?

[bureau13]

I just fired up a Sequence Dart as my sump return for my 240 gal. Most of the time, it seems reasonably quiet, and if you don't have too much head pressure, it has tons of flow (right now I have it cranked down a bit). However, I've been noticing after it runs a while, it gets kind of noisy. Not all the time, but every so often, it starts sounding like a slipping belt on a car motor (yeah I know there are no belts in there). If I shut it down for a bit and restart it, its all good. I don't think it should do that however. Anyone else with a Dart see anything like this? Due to the logistics of removing it from my setup I'm going to be VERY unhappy if I have to replace it.

jds

[stugray]

bureau13,

1 - I have been running a Dart for 1 year as a closed loop, and it has never made much noise. If I were to put my cell phone in my stand, on vibrate, it makes more noise than the pump.

2 - When you plumb in a pump like that, you should always put in a Ball valve & union on both the intake & output side. That way you can remove the pump in seconds for maintenance.

Sttu

[Buster4900]

I have had my Dart plumbed into a closed loop (with ball valves) for about 6 months and very happy with it. It is very quiet. Occassionally I use the vacuum cleaner to clean out the air inlet.

[RobbyG]

Sure you dont have Air leaking into the pump?

[bureau13]

Hmmm, you know I SHOULDN'T have air getting in...but I am getting a flurry of tiny bubbles coming out of my return lines. Hmmm....I'll have to check that out.

I do have unions on this thing, and a ball valve on the outlet, but stand space prevented me from putting in the ball valve on the inlet (I have one still sitting in a box). So, basically, if I have to remove it, I will have to somehow get my arms in and over the sump, back the corner, and disconnect everything...after draining the sump of course. However, I will check out the possibility of an air leak...I guess that would sort of imply it is on the intake side, so its something to look for certainly.

jds

[justin1977justi]

I just set up my dart on my closed loop and it has a fairly loud humm the entire time and started making a vibration noise. I have tried turning it off and letting it sit for a while but that does not help like with yours. I email the company 2 days ago and have not recieved a reply. I will hae to call them tonight if they don't respond.

[bureau13]

For what its worth, I used a short piece of 2" spaflex between the sump and inlet, and put the pump on a pad to help reduce vibration.

[justin1977justi]

I'm not using spaflex but I do have it on a double layer of mouse pad. It was running fine for about 30 mins. and then started getting the vibration. It is with the actuall pump, not the plumbing.

[DannyPSI]

It might be your seal. I had this problem a while back and came home one day with a wet carpet. Just call them and they will send you replacement seal. If the noise is pretty constant i think this is your problem.

[8BALL_99]

bureau13 How far under the waterline is your inlet.. I've got a Dart on a closed loop with two 1" inlets.. Both are about 6" below the waterline.. I had to put a shell over them cause from time to time they would suck air in lol....When it did this it would make a funny noise for a second or two then go back to normal..

[bureau13]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7422091#post7422091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
bureau13 How far under the waterline is your inlet.. I've got a Dart on a closed loop with two 1" inlets.. Both are about 6" below the waterline.. I had to put a shell over them cause from time to time they would suck air in lol....When it did this it would make a funny noise for a second or two then go back to normal..

[bureau13]

Hmmm...another good point. When I had the think running wide open it was pumping too much for my drains, and periodically it would start sucking air. I don't see that happening, and its not making that air sucking sound...but it isn't that far from the surface either. I'll have to look closely at that.

jds

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7422091#post7422091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
bureau13 How far under the waterline is your inlet.. I've got a Dart on a closed loop with two 1" inlets.. Both are about 6" below the waterline.. I had to put a shell over them cause from time to time they would suck air in lol....When it did this it would make a funny noise for a second or two then go back to normal..

[EricM]

My Dart (on closed loop) has been fairly noisy from the start. Mostly vibration coming from the motor. Fernco's and a mouse pad didn't do much - the tank is in the basement, in a closed room, and I can hear the pump upstairs in the living room.

Thinking of replacing it because I can't stand the noise, but neither do I want to replace all the 2" inlet plumbing I had to do for the thing.

[EricM]

Oh and one other thing - if you take the pump apart to clean it, and you take the fan shroud off, be careful putting it back on. It's held on with three screws - but there are four screw holes. If you put one the screws in the 'top' hole, it can screw right into the power wires. That's what happened to me - the screw broke the wire insulation and shorted to the case of the pump. When I plugged it in, sparks flew and the breaker & GFCI blew. The power plug partially melted. And the other stuff on the same circuit, and icecap 660 and a digital light timer got fried. Of course the stupid pump still works after I repaired the wiring, but the ballast and timer were trash.

[justin1977justi]

If you can't figure it out gice them a call. The # for ReeFlo products is (877) 378-6798. I just called about mine and they are very helpful. They are taking every step they can to resolve my problem.

[bureau13]

I've heard good things about their customer service. In my case, its more about doing whatever I can to avoid taking the thing out...one of these days I'll start a new tank thread with some pictures....I bought the tank and stand used because I liked the way it looked, but the layout is not conducive to easy maintenance!

jds

[merlock116]

yo bureau, is the bulkhead on your sump that goes to the intake of your pump threaded?

if it is you can just stick a threaded plug in there instead of draining your sump.

[justin1977justi]

Just call ReeFlo. In less than an hour they called me back and they're sending me a new pump. A+++ service.

[bureau13]

Good call merlock116...its threaded on both sides. When I first read your post I was thinking of the pump side but you're right...I have a strainer screwed in on the inside of the sump, I can yank that and plug it up. Cool! :)

[ianward]

I have a dart which is not in service yet but will be soon, I plugged it in for 10 secs and had a load scraping noise come from it, I took the cover off and found the impeller just contacting the housing in the area of the outflow, I took some 150 grit to it and now it runs quiet.

[merlock116]

alright cool

[rppvt]

Merlock--- good idea with the bulkhead---
I'm standing here with the hole saw and thinking... hey... THREADED bulkhead...
thanks!

[merlock116]

a more permanent solution would be to put a ball valve on the INSIDE of the sump where the plug is... if you don't have room outside of the sump

[bureau13]

Damn another good one I hadn't thought of.

I have an update on my situation. I had a loop-back to redirect excess flow back to the sump return chamber (in retrospect, maybe I should have taken it over to where the other drains entered the sump). It was causing a good bit of splashing around, and I figured that may be the source of all the bubbles. So, I put a filter sock on it, and sure enough, the bubbles were drastically reduced. The weird thing is, the annoying sound has not come back since I did that about two days ago. I'm not sure why that would be, but I have my fingers crossed.

jds

[RobbyG]

As I said, Air entering the pump is most times the cause of noise on new pumps.