seized keg king silver pump

[pcqypcqy]

I have one of these, about 1 year old. Has been running noisily for a while, and now it has seized.

The electric motor still hums and will spin the magnets if I disassemble it and give it a push.

I tried to lube it up with some inox and I just scraped through last brew, but now it's seized again.

I'm confident it's just a matter of lubing it up or backing off some screws somewhere.

I took the plastic cover off the back and removed the very long screws that bolt through and hold the thing together, but I couldn't prise the parts apart (at least I stopped before I did some permanent damage).

Does anyone have experience with having pulled these apart to give them a service?

 

[klangers]

Not a good sign. They are non-serviceable.

If you've checked the volute and impeller, then the only other moving parts are the shaft bearings and seal. Since it's been running noisy, I'm almost certain the bearings have gone. Lube won't help now.

 

[pcqypcqy]

Not a good sign. They are non-serviceable.

If you've checked the volute and impeller, then the only other moving parts are the shaft bearings and seal. Since it's been running noisy, I'm almost certain the bearings have gone. Lube won't help now.

Doesn't run noisy when the impeller etc aren't attached.

And everything is serviceable if you use the right amount of force

 

[homebrewnewb]

1 year? i hear a warranty call to kk.

 

[pcqypcqy]

1 year? i hear a warranty call to kk.

Yeah, it's an option, but we re-wired it with a longer lead so I'm sure any retailer worth their salt would point to that and say warranty voided.

 

[homebrewnewb]

oh, yeah it's voided then. oh well another 70$ for you, good luck on the repair job.

 

[Adr_0]

Doesn't run noisy when the impeller etc aren't attached.

And everything is serviceable if you use the right amount of force

I'm guessing you've completely pulled apart the impeller housing?

 

[pcqypcqy]

I'm guessing you've completely pulled apart the impeller housing?

Impeller housing, yes. Runs reasonably OK and quiet with the impeller housing off, but does need a little push or a few on/offs with the switch to get going.

 

[n87]

Give them a call, they arent on their website, but managed to get a replacement impeller and motor side part (~$15 IIRC).
and splurge for a SS head.

I would say you have something stuck behind the impeller

 

[Adr_0]

Impeller housing, yes. Runs reasonably OK and quiet with the impeller housing off, but does need a little push or a few on/offs with the switch to get going.

Have you actually taken the impeller housing completely apart though, impeller out, etc?

 

[Adr_0]

Impeller housing, yes. Runs reasonably OK and quiet with the impeller housing off, but does need a little push or a few on/offs with the switch to get going.

Does it need a few starts to get going without the impeller housing screwed on, or you only need to do this with the impeller housing on?

 

[pcqypcqy]

Have you actually taken the impeller housing completely apart though, impeller out, etc?

Yep, fully apart. All I can see is the pump-side magnet. All the black plastic has been removed.

I'll test again tonight how it goes without this one, from memory when I fixed it last it started first time, or just needed an on/off/on to get going. Worked fine for that brew, but seized up again after the brew.

This is my HLT pump, so only deals with water, not wort. Can't say for sure if that has been the case for it's whole life, but certainly has been for the last few months.

 

[Adr_0]

Yep, fully apart. All I can see is the pump-side magnet. All the black plastic has been removed.

You will find that there is a vortex breaker on the inlet, there is an impeller, seals and the magnet assembly in this chunk of black plastic. Pull the whole black plastic assembly apart, make sure there is nothing stuck in these pieces, then reassemble. **** always gets caught between the impeller and vortex breaker.

(nothing in the above refers to the motor - purely the black plastic impeller housing and what's inside this)

 

[pcqypcqy]

You will find that there is a vortex breaker on the inlet, there is an impeller, seals and the magnet assembly in this chunk of black plastic. Pull the whole black plastic assembly apart, make sure there is nothing stuck in these pieces, then reassemble. **** always gets caught between the impeller and vortex breaker.

(nothing in the above refers to the motor - purely the black plastic impeller housing and what's inside this)

Ok, cheers for the tip. I generally fully pull these parts off and give them a rinse/wash and dry out between brews, but I'll take a look tonight just in case I've missed it.

When I checked it all last it did feel like it was more how the impeller spins in the plastic housing, rather than the motor side of the pump itself. I even tried a bit of keg lube on the back of the impeller where it sits in it's little housing.

 

[Adr_0]

This is what is inside the housing, and what you need to check:

Not pictured is the housing with the threaded nipples and vortex breaker bar thingy.

 

[n87]

Didnt actually listen or watch it all the way through, but it shows the pulling down of it.
skip straight to 4:10

 

[malt junkie]

This happened to mine 2 years back, I striped it back, and with the entire head removed powered it up, it didn't spin so I gave it some manual assistance. (note doing this there is a risk of electrocution) The pump has worked ever since.

 

[pcqypcqy]

The head and impeller are all clean and fine.

I pulled it all off and tried turning on again, and the motor hums and I can see the magnetic drive jerk, but then it stalls. When I turn it off and try to spin the wheel, it feels stuck but then gives.

This happened to mine 2 years back, I striped it back, and with the entire head removed powered it up, it didn't spin so I gave it some manual assistance. (note doing this there is a risk of electrocution) The pump has worked ever since.

This is what I've been doing recently.

Tonight I sprayed a bit of dry glide PTFE spray in there, and I also found a hole on the underside of the unit that let's you access the back of the drive in the pump housing.

One tiny squirt of PTFE in there and she was off and racing. No noise or problems accelerating or anything.

I'll report back in a few days to see if it still works.

 

[pcqypcqy]

Some photos to show what I'm getting at.

After leaving it a few hours I went back. It still needs a little help getting started, so I go back to my original question: Pulling the entire housing apart so I can lube the parts that need lubing.

There are three screws whose heads are within the electrical housing at the back of the pump, and they bolt all the way through the housing and hold the front on. I've pulled these out without stripping them (somehow), but the unit itself seems to be glued/caulked/stuck together.

I didn't want to force the thing, but may end up doing that if I can't get it to start reliably as she'll be a dud unit anyway.

 

[Adr_0]

You say you rewired it... Did you touch the starting winding at all, where that tape is?

It should have four wires plus earth (two of which are the starter windings, 90° out of phase).