Dead coolant pump on Turnpro - help!

[darelldd]

Sort of continuing this thread.
http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/...ad.php?t=12395

Everything on my saw worked great... until I turned it on this morning and the pump wouldn't pump. The pump has 120V going to it, but no love. After kicking and screaming at it, and trying like heck to break free the screws that hold it together - I gave up and called Enco. In about five minutes, they have a new pump on their way to me under warranty. Nice!

But... what the heck happened here? I just can't imagine what would make the thing up and die so fast. Now that I know a new one is on the way, I think I'll give it an even harder try (maybe with some real heat this time??) to get this old one apart to see what the heck is going on. Any guesses? Any tips on getting it apart?

[hankj]

Does the motor turn? Is it warm? If it's not turning, and it's warm, the pump is siezed. If it's not turning and it'sNOT warm, the motor is kaput!

Hank

[darelldd]

Hi Hank. Fortunately, I can answer everything now.

I decided to take no prisoners, since my new one is on the way, and I have nothing to lose. First off, no - nothing was turning, nothing was warm, nothing was making any noise. 120V was getting the the wires that enter the motor housing. The shaft spins easily by hand. That's all I knew before I started. So with a big enough hammer and some heat, I was able to pull the motor apart and and carefully dissect it. The thing looked perfect inside and out. Everything was snug and moved freely. All electrical connections seemed sound. Frustrated in not finding anything obviously amiss, I put it all back together, and hooked it up directly to 120V - worked! Put it back in the saw, and turned it on. Presto - coolant all over the freaking shop (since I had the arm vertical and the ball**** all the way open)! But I was happy anyway.

I have NO idea what was going on, but something in the reassembly has fixed the darn thing. Too late to stop the new one coming, but I don't feel too bad. Who knows how long this one will keep spinning? For now though, it seems that I'm good to go.

Thanks for the response.

[whatatrip]

Shortly after getting my Turnpro, the coolant stopped pumping. The motor would turn but no pumping. I took everything apart and all looked good. Put it all back together and still no coolant. After "sleeping on it" it occurred to me that maybe, just mayber the water level was too low. It looked like there was enough water but I filled it all the way up anyway and "presto" coolant flowed all over the place. Doesn't sound like that was your problem. I most often overlook the obvious and tear it all down first. Wasted four hours trying to fix it.

[Mike W]

A good pump is The Little Giant submersible. They come in different sizes. I have used them on swamp coolers instead of the stock cheapies that come with them. I like being able to stick the whole pump under water, including the cord.

[darelldd]

I'll keep that pump idea in mind for if these thing goes South two more times.

As for coolant level, that was the first thing I checked actually. I figured I'd have lost quite a bit in evaporation since it has been HOT in the shop lately. But no - plenty of coolant. The second thing - which should have been the first - was to see if the pump was spinning. Easy to tell since there is a window in the top with a red dot that spins - and the shaft is exposed. When I realized that wasn't moving at all, I knew something was bad.

[darelldd]

Hey guys. Remember this problem? Well, it is back.

Here's what I've learned: If I use the pump every day, all is good. If I let it sit for a few days or a week, the pump is siezed on the impeller end. I can break it free by twisting the shaft manually a few times, then it is good to go again. I have my replacement pump that was sent to me, but I don't want to put it in until I figure out what the heck is going on.

It would seem that the pump is picking up cud from the coolant? Of course there are plenty of shavings in the tank. But it isn't THAT bad! How often do you guys change the coolant?

[Mike W]

When I last used a pump on the bandsaw, I made a filter out of a couple of layers of window screen over the drain hole to the tank. I used magnets to hold the screen which also picked up a lot of the metal.

[snowshooze]

Hi there;
I've killed a couple pumps. Usually a chip gets caught in the impeller, I now use a screen and a magnet to keep the chips from getting in. I replaced mine with a nice little fully submersible, bought through Grainger. Anything will work so long as you look at the gpm and head.

[usmcpop]

He, he, he. Reminds me of the time I changed the youngun's diaper, and took my time doing it. "Coolant all over the freaking" bedroom was more like it.

[darelldd]

Thanks guys.

Well, I swapped in the new pump (I mean what the ****, I have it!) and I had the magnet idea all by myself. I tossed on in the well. But I like the idea of putting it up in the catch screen (entry to the well) even better. I'll even go so far as to put it in a little zip-lock first so it is easy to get the metal off of it.

Another god thing that came out of this is that I lengthened the power cord and even put a quick disconnect on the cord so this isn't such a hassle when I finally move to a better quality submersible.

You guys are great! Thanks again. (Now I just have to figure out why my email notices didn't work for this thread!)