grinding noise from the pool pump near the impeller side

norcalpool1

0
Silver Supporter
Sep 16, 2017
97
Silicon Valley,CA
Within the last few days, I have been noticing that the pool pump has been making a grinding noise. I stopped the automatic scheduler as soon as I took a few videos. I cleaned the basket that had some tree debris, but there may be other material clogged in there. Here is the 5-second video. I can hear the noise from 20 feet away.


Yesterday after cleaning the basket at the pool pump, I inserted by hand in there and found a rotating component, manually rotated it, but couldn't feel anything solid that could be loosely moving around when the pump runs. When I closed it up all, the noise totally disappeared and the pump ran without any such noise for a few hours. But The noise is back again when I started the pump this morning. It is highly unlikely that there is a whole lot of new debris when the pool pump had been stopped. That observation gives me hope that it is not a permanent problem (at least not at present) with impeller or any bearings, but I could be wrong. The noise is coming almost exactly where the bolts are in the video.

I don't see any water leakage.

I read a few other threads that indicate that one might have to remove the bolts, pull the motor back and remove a few components.. Are there easier things I should try first?

- I see two plugs on the side of the pool pump, presumably one of them to remove the remaining water from the skimmer and the other to remove the remaining water from the impeller area. Can I open those up (after having powered off the pump with circuit breaker) and see if that clears the debris (assuming debris presence)?
- Could I spray water with a garden hose into the pump trying to dislodge the debris?
- Can I open those drain valves fully, just enough to jet-spray water through them into the impeller area to dislodge any debris?

The pump was new when installed in Jan or Feb 2017.
 
Last edited:
I have not heard that noise before so not sure what it is..

It really is easy to take it apart and see what is in there or replace a seal or impeller... Took about 10 minutes to pull mine and have it taken apart.. I would recommend you order a seal kit just in case it does need replaced...

 
Great video. Thanks for the reference. I reached into the impeller from the skimmer compartment, manually rotated a few times, drained the skimmer compartment as well as the impeller compartment and sprayed with a garden hose shower. Any dirt that was lodged in there hopefully came out at the drain. I haven't noticed any noise in the last 24 hours after having turned the pump on and off many times. If it does, I will order the seal kit, and keep the other useful accessories and proceed with checking the insides shown in the video.
 
Sounds like a small piece of debris in the impeller. Could be a twig, leaf, or even a piece of plastic. You can turn off the pump and remove the strainer then reach in to the impeller to check and usually find whatever it is.
 
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.