Reeflo Hammerhead Gold Problems

[wazel]

Hi all,
Does anyone out there have a Hammerhead Gold that does NOT leak from the shaft seal???? I just purchased a new HHG and it had motor problems and a leaky shaft seal. Reeflo shipped me another HHG and this new one still has a leaky shaft seal, i replaced the seal at my own expense and it still leaks.
If anyone out there has experience with this issue please post or pm me. For the cost of this pump it should not leak out of the box !! especially two of them !!!

Thx

[pondwater]

I had the same problem with a Dart. After reading your post, I would not buy one again

[tkeracer619]

I run 7 at work and none of them leak. Also run 6 dart/snappers none of them leak.

I did have two that did and they replaced them quickly.

They are external pumps that rely on a moving seal. They will give you years of dependable service. Chances are you got a bad set of pumps. If you changed the seal and it still leaks it could be the front bearing on the motor causeing the seal to go bad.

Contact them and get a 3rd pump.

[wazel]

I like the performance of the pump and it sips electricty but this leak issue is really strange. I dont have it installed in some bizarre manner the seal actually seems to be leaking from in between the "metal cup" and the motor bracket. Ive used all-glass silicone sealent and the water still gets through.

[tkeracer619]

If its the seal there is this little washer on the shaft that is supposed to sling the water off the shaft and keep the water out of the motor.

[wazel]

that washer is there, but from what i see it has nothing to do with keeping the water from seeping between the seal and the motor bracket. All it appears to be for is just like you said, to keep any water that does leak
from the shaft seal from entering the front motor bearings.

[psychostieg]

The only thing that I can guess that would cause so many seals to go bad would be a bent shaft..... There is no other reasonable answer for a pump to go thru that many seals!! I have owned reeflos for years and never had any issue like that.... Definitely contact reeflo...... They seriously owe you for this one.... I'll be watching to see how they handle this.....this one's on their hands!

[camp]

My hammerhead gold dont leak,and it has been 5 months so far. I just jinxed myself.Reeflo has good customer support.I would call them.

[wazel]

Reeflo repaired my pump so it is running dry now. But when I asked what was wrong with it all I got was "Honestly I don't know" .
So for the moment I guess I'm a satisfied customer.
One last note and perhaps one of you experienced Reeflo owners can answer this question.
While waiting for my pump to be returned i was carefully looking over the Hammerhead seals I had purchased looking for any kind of defect that would make it leak. The one thing i noticed on the white ceramic disk that fits into the rubber boot that fits into the impeller appears to have two different sides.
One side is completly smooth, the other side is equally smooth except it also has groove in the middle of the cermaic surface. Which side should be facing the seal that fits into the motor housing?

[wazel]

Well it ran for 2 whole months and is now leaking again. I cant believe im the only one out here with a issue with a hammerhead gold pump. Do not many people use these pumps. The thing that really has killed me now is, i am forced to keep using this pump. Since i built my system around it i dont have much of a choice to replace it. In fact I just purchased a second one so i can work on the first one. Reeflo has not been much help. I realize that a pump is a very simple machine and Reeflo's options are somewhat limited on how to fix this thing, but there has to be more people having this issue. I just pray my new HH gold runs dry for more than 2 months. I must say I will not recommend a reeflo to anyone at this point. After I install my new HH gold, im going to start the fight with Reeflo.

[spieg]

Ive been running mine for about 3 months, no leaks yet! Is there anything abnormal about your install location, or the plumbing or anything?

[wazel]

Nope its all perfectly level all the pipes are supported, I even sent reeflo a picture of the install so they can see for themselves thats its not some halfassed install. All the plumbing is the right size. The pump leaked right out of the box. The shaft seal is a pretty simple piece of hardware. Thats what makes this so frustrating. There is just not much to go wrong nor is there much you can do except replace the seal which has been done at least 5 times. 4 by me at my own expense and once by reeflo. the fix by reeflo is the one that lasted 2 months perhaps they are better at replacing them than me but i followed their instructions to the letter. In either case i still have a leaking pump. I have over $1000 invested in 2 HH golds now. I understand if reeflo will be frustrated with me but something is wrong. Since i sent them a picture of my install i have not heard a word from them. I am going to install my new HHgold this weekend so on monday i will be contacting them to figure out where we go from here.Here is a pic of my install. Its from before my reef went live, but nothing has changed.

[wazel]

Just and update. I recieved my second HHG today and was stunned when i opened the box. The pump looked nothing like my first HHG. The motor is 25% bigger and is painted totally gold in color. It is also clearly labled as a Baldor super efficent motor and is made in the USA. Reeflo clearly states on its web site that HHG is equipped with a Baldor motor yet my first HHG has a motor that is called a Jet Pump and is made in Mexico !!! Reeflo has some explaining to do !! The mexican pump is clearly not the same quality of the Baldor pump and as far as im concerned Reeflo is doing some kind of bait and switch. This difference in motors must be the reason for my leak problems.
Look out Reeflo here I come !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Helter Skilter]

Originally Posted by wazel

Hi all,
Does anyone out there have a Hammerhead Gold that does NOT leak from the shaft seal????

My HHG doesn't leak at all. I've been running it for about a year now.

Mine doesn't have a Baldor motor. I forget the name of the manf. but I'm pretty sure it was made in Wisconsin, not Mexico.

[jknecht]

Originally Posted by wazel

Just and update. I recieved my second HHG today and was stunned when i opened the box. The pump looked nothing like my first HHG. The motor is 25% bigger and is painted totally gold in color. It is also clearly labled as a Baldor super efficent motor and is made in the USA. Reeflo clearly states on its web site that HHG is equipped with a Baldor motor yet my first HHG has a motor that is called a Jet Pump and is made in Mexico !!! Reeflo has some explaining to do !! The mexican pump is clearly not the same quality of the Baldor pump and as far as im concerned Reeflo is doing some kind of bait and switch. This difference in motors must be the reason for my leak problems.
Look out Reeflo here I come !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The same thing happened to me yesterday. I sent a leaking Hammerhead Gold in for repair in June. It would have been my fourth set of seals in less than two years, so Reeflo asked me to send it in for repair. About three weeks went by and I hadn't heard anything so I contacted them. Reeflo stated they couldn't repair the pump as it was beyond repair, so they offered me a normal Hammerhead. They didn't have Hammerhead Gold's in stock and it could be three weeks before they might have them. I told them I would wait for a Hammerhead Gold since it uses less power, and I spent more on a Gold for that reason. Then yesterday UPS delivered this.





I was shocked as well. I just spoke to Chris the owner of Reeflo and he stated the new Gold Pump we received is the latest and greatest. They switched from Marathon back to Baldor. Marathon did start making pumps in Mexico and Reeflo was unaware so they are back to Baldor. Chris said the new version is a great pump. Now I'm stoked. I have to say thanks to Beth and Chris @ Reeflo.

[tkeracer619]

Sweet!

[Atomikk]

Originally Posted by wazel

Just and update. I recieved my second HHG today and was stunned when i opened the box. The pump looked nothing like my first HHG. The motor is 25% bigger and is painted totally gold in color. It is also clearly labled as a Baldor super efficent motor and is made in the USA. Reeflo clearly states on its web site that HHG is equipped with a Baldor motor yet my first HHG has a motor that is called a Jet Pump and is made in Mexico !!! Reeflo has some explaining to do !! The mexican pump is clearly not the same quality of the Baldor pump and as far as im concerned Reeflo is doing some kind of bait and switch. This difference in motors must be the reason for my leak problems.
Look out Reeflo here I come !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am having a similar issue involving the Wahoo pumps. If fact, the water was making contact with the motor, creating an unwatred stray current in my system. Multiply that by two, as I run two Wahoo pumps.

As well, their customer service has not met my expectations as of yet. Being in Canada, I would expect for them to have some warranty programs with LFSs, but they dont. They expect us to incur the cost of sending the warrantied items back to them. From Canada, it is a bit more difficult as it involves cutoms, etc.

I hope you resolve your issues soon. I have been very patient with them, but I would think twice before recommending their pumps to other reefers.

I did notice that you had valved the pump on the outflow fitting. I had the exact same setup with my Wahoo pumps. Apparently, these pumps do not like back pressure, so i think that is where our problem is.

Good luck with Sequence.

[rbredding]

Originally Posted by Atomikk

I did notice that you had valved the pump on the outflow fitting. I had the exact same setup with my Wahoo pumps. Apparently, these pumps do not like back pressure, so i think that is where our problem is.

a pump doesn't know the difference between pumping water up 10' and a gate valve that's cranked down...


head pressure is head pressure (assuming there is SOME flow)

I've got a Snapper (with AO Smith motor) it functions flawlessly..

[tkeracer619]

IF you having constant problems its a bearing issue not a seal issue. A shaft issue is possible but highly unlikely unless its been dropped. If the bearing goes out the seal is soon to follow and they will only last a couple months. A bearing can look fine to the eye, roll smooth, and be quiet while still being damaged.

Have them replace the bearings when they do the seals.

[Atomikk]

Originally Posted by rbredding

a pump doesn't know the difference between pumping water up 10' and a gate valve that's cranked down...


head pressure is head pressure (assuming there is SOME flow)

I've got a Snapper (with AO Smith motor) it functions flawlessly..

I am not an engineer, but have asked one, and the answer is simple: if you close the valve between the valve and the pump's impeller cavity, you create more pressure in that area. Simple physics actually.

This is the problem with these pumps, that specific area receives a lot of back pressure from the valves, which we use to control the amount of flow from the pumps.

[wazel]

Hello all,
This is just a final follow up from me regarding this issue for anyone who may come across this issue. It appears that I FINALLY found why my HHG seals would leak. I was always looking at the part of the seal that fits into to pump housing (the half of the seal with the spring) as the issue. Turns out the problem was with the half of the seal that fits into the impeller. I happened to look at the seal while i had the pump dissasembled and running with the impeller attached. I noticed that the spring was vibrating quite a bit, so i removed the impeller and looked at that half of the seal and discovered that the seal was not completely flat sitting in its socket. I had always just used my thumb to push it into its socket, but i guess that was not enough pressure to seat it all the way and make it level. I got a piece of sheet acrylic that i had lying around and flipped the impeller over and pushed the impeller seal side down against it on the floor. The seal then seated level into its socket. I re-attached the impeller and turned the pump on and the seal spring was nice and smooth, no more vibrating as it tried to keep the two seal surfaces parallel. I returned it to service and its been dry ever since. Hope this helps you.!

[wazel]

My HHG is leaking again. Reeflo makes lousy pumps. I now have 2 HHG's that are usless. I just ordered an Iwaki MD-100RLT (Japanese Motor)
2000 GPH and will re-plumb. Hopefully this will solve my issue once and for all.
NEVER buy a Reeflo Hammerhead Gold pump.

[Triton_Z]

Wazel,

Was the last repair with a new mechanical seal? I have worked on a variety of centrifugal pumps (like the reeflo design) and chronic seal leakage can be caused by a variety of causes. It sounds like the root cause of your leakage has never been identified.

Excessive endplay in the motor, high imbalance in the impeller from damage, eccentric operation due to poor fit pump to motor, are all possible causes. I have had a few pumps leak due to poor seal seat fit in the housing.

The stationary part of the seal in the pump housing is the seal seat. The moving component of the seal rides on this seal seat and motor shafting and uses the spring pressure to maintain good contact. I agree movement here as you describe will definitely cause trouble and sounds like mis-assembly could have been the source. It's too bad Reeflo did not help you out to get this solved.

The Iwaki is a magdrive style setup, so no worries about the use of mech seals here.

[wazel]

Got my Iwaki and plumbed it into my system. It's about 7db louder than the HHG.....BUT DOES NOT LEAK !

Case Closed with prejudice 1/12/2013

[fast eddie]

i have 2 hammerhead gold series pumps running my 800 plus gallon system... no problems no leaks !!! i