hurricane aftermath: will my pumps work?

[Coyle]

Hello all, after living out of a hotel for months, I am finally settled in a house for now, and have some time to worry about other things. I have an iwaki 100 and a little giant 4 that i was able to salvage out of my house (they were packed in the attic in a rubbermaid tub), but water reached the attic and tipped the rubbermaid (of course), but they were not completely submerged for weeks like everything else. They both show a little rust around the seams. They are packed with everything else that was salvaged in a storage unit, and i havent had a chance to test them (i did not want to attempt to plug in until they were cleaned). I was told if i take them apart and clean them well, oil all of the parts, and let them dry out, they should still work. Anybody know if there is any truth to this? or any suggestions before i give it a try. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[kbmdale]

I'm sorry for your loss. Makes me think of how much stuff I take for granit ever day. As far as the pumps, there is only one way to find out. Fire them puppies up. I seen a really rough looking iwaki pulled out of a decrepid old shed and work just fine, so maybe there is hope.

 

[BruiseAndy]

Never taken apart an Iwaki, but I have dissasembled quite a few sump pumps that leaked. Yes, as long as you dry out and oil bearings (20 weight non detergant oil) they should work. you may want to pull the rotor from the motor to make sure the shaft and rotor arent rusted up. If the bearings are seized up you can probably find replacements on eBay or at Grainger (more expensive route). Bearings will be in sized in mm and you need OD, width, and shaft diameter to replace. If you can make out numbers on bearings such as 803ZZ or something like that it would help find replacements if they need it.

You can also check if it is electrically sound before you blug it in and possibly cause damage. Take an ohmeter and go from both sides of the plug to the ground terminal on the plug and make sure it reads infinty.

 

[RobinsonFam1]

i have taken aprt lg pumps before due to bad rust. i used an electronics cleaner to get them worked out. once that dried i went back in and used 3in1 oil which is what LG recommends.

 

[BruiseAndy]

I am pretty sure 3 in 1 oil contains detergants, detergants foam, foam in bearing is bad

 

[marm64]

I bought oil in a can like 3 in 1 that was 20 weight oil, it is porbably used for oiling motors.

I would check to make sure that the motors are clean and then take a chance and plug them in and hope for the best. I would plut into a gfi outlet if possible just to be safe.

Good luck.

 

[Coyle]

thanks for the responses, I will probably be unloading the storage shed in a few days, and will post an update as to how it goes.

 

[Coyle]

does anyone know if 30 weight non detergeant oil will work? or if any other kind of oil will be sufficient? i am having trouble finding the 20 weight non detergeant..

 

[chipmaker]

Just about any motor weather it powers a washing machine or air compressor or pump is completely useable if it was not caught under water with power applied. So if those pumps were not in operation, a rinse in fresh water would be the first thing I would do after completely dissassembling them. They will not rust up any ore than they already are. Then work at removing any rust etc with sand paper and wire brush, or even resubmerging the parts in slatwater again. I use the salt water method to clean up badly corroded items all the time in my shop, and it makes short work of rust, but the part needs to be completely submerged in a heavy SG of salt water for 24 to 48 hours.......then rinsed very well. MOst any oil will do with 10 or 20 weight being the best, but I would opt for a straight weight oil and of non detergent type. Ifyour having problems finding non detergent oil, look in the various big box stores for air compressor oil which is nothing more than a 20 or 30 wt non detergent straight viscosity oil.

I have 4, Sequence pumps mounted in an underground pump vault, which have been under 4 or more feet of water quite a few times. If I have sufficient notice of a heavy storm like a hurricane etc I usually remove them, but at the least if time does not permit I simply cut power and let em flood over, then dryem out and fire em back up..been doing it that way since the late 90's and they have not been hurt..Only real thing yu need to be concerned with is that they are totally dry internally and at the most all it would cost is a new bearing(s) if water entered them....I'll put odds on the pumps you have being totally useable again if cleaned and dried and relubed..

 

[MOX]

ya what chip said but i was also unshure of what type of oil to use

 

[Coyle]

UPDATE:::

Iwaki works like a champ, but is now severely in need of a paint job....the little giant is another story, i can feel the motor on when i plug in in, but it does not pump (shaft+impeller do not turn), any ideas yall? If not, i am going to bring it to a small motor repair shop and see what kind of cost it would be on repairs.. Thanks for the help, all in all I will be happy with just the iwaki working.

 

[BruiseAndy]

thinking the little giant is a cap start and it sounds like that may be damaged. Try to see if you can spin the impeller by hand. If you can w/o resistance then the capacitor is most likely bad. If you cant spin it easily and it sounds gritty when it spins it will need some new bearings.