Reeflo Hammerhead Gold Problems

[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]

Forget everything I said

Forget everything I said

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.:sad2:

 

[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]

Installed the Iwaki

Installed the Iwaki

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

 

[BrandinAbbott]

Leaky HH seal vs. Magdrive Style Setup

Leaky HH seal vs. Magdrive Style Setup

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.

I also currently have this problem with my Hammerhead pump w/ Baldor motor. I have not tried to re-seat the seal yet but I am trying to figure out what the "magdrive style setup" is that you are referring to. I have little experience with external pumps. However, its not very complicated and I would like to know the difference with this style vs. the seal on the Hammerhead pumps.

~Brandin~

 

[Triton_Z]

However, its not very complicated and I would like to know the difference with this style vs. the seal on the Hammerhead pumps.

~Brandin~

Brandin,

The difference between a mechanical sealed pump and a magnetic drive pump is the connection between the motor and pump impeller. A magnetic drive (MagDrive) uses a permanent magnet coupling to connect the motor drive shaft to pump impeller. This setup allows the pump to run without any seals (other than a stationary housing oring) versus the direct shaft connection of a mechanical sealed type pump (Reeflo Hammerhead / Dart / etc).

Do a google image search for Iwaki Magnetic Drive and you can see the configuration of the impeller and magnet drive coupling.

The only disadvantages I see are the added cost and the whether the liquid pumped is clean enough (as the liquid and dirt flows in the area of the magnet coupling).

Magnetic Drive pumps are the way to go for less maintenance for our uses.

I am still having excellent results from my Reeflo Snapper/Dart, but it's located in an accessible location if repairs are needed. If the pump was under a stand and hard to remove, I would have opted for the more reliable solution of a Magnetic Drive style pump.

Good luck with your repairs.

 

[wazel]

Hello again all,
I just wanted to give a brief update on this story. While my new Iwaki does not leak it does add a huge amount of heat to my tank. My chiller was running constantly. In a fit of depression I decided to try one more time to fix my HHG. I went on Grainger's website and found a "Dayton 3ACF4" shaft seal ($22.00). I used plumbers silicon grease to install it (i used silicon sealant before). And perhaps one other thing that made a difference is I noticed on Reeflo's online seal replacement instructions that you should put clean water on the seal before seating the to sides back together. I had not done this in the past. So long story short.. my HHG has been dry for a little over 2 months. If the fix is the seal or the grease or the clean water I do not know but that formula is working for me at the moment. Time will tell....

 

[mrkookm]

Hello again all,
I just wanted to give a brief update on this story. While my new Iwaki does not leak it does add a huge amount of heat to my tank. My chiller was running constantly. In a fit of depression I decided to try one more time to fix my HHG. I went on Grainger's website and found a "Dayton 3ACF4" shaft seal ($22.00). I used plumbers silicon grease to install it (i used silicon sealant before). And perhaps one other thing that made a difference is I noticed on Reeflo's online seal replacement instructions that you should put clean water on the seal before seating the to sides back together. I had not done this in the past. So long story short.. my HHG has been dry for a little over 2 months. If the fix is the seal or the grease or the clean water I do not know but that formula is working for me at the moment. Time will tell....

I had a leaky seal issue with my new Goby (FW use & needed lowest flow, but with some head) Gold pump all due to a wobbly impeller which I found out later. I reached out to Chris who as everyone already know provides awesome support, and he did for me the same. He put some seals in the mail as well as a new impeller at no cost.

So during my wait and I got anxious to get my pump up and running so I can complete my assessment of it to verify how well it will handle my low flow requirements. I got such a high flow pump only because I rather not use Pan World / Blueline anymore due to the heat it dumps into the tank and me having to run a chiller often.

Long story short I ended up buying a used Reeflo HH on Craigslist real cheap for it's impeller & wet ends and from Grainger 3 Daytons (1 3ACF5 & 2 3ACF4) & 3 Pac-seals (1 1R317 & 2 1R318). The seals were purchased a day apart.

Initially I went with the Daytons because quite frankly they were more expensive and I associated that with quality, plus it had 'better material' options and it came in a nice box. But wrong, the quality might be there, but they all failed. This always happened when I adjusted the output flow via a valve to around to ~700 - 800gph on a 1" pipe If I leave it on wide open after a few hours there are no issues. Crank down on the valve and it's a wrap--leak in under an hour.

Frustration and no stock of Daytons had me going with the 1R317 seal, but a fail on my part and I ended up cracking the CoolCarb face, so last resort I bought the seal I really never intended on buying from the get go--the 1R318. The specs has it not having a spring retainer, but I bought 2 of them anyway as at this point I was already in deep simplicity of the seal design and it failing got the better of me... I had to figure this out.

In the end the seal that I had no intention of buying because it was too cheap and specs listed it as missing a part is the one that is working extremely well! I even cranked it down way low ~600gph and that sucker has being holding up! So for those of yous looking for a viable option get the 1R318 aka Pac Seal 68-062-04. Wazel says his Dayton works, but it is likely he is using a higher discharge flow than I am, but if a product can do well when it under more stain then less is obviously a non-issue.


I have ordered 2 more online this time around at $8.16ea + $5 ship. At this point I don't even want to try the 1R317 even though it looks identical. I said the same for the Dayton's since they all share the same principle operation wise, but something is different about it and it couldn't handle the increased case pressure of whatever is at work when I crank down on the valve.

BTW I did receive the seal from Reeflo, but that's just another spare at this point.

 

[wazel]

Well my Dayton lasted about a month and is now leaking again. I put my Iwaki back online while I screw around with my HHG some more. I am going to try the seal you are having luck with. Also I just sent my spare HHG back to Reeflo for a vibration and leak issue. They did turn it around very quickly, however it still vibrates and leaks. It appears they replaced the motor and seal with no results. One other BIG issue I noticed is that Reeflo is NOT using Carbide Silicon seals in these pumps as they advertise. The seal they put in my pump was a standard ceramic seal. I found a Silicon Carbide seal on the Grainger website ($62.00) that is my next try to fix the issue. Does anyone know of company that makes a pump like a Reeflo, I would love to toss them to the curb.

 

[wazel]

Well its been a week with the 1R318. So far so good......time will tell

 

[5pacey]

Well... I was sorta thinking about the Barracuda/Hammerhead hybrid as one of my options but this thread puts the last nail in that coffin for sure. I've been peeve'd @ ReeFlo anyway for ditching BlowHoles recently after a year on the market because I bought one and was going to build my system around them :headwally: Good specs on paper, did hydrostatic testing during which it ran great, quiet, good flow etc... Looks like I am looking @ PW 200PS, sounds like less average complaints/less than perfect comments than about Iwaki. I am stuck w/BH 1100 now though which I'll either have to sell @ 50% discount or find some unplanned use for it.

Space

 

[wazel]

Almost weeks and so far so good.

Almost weeks and so far so good.

Well I have not put any serious back pressure on my HHG and the seal has not failed so far. Perhaps that was part of the equation. I would always close the valve on the output side of the pump before shutting off the pump when I do my water changes. I will now shut the valve after i turn off the pump and see if it stays dry. I attached a pic of the HHG installation.

 

[ostrow]

Well I have not put any serious back pressure on my HHG and the seal has not failed so far. Perhaps that was part of the equation. I would always close the valve on the output side of the pump before shutting off the pump when I do my water changes. I will now shut the valve after i turn off the pump and see if it stays dry. I attached a pic of the HHG installation.

Always, always, 1) power off; 2) close valve.

But, you will replace the Reeflo seal at least every 18 months if not more.

 

[wazel]

I would be VERY happy to get 12 months !! I have a second HHG as a backup. I can swap pumps in less than 5 minutes, so rotating them once a year would be a wonderful development compared to all the grief up to this point.

 

[sean2sean]

I hope I won't have this issue when installing my hammerhead/barracuda hybrid pump....

 

[Loganutah]

I have had the same problems! Leaky HH pumps, had seal replaced once, then they sent new pump second time, I received the pump 2 days ago and it has started to leak from shaft seal....... immediately cleaned and reassembled pump, added some silicone grease where the ceramic bearing slides into the impeller. does it madder what side of the ceramic ring faces out? one side has a groove in it.?

What seal are you getting to work the grainger one?
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/PAC-SEAL-Mechanical-Pump-Seal-Type-68-without-1R318 ?

 

[ostrow]

The orientation of the ring does matter. There is a video I believe on the reeflo website for how to replace the seal. I don't think you are supposed to use any grease, just water, so that may have made things worse Loganutah.

 

[Loganutah]

Still leaking..... I am experimenting with some RTV sealant between the impeller ceramic and the graphite seal....(fully cured prior to water contact). I will let you know if that works. i have 2 of these pumps laying around and want to find a solution.... I put just a small amount on cleaned surfaces and tightened it down, let cure 3 days... i will let you know if it leaks........ so far so good.
i suspect the issue is where the graphite seal contacts the ceramic?:deadhorse:

 

[tkeracer619]

So have you ever changed the bearings like I said 3 years ago?