Servicing sequence dart?

[Capt_Cully]

I've a noticeable decline in juice coming out of my Dart. Is there anything I can clean out or replace to get it back up to full steam or is this indicative of an impending failure? Seal failure?

Thanks

 

[Srixon]

seal failure would show water somewhere or worse yet electrical issues....Fried pump....Take it apart on the pump side and look for build up or signs of cavitation or wear on the impeller.....unless it is a cartridge pump (magnetically driven) then just look at the impeller and the housing....also could of sucked something in and its stuck in the return.

 

[pascal32]

check intake for blockage, outlets for blockage, check the impeller:

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/sequence/dart-man.pdf

 

[SkiFletch]

Most often Cully the cause of what you're describing is calcium or detritus buildup on the impeller. You can take the Volute (the front piece the inlet plumbing connects to) off and inspect to see if that's the case. If it's calcium, a vinegar soak works wonders. If it's detritus, then a little scrubbing is in order. How long has the pump been running? Might make sense to replace the SS seals just in case since you're planning on taking it apart to clean it. Replacing shaft seals in a direct drive pump is never a bad idea.

 

[Capt_Cully]

It's been in continuous service for about 16-18 months. I hate this type of labor. I'll be in uncharted territory and I don't have a back up. Hopefully it's just build up, but if I'm going to pull it apart, I'd just as soon replace the seal.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Taking apart the volute for inspection is a quick job. Just be sure the flexible O-ring is carefully placed into its channel before tightening the bolts back down. Replacing the seal is going to add some time if you've never done it before.

 

[iamwrasseman]

buddy ,your old hammerhead that i bought is still working like a fire truck pump ! from my experience theres not very much to do except clean it out but you really only end up with some small amount of slime "scum" on the surfaces . do you have any ball valves limiting the overall output and if so they are on the output side correct ? i would be looking for maybe a snail or something on the inlet side as i have seen that many a time .i have had cheato and snails end up on my suction side of my return pump numerous times and that slowed the river down like a beaver

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

If the pump is still turning the same RPM the only way output can decrease is if the impeller is damaged or there's a blockage somewhere. My Dart does this every few months, usually if I turn power off the backflow of water draining through the plumbing dislodges some blockage (snail, chaeto, once it was a mithrax crab) that comes rushing out of the inlet.

If you can't flush it out, opening the pump up is next. I second the people who suggested replacing the seals while it's open. Search youtube or google, there are videos out there of people doing this job. I think Melev had one on his site once. There was a thread in here a few months ago where someone was posting generic part numbers for these seals so you didn't have to buy the expensive name-brand one from Sequence. Might be worth a search.

Also, if there is no slinger on the shaft, put one on while you have it apart. A slinger is basically a big rubber washer on the shaft between the seal and the motor - the idea is that if water leaks past the seal, it runs down the shaft, hits the slinger, and cetrifugal force spins it off. This is much preferrable to having it run down to the motor bearing, especially on a Dart, since the bearings are not servicable (so once the bearing dies, you have to replace the whole pump or at least the motor). This is the most common cause of failure on these pumps - saltwater runs down the shaft and gets in the front motor bearing which kills the bearing. Seal failure in and of itself is almost never a catastrophic event but it can cause one via bearing failure. It seemed like Sequence started putting slingers on most of their pumps a few years ago but they still turn up without them all the time.

If you get totally stuck you could bring the pump to the frag trade and we could all yell unhelpful comments at you while you try to fix it. :lol:

 

[bugs713]

I replaced bearings and seals in my Dart during my build, not too difficult to do. If its a bearing issue and you do not want to do DIY, most any local electric motor repair shop could also do it.
Starts at Post #48
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2139179&page=2

Good luck!
<img id="ums_img_tooltip" class="UMSRatingIcon">

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

If you know of a motor shop that can replace the bearings in the motors commonly shipped on Darts please share - there have been many threads on here trying to track down part info for those bearings over the years as Sequence claims they are not servicable (if you ask them to do it, they tell you they will only put a new motor on the pump).

Granted there have been a handful of different motors slapped on Darts over time so who knows...