Noisy Pump?

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Sat. Oct. 22, 2016 8:31 pm

Half my Grundfos 3 speeds were bought used, no telling how many miles on them...but never a hiccup.
I do run a wye strainer on my system to catch any foreign materials. And always mount pump with motor horizontal...never vertical.

Just got another used Grundfos yesterday, a stainless steel pump for a solar thermal project I have coming up at home here.
Test ran it last evening and it runs smooth as silk.

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Oct. 22, 2016 8:34 pm

ziggy87 wrote: Anyone have trouble with Bell and Gossett?

I had a B&G NRF-22 that ran 24/7 for just shy of 10 years, and was still going like new when I retired it.

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Sat. Oct. 22, 2016 11:36 pm

[quote="McGiever"] And always mount pump with motor horizontal...never vertical.

quote]

What is the reasoning McGiever? Mine is currently horizontal but that was only because of clearance issues......did it right on accident!

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Sun. Oct. 23, 2016 5:56 am

The motor on a circulating pump needs to be horizontal. The bearings are water lubricated and with the motor in a vertical position, it creates an air bubble in the pump and the bearings will loose lubrication. This also puts the wiring terminal box on the top so no water gets in if you have a leak. The pumps are designed with the bearings to support horizontal loads, not vertical loads.

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Sun. Oct. 23, 2016 6:01 am

blrman07 wrote:The bearings are water lubricated

Maybe this is where my noise is coming from then? Guess run it till she blows! Still chugging along and it is 78* in my barn.....can't wait to put that added heat in the house!

Olllotj · Post by **Olllotj** » Sun. Oct. 23, 2016 7:29 am

I'm curious if the noise has reduced yet?

I'm surprised how warm your barn is! My basement is 72* this morning. I suppose your boiler is a bit bigger than mine though.

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Sun. Oct. 23, 2016 11:49 pm

Olllotj wrote:I'm curious if the noise has reduced yet?

I'm surprised how warm your barn is! My basement is 72* this morning. I suppose your boiler is a bit bigger than mine though.

Nope, the noise is the same, everything working fine though. 65* outside temps today and barn went up to 80* at 4pm when I went out there.

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Mon. Oct. 24, 2016 11:43 am

swyman wrote:
Olllotj wrote:I'm curious if the noise has reduced yet?

I'm surprised how warm your barn is! My basement is 72* this morning. I suppose your boiler is a bit bigger than mine though.
Nope, the noise is the same, everything working fine though. 65* outside temps today and barn went up to 80* at 4pm when I went out there.

Motor in wrong orientation or a trapped air bubble...maybe both.

When I pull out a coil of pex tube stored in building this time of year I wonder if a spider or stink bug has crawled inside of pipe.
Even globs of pipe dope and shreds of teflon tape can ride around in a system for a while before eventually settling out.

Any would be a problem w/o a wye strainer in the system.

A pair of isolation valves at every pump allows for a quick peak to inspect before irreversible damage or break down occurs.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Mon. Oct. 24, 2016 5:05 pm

My 1 Taco 007 had been in use with my OWB & was very noisy when I fired up my EFM520 in Oct.2014,it is still Humming away today. It is the 1 circulator that runs 24/7/366,i figured I would see if I could get any more of my purchase price back on this unit,... I believe I have !!

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Mon. Oct. 24, 2016 11:34 pm

McGiever wrote:
Olllotj wrote:
Any would be a problem w/o a wye strainer in the system.

I did not think of this to add in new system.... Would it be best to put one big one in the 1 1/2" supply just before the pump manifold or 3 small ones before each pump?

A pair of isolation valves at every pump allows for a quick peak to inspect before irreversible damage or break down occurs.

I have the isolation valves at the pump, guess I could take it out very quickly, well once it cooled off to check it.

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Mon. Oct. 24, 2016 11:35 pm

windyhill4.2 wrote:My 1 Taco 007 had been in use with my OWB & was very noisy when I fired up my EFM520 in Oct.2014,it is still Humming away today. It is the 1 circulator that runs 24/7/366,i figured I would see if I could get any more of my purchase price back on this unit,... I believe I have !!

If my pump was in the house, it would be intolerable.

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Tue. Oct. 25, 2016 7:17 am

Big one. Some add a nipple and valve in place of the plug to allow to crack open and dump any crud caught in strainer screen.

ziggy87 · Post by **ziggy87** » Wed. Oct. 26, 2016 6:10 pm

No problem SWYMAN. Just though I would share my issues I am having. My local Sid Harvery's sales man said that they have been having a lot of issues with the 3 speed grundfos pumps lately. It seems to be just on the newer pumps. My pumps are only 3 years old at most. Run that old one until it dies. Just keep one on hand in case it goes on a weekend.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Wed. Oct. 26, 2016 8:59 pm

swyman wrote:
windyhill4.2 wrote:My 1 Taco 007 had been in use with my OWB & was very noisy when I fired up my EFM520 in Oct.2014,it is still Humming away today. It is the 1 circulator that runs 24/7/366,i figured I would see if I could get any more of my purchase price back on this unit,... I believe I have !!
If my pump was in the house, it would be intolerable.

My noisy 007 is out in my truck box with the boiler,helps keep the boiler from getting lonely during the summer when it is only heating DHW.

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Oct. 26, 2016 9:04 pm

If you hang a spare next to it, that noisy pump will last forever.