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Adam Blundell 
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Joined: June 24 2002
Location: Davis County
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Points: 18526
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 Topic: Dart pump crazy loud
Posted: January 19 2017 at 10:00am |
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The dart pump on my skimmer is crazy loud. When I shut off the air intake the nose is cut 90%. That doesn't sound like bearings to me, am I wrong?
Adam
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Come to a meeting, they’re fun!
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phys
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Joined: March 04 2011
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Posted: January 19 2017 at 8:10pm |
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could be your impeller has worn out and the lack of pure water in it causes it to knock around. maybe same thing if the bearings are bad?
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Mark Peterson
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Joined: June 19 2002
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Posted: January 19 2017 at 8:34pm |
Impeller was intact when I repaired that pump, but it could have broken. First check. Cavitation? Cavitation is caused by a restriction on the pump intake. Second check. Bearing going bad? Disconnect the pump but leave it in place and run it dry. If it makes more than a clean "whirring" sound, then there may be a foreign object stuck in the impeller or a broken bearing. Don't worry. Running it without water for a short time causes absolutely no damage. Third check. Foriegn object in the impeller? An out of balance impeller can be noisy. Aloha, Mark 
Edited by Mark Peterson - January 19 2017 at 8:42pm
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 20 2017 at 9:47am |
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It's not easily accessible. This will be a project.
Adam
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evan127
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Joined: November 13 2009
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Posted: January 20 2017 at 9:51am |
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Is the skimmer performing the same as before the noise? Has it overflowed or underperformed on producing skimmate?
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 20 2017 at 8:21pm |
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Hmm. I don't think it's affected the pump performance. Good question!
Adam
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evan127
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Posted: January 20 2017 at 8:33pm |
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When my skimmer started acting up and overflowing a lot a few weeks ago, it turned out that a small strand of chaetomorpha was intertwined in the impeller.
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reefnfeef
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Posted: January 21 2017 at 8:20am |
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Sometimes salt creeps into my skimmer intake and it sounds like a whistle. I pour hot water down the intake and it usually clears right up.
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aaaaaaaaaaaaaannd.... I'm broke
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 22 2017 at 10:45am |
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Right now, it appears to be cavitation. Turning down the air inlet has solved the issue (so it seems).
Thanks all!
Adam
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: January 22 2017 at 11:20am |
Cool. Evidently, too much air was the cause of the cavitation? Since the pump was just repaired it makes me think perhaps, it's been a long time since the pump had that much power.  With all that power, it may have been forming very low pressure expanded air bubbles that collapsed upon leaving the pump. Cavitation typically occurs only with strong pumps. If the pump intake is restricted the powerful spinning impeller forms extreme low pressure on the intake side. I have seen where cavitation actually creates such low pressure that water molecules are pulled apart, forming steam and giving off heat in the plumbing. Almost immediately upon passing out of the volute (cavity where the impeller spins) into the return line the steam bubbles collapse. This rapid expansion and immediate collapse causes loud vibration in the pump and plumbing.
This is also why flow control valves are installed on the output side and not the intake side.
Aloha, Mark
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