Keeping a used circulator for a spare

Solid_Fuel_Man

I learned last winter that when circulators sit on the shelf after they have been used the seize. Had a slightly used 007 as a spare and took it to replace a bad injection circulator for my brother in law on a Sunday when it was below zero (of course). Found my used circulator (I was not charging him for this) to be stuck. I installed a new one off the truck. The cartridge was stuck and I ended up breaking the impeller trying to free it.

So I got to looking at a 0010 I removed last year from a boiler change over which was less than a year old. It too was seized. Removed the cartridge and boiled it with the impeller up just to see what would happen. It is now free and spins like new.

Is there anything one could do to preserve these cartridges from seizing when they dry out? Could they just be left in a Tupperware submerged in water?

GroundUp

You could switch to Grundfos and never have that trouble again

JUGHNE

Do they still put the plug in the end so you can crank the rotor?

Zman

I have not seen the Grundfos plug in years.
I wonder if squirting a light mineral oil into the bearing assembly would preserve it.

JUGHNE

My previous boiler was a WM GV-4. It had a Grundfos pump for recir inside. It had a plug without the screw slot. Fortunately it came out with pliers. Replaced the plug with a slotted one.

My old Infloor Pump manifolds still have the Grundfos pumps with the slotted plug. 2 out of the 3 have to be cranked every season after sitting for 6 months. I am happy for the plugs.

GroundUp

About a year ago I had a run of 15-58 come through without the plugs, but otherwise they always do. I buy probably 50-80 a year and have only gotten a dozen or so without. Even so, I had a well used 26-64 sitting on the shelf for probably 7-8 years that I actually just dug out yesterday and put power to, took right off with no convincing and is currently moving 8 GPM through my hydro-air coil until I get the rest of the system done. I've quite literally thrown away hundreds of Taco circs that were seized after only a couple months of inactivity (outdoor wood boilers are very common here and a large portion of my work load) from sitting all summer, although wet the whole time. Not sure what it is that causes it, just some data I've collected. Been running all Grundfos for almost 7 years and have not replaced a single one that wasn't cooked from deadheading- and that number is in the single digits. Indoor/pressurized systems may very well be another story, as I have only seen a couple 007s crap out in those applications (1 of which deadheaded between heat calls for 20 years) but as far as the OP goes, my response is dead serious.

Solid_Fuel_Man

Wow thanks! I actually dont see many Grundfos up here. Taco is the majority, with some Chinese B&Gs (hate them!) And now Armstrong, dont have an opinion on them, as I've had (seemingly) good luck with the green ones! There are many 20+ year old 007s on the returns in just about everyone's basement around here. About 60% have hot water heat with about 5% steam and 35% scorched air.

mattmia2

This might be the one place where wd40 is appropriate.

Alan Welch

I would think the best way to save one would be to remove the cartridge, dry it thoroughly, give it a light spray of WD -40 or similar, and Ziploc the cartridge. Then you can see if the cartridge is seized before you install. They definitely don't store well otherwise .

Dave H_2

The seizing of a once in service circ with a 007 has to do with the tolerances of the impeller and the volute. The are so close so that the desired high flow rates of upto 23 gpm can be achieved. When it is taken out of service, the cast iron volute will rust a little holding that impeller from moving.
The impeller shape is flat and is open in design and is parallel with the casing, therefore alot of surface area.
The 0015 or 15-58 impeller is a closed face impeller and is pitched down towards the eye. With that being said, the tolerances between the impeller and the casing is larger and the two do not interact when rust occurs.
The new 007e has a similar impeller design as in closed face and pitched to the eye and also has the SureStart function built in so that seizing of a cartridge never happens again.

Dave H.

hot_rod

Solid_Fuel_Man said:

I learned last winter that when circulators sit on the shelf after they have been used the seize. Had a slightly used 007 as a spare and took it to replace a bad injection circulator for my brother in law on a Sunday when it was below zero (of course). Found my used circulator (I was not charging him for this) to be stuck. I installed a new one off the truck. The cartridge was stuck and I ended up breaking the impeller trying to free it.



So I got to looking at a 0010 I removed last year from a boiler change over which was less than a year old. It too was seized. Removed the cartridge and boiled it with the impeller up just to see what would happen. It is now free and spins like new.



Is there anything one could do to preserve these cartridges from seizing when they dry out? Could they just be left in a Tupperware submerged in water?

The cartridge is seized up when it is out of the volute? If so. some contaminants in the cartridge I suspect. Hard scaling water can lock up most any moving parts.

Solid_Fuel_Man

The cartridge itself was seized. Thus is a 0010 which I removed the cartridge and it was stuck. Pump was completely dry with no rust on the iron volute.

Boiled the 0010 cartridge and it freed up with just a slight bit of force and now is free as a new one. Just want to keep it that way for when I need it. I could install it on a job and charge a bit less for a used circ, but I dont like to do stuff like that.