How can I tell if my circulator pump is on its way out?

adamant · December 05, 2016, 12:10:58 AM

What are the symptoms of a circulator pump going? I think it's a Taco 007! Outside temp is 182 at the boiler and in the house it's coming in at 155 and return is 142 to 145 measured by a remote smoker thermometer which I'm sure is not as accurate.

thecfarm · December 05, 2016, 06:39:08 AM

Not getting the heat you are use too.
Pump is hot.
Pump making an odd noise or noises.
I have put the blade of a screwdriver on to the pump and put my ear on the handle. Should be a nice steady huming noise. Should sound like a bucket of bolts in there.

trapper · December 05, 2016, 09:39:31 AM

I have had the impeller disintegrate on a couple oo7. Hot water coming into the house but the flow was so low the water was cold on the return line. 4 screws to remove the motor from the housing and if that is the problem it will be easy to see.

Dave Shepard · December 05, 2016, 10:54:17 AM

They often make the same noise a former employer of mine used to make when he opened his wallet. Sort of a high pitched squealing-groaning noise that could be heard for miles.

adamant · December 06, 2016, 07:29:33 AM

Quote from: trapper on December 05, 2016, 09:39:31 AM
I have had the impeller disintegrate on a couple oo7. Hot water coming into the house but the flow was so low the water was cold on the return line. 4 screws to remove the motor from the housing and if that is the problem it will be easy to see.

how many degrees different on the return are we talking about?

trapper · December 06, 2016, 10:07:51 AM

Don't have a thermometer but water coming in was full hot and on the return line was room temperature. Noticed it with the first time I needed heat that year. I don't think they go all at once. Didn't notice it when only heating domestic water in the summer.

gasman1075 · December 06, 2016, 10:17:54 AM

Depending on the length of the run, pipe size, insulation, burial depth etc it may not be failing just may not be a big enough circulator. They typically run or fail a 30' delta T may not be out of the question depending on the above parameters. There are a few multi speed circulators I have installed as replacements for 007.

trapper · December 06, 2016, 02:32:00 PM

gasman what have you replaced the 007 with?

gasman1075 · December 06, 2016, 03:29:00 PM

Grundfoss makes a circulator that will bolt up the same pattern as a 007 but has 3 different pump speeds. Webb or Bell Simons or Ferguson would have them. where are you located? If in New England or New York Webb or Granite Group

bmcdowell40 · December 07, 2016, 09:16:21 AM

Hopefully you have isolation flanges on your pump. if you do, just take the 4 bolts out and pull the motor off and pull out the cartridge to inspect it. I had a 009 on my OWB that lasted 4 winters before the impeller disintegrated, at that point the bearings in the cartridge were shot as well. It was a 5 minute fix to put in a new cartridge. Since then, I've upgrade to the Taco 2400-WB series pump which are designed to take the heat and continuous duty of an OWB application. The 007 circulators are typically used as a residential circulator which don't run continuously. I'm curious though, how long have you had the 007 on your boiler?

LittleJohn · December 07, 2016, 03:07:26 PM

Definitely the easiest way is to pull pump out of system and put power to it and see if it spins.
If you knew what power draw when new, you could see if the pump is now drawing more amps.

Upstateguy650 · December 09, 2016, 04:41:58 PM

One of my 007's sounds a little noisy. Like a constant fast tapping noise. It heats a smaller zone in my house, radiant in floor heat. Still heats the bedroom/bathroom but is noisy. Is it ready to replace? And how easy is it to pull the pump?

trapper · December 09, 2016, 10:52:14 PM

4 screws to replace the cartridge. Easy if the pump is orientated to get at the screws. if you need to pull the pump make sure to get a set of gaskets before you start.

thecfarm · December 10, 2016, 06:12:38 AM

Very easy to replace the whole pump.Nothing really hard about it.

Upstateguy650 · December 10, 2016, 05:17:35 PM

https://youtu.be/97UWDPbByNM

Heres a video of mine. Still sends the hot water to the zone and heats it. Just noisy. Called my local plumbing shop and they will be looking into it.

The video makes it sound louder/worse than it is. I can only here this ticking when i lift the door to the crawl space. There is an identical 007-ZF5-9 that pumps the living room porting of the house right next to it. Just a slight hum and sound of wooshing water.

chet · December 11, 2016, 06:42:49 AM

Mine have done that too. What I've done, is with the pump running, shut one of the isolation valves off on either side of the pump for a second and switch it back on. It may take a couple tries. The only times it hasn't worked, is when I found the impeller was disintegrating.

Ivan49 · December 11, 2016, 03:38:01 PM

Quote from: Upstateguy650 on December 10, 2016, 05:17:35 PM
https://youtu.be/97UWDPbByNM

Heres a video of mine. Still sends the hot water to the zone and heats it. Just noisy. Called my local plumbing shop and they will be looking into it.

The video makes it sound louder/worse than it is. I can only here this ticking when i lift the door to the crawl space. There is an identical 007-ZF5-9 that pumps the living room porting of the house right next to it. Just a slight hum and sound of wooshing water.

Mine was doing that also and I took the motor cart. off and you couldgrab the impellerand move it in and out. Bearings were shot. I replaced the pumpas the cart was as much as a new pump. I went with a grundfoo 3 speed pump per the recomendations of a person on this sight. Itworks much better than the Taco did

Upstateguy650 · December 11, 2016, 06:28:24 PM

Thats what everyone else is saying. But the cheapest i could find this same pump was $140. The replacement cartridge is about $60. Waiting to hear back from my plumber tomorrow hopefully.

Upstateguy650 · December 11, 2016, 06:29:08 PM

Quote from: Chet on December 11, 2016, 06:42:49 AM
Mine have done that too. What I've done, is with the pump running, shut one of the isolation valves off on either side of the pump for a second and switch it back on. It may take a couple tries. The only times it hasn't worked, is when I found the impeller was disintegrating.

I'll give that a shot tonight when i get home and see if that helps.

Upstateguy650 · December 16, 2016, 06:17:07 PM

Changed out the cartridge. Much much quieter now. Just about the same as the other once. Appears to still be a little air in the pex. Let her run for a little while prior to leaving for work and it seemed like it was slowly working its way out.

LittleJohn · December 19, 2016, 12:45:10 PM

...Yeah, now when tax money comes, go buy a replacement cartridge or two, just in case

BTW, a tell tale sign you are having an issue with a Hydronic/Radiant system is that it makes noise, or a drop in pressure (if closed loop). Most noise in a system is because of bubbles in system (which are bad) or a sign of mechanical issue in a pump/device.

A good time to check a closed loop system is in the Early Fall, before firing up the system for the winter. So you have some time before a little issue becomes a HUGE issue

Logging logginglogging · January 27, 2017, 10:03:42 AM

Usually they get noisy. However I have seen the impeller disk disintegrate and the pump is still quiet but you don't get the same heat as you use to.
Be careful if you remove the cartridge to have a look, I once did this and the I ended up braking the shaft to the impeller disk because the rubber seal on the cartridge was stuck in the housing so well i tugged it too hard. Those shafts are made of a ceramic type material and snap off easily.
Also if it is bad, its often cheaper, or close to the same price to buy a whole new circular than just a cartridge.

Kellyj · February 24, 2017, 07:51:01 PM

sometimes the circulator will make no noise at all. these little circulators are actually cooled by the boiler water.
As said before, put a screwdriver on the circulator then put your ear up to the end of screwdriver, you should be able to hear circulator making a humming sound, carefull though, you can sometimes hear other circulators running. If the circulator is so hot, that you cant even put your hand on it, it is probably junk, replace with a Grundfos.

never had much luck changing cartridge, won't last long.