A few weeks ago the pump on my late 60's SQ (MA-62) suddenly seized. I'm glad I was standing right there. In SQ's of this era the pump is constantly running if the machine is on, so it gets a work-out with every single load. In just the few seconds it took for me to react and shut it down a cloud of acrid burned belt smoke came out.
I pulled the pump right away- not an easy chore as there isn't a lot of room to work in.
My first observation was that the pump was a newer one that lacked the little nipple for shooting some grease into it. SQ just wanted to assure a service call and new part sale down the road.
Not having a replacement pump specifically for this machine I set my mind to work with what I have.
I could peer into the incoming and discharge ports of the pump and see that nothing was caught in the impeller and it looked intact. Just to be sure I unclamped the bottom part and opened it up. No sign of foreign object damage.
The shaft was frozen solid. I figured there must be a seized bearing somewhere on that shaft either at the top or bottom, maybe both.
There were two tiny Allen bolts that kept the belt-pulley in place, so I loosened those and with a small hammer lightly tapped the pulley off of the shaft without any effort.
At that point I am looking down on what appeared to be a brass bearing the shaft passed through. So since I couldn't budge the shaft i sprayed it with some PBlaster just to get some lubricant in there and then I started tapping it down. Without much effort the shaft started to come out of the bottom with the impeller still attached to the bottom. That began to reveal the brass bearing which came right out. It was a "sleeve-bearing". This revealed a little chamber the shaft passed through. It has some nasty old black grease residue in it along with a bit of sludge that contained a few tiny chunks of metal.
I cleaned it out as best as I could. I also noticed what appeared to be a tiny "key-way" on the interior of the chamber. That puzzled me because I couldn't figure what purpose that would serve. During this time Greg called and I discussed what I was looking at with him. He suggested the "key-way" was actually a tiny chamber to hold a supply of lubricant. That made sense!
I never could figure out where the tiny chunks of metal came from, so after a good and thorough cleaning of the chamber I filled it with Permatex Ultra-Slick, engine assembly lubricant. I suppose I could have used lithium grease, but, I figured the synthetic would be better for the high mileage pump.
Reassembly went quickly and the shaft is moving freely.
After the usual hour of cursing the lack of room to move in, I got the pump reinstalled and belts properly tensioned. Hooked her back up and ran a load with complete success.
I'm glad I was able to get the old girl back up and running. I love that old SQ and it does a great job of cleaning.
Not being formally trained in things mechanical, I always marvel at the fact I can repair ANYTHING, at all.
Not given the option of a new pump, it was just a matter of sheer determination.
I pulled the pump right away- not an easy chore as there isn't a lot of room to work in.
My first observation was that the pump was a newer one that lacked the little nipple for shooting some grease into it. SQ just wanted to assure a service call and new part sale down the road.
Not having a replacement pump specifically for this machine I set my mind to work with what I have.
I could peer into the incoming and discharge ports of the pump and see that nothing was caught in the impeller and it looked intact. Just to be sure I unclamped the bottom part and opened it up. No sign of foreign object damage.
The shaft was frozen solid. I figured there must be a seized bearing somewhere on that shaft either at the top or bottom, maybe both.
There were two tiny Allen bolts that kept the belt-pulley in place, so I loosened those and with a small hammer lightly tapped the pulley off of the shaft without any effort.
At that point I am looking down on what appeared to be a brass bearing the shaft passed through. So since I couldn't budge the shaft i sprayed it with some PBlaster just to get some lubricant in there and then I started tapping it down. Without much effort the shaft started to come out of the bottom with the impeller still attached to the bottom. That began to reveal the brass bearing which came right out. It was a "sleeve-bearing". This revealed a little chamber the shaft passed through. It has some nasty old black grease residue in it along with a bit of sludge that contained a few tiny chunks of metal.
I cleaned it out as best as I could. I also noticed what appeared to be a tiny "key-way" on the interior of the chamber. That puzzled me because I couldn't figure what purpose that would serve. During this time Greg called and I discussed what I was looking at with him. He suggested the "key-way" was actually a tiny chamber to hold a supply of lubricant. That made sense!
I never could figure out where the tiny chunks of metal came from, so after a good and thorough cleaning of the chamber I filled it with Permatex Ultra-Slick, engine assembly lubricant. I suppose I could have used lithium grease, but, I figured the synthetic would be better for the high mileage pump.
Reassembly went quickly and the shaft is moving freely.
After the usual hour of cursing the lack of room to move in, I got the pump reinstalled and belts properly tensioned. Hooked her back up and ran a load with complete success.
I'm glad I was able to get the old girl back up and running. I love that old SQ and it does a great job of cleaning.
Not being formally trained in things mechanical, I always marvel at the fact I can repair ANYTHING, at all.
Not given the option of a new pump, it was just a matter of sheer determination.
