March Pump Getting Stuck

I have a March 809 PL-HS Pump that I have been very happy with. However, I am finding that the pump impeller will occasionally stick when pumping, especially high temp liquids (sparge water and wort to the CFC). When this happens sometimes cycling the power will un-stick it, but it will eventually get stuck for good. When this happens it requires disassembling the pump head (hot!), freeing the impeller, reassembling and moving on.

I find after research that the pump head is supposed to be lubricated by the liquid it pumps. However, this seems to not be happening properly.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? If so, how have you dealt with it.

Thanks!

Hasn't happened to me.. or at least not the impeller.. I have had the magnet touch the housing though, jamming the motor..

I hear Vaseline on the impeller shaft helps.

Look up March's website. Their Technical assistance number is posted. Call them and they'll tell you what to do. Be sure and post back with the solution. Luck - Dwain

That is pretty strange. I use two of those identical pumps every brew and have never had any issue like that. Sounds almost like a clearance issue where the higher temps are reducing the tolerances to the point of excess friction.
Make sure and let us know what you find out.

My guess would be either a problem with the thrust bearings or the impeller shaft might be bent.

My friends March pump would stick coming right out of the box brand new testing with cold water in 5 gallon buckets. We took it apart and polished with 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper then washed everything clean and air blasted dry.
I used a couple drops of EPIC bicycle chain lube that is liquid until the solvents evaporate which was a few minutes then assembled. The wax that is left is dry hence why it is used on mountain bike chains in the dirt and mud that stays on the chain but slings off the mud. The pump has been working for many brews without a problem since and there are no worries as the transfer solvent evaporates fast leaving only a wax film as a lubricant you will not taste. This idea worked for our pumps and now we use it on all of the March pumps when they need a take down and cleaning.

Thanks all for the advice. I took the pump apart and cleaned and dried the impeller and shaft and it was still sticky. So I took some wet/dry auto paint sandpaper and sanded the shaft lightly (that sounds really bad...), reassembled and it gave it just enough clearance for the impeller to spin freely.

Thanks!

I have a similar issue. One of my pumps seems to have got "stuck." I moved the whole head to my other pump mid brew (with liquid still in it and hoses attached) and it worked fine. My hunch is that the spinning part (I don't know the correct terms) is coming in contact with the head, somehow, possibly because of the hot liquid??? So which part should I try to sand and/or lubricate?

I happened on this thread using the search engine. My pump started making a weird noise recently when I was testing it after I moved it. Took it apart and ran the motor without the head: no noise. Isolated it to the impeller spinning on the shaft in the pump head.

What can I lubrocate this with or should I? When it is wet there is no noise. After it dries and I spin it with my hand, I get the noise.

I was thinking og using some silicone type lube that I use on my keg orings.

If you take the impeller blades off of the drive shaft, and then clean and lightly and evenly sand the metal shaft, using something like 1000 or 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper, it should reduce the diameter of the shaft enough to allow a free spinning impeller. You don't want to do it too much because you don't want to induce any side-to-side play. Lubricants really aren't the way to go as even a food grade lube will dissolve under the heat of the hot wort and then end up in your finished product.

Hope this helps!

in my case, moving the head to my other pump worked, so it's not anything inside the head causing the issue - I don't think.