Froze my AF20

[lew]

Well, somebody forgot to test the antifreeze in vacuum pump this fall. Guess what. It got really cold this winter (imagine that) and the pump froze and apparently damaged the head or impellers in some way. I'm guessing the head swelled up just enough to throw off the tolerances. Dead heading the pump I can only get 13 inches, I used to get 27 inches. I believe I can get this repaired in Mass.? maybe, but don't know where exactly or have a number to call. Does anybody have any ideas on who could repair this. I'm in central NY just north of Binghamton. Mass. is a long ride, but a lot is riding on this pump. I might upgrade to an A75 if I have to, but didn't want to spend the money just yet as I would have to upgrade the electric to the tank, more money. God I love this game!

[collinsmapleman2012]

Glad to hear i'm not the only one with pump issues. my surge crapped the bed, after only a day and a half of use. whule i was standing next to it, something inside went ka-smash, next thing i knew, it seized and threw the pulley off. 8 hp honda kept going though... lots riding on this pump. looking for a replacement now because i hate to beat a dead horse, lost so much time to this pump already. wish i could help you, i don't think i know anyone around here that repairs them.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Lew,
I would call Atlantic Fluidics and see what they recommend doing.
Neil

[BAP]

Glad to hear i'm not the only one with pump issues. my surge crapped the bed, after only a day and a half of use. whule i was standing next to it, something inside went ka-smash, next thing i knew, it seized and threw the pulley off. 8 hp honda kept going though... lots riding on this pump. looking for a replacement now because i hate to beat a dead horse, lost so much time to this pump already. wish i could help you, i don't think i know anyone around here that repairs them.
Collinsmapleman2012, it is pretty easy to pull a vacuum pump like that apart to see what happened. Unbolt the end caps and take out the drum. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a little bit of work to get it out if there is something jammed in there. Then you can access what is wrong and if it fixable. As far as finding somebody to work on it, is there any dairy milking equipment dealers nearby? If so, they should have somebody that can look at it for you.

[wiam]

I usually drain my AF20 but it must have had a little water in the bottom. It would not turn over. When I took it apart I found the rotor had 2 of the sections pushed apart. Drove a chisel in between them and did a bunch of filing to get it to turn over. The screws were loose on the center cylinder also. Got it back together and it goes to 24.5. Used to do 26. It also has a small drip where the 2 sections of the housing bolt together. Guess I need a gasket and a part source.

[wiam]

Just found this phone number on my AF20 203-853-7315

[lew]

I checked on pump this morning after running all night. Running it warmed up the weak antifreeze enough so that it thawed out the rest of the crevices in the pump. Deadheading the pump now gets me to 23 inches, better, but not where I need to be. With 3,100 taps on a 30 cfm pump I need every inch I can get. I can usually maintain 23 in the woods starting with a deadhead of 28. So I called Tuthill this morning and the service man there made it sound like no big deal. Just check for scoring on the port cylinder, replace if needed. And while your at it replace the shaft seal just because you're there. Ordering parts now.

[Brian Ryther]

I am in the same boat Lew. I have been in the low 20" range all season so far. I fixed every leak today and made my way up to 23". I dead headed the pump and 23" was all I could get. The manual said to replace the port cylinder. I called Tuthill and they were clueless so I called Goodrich and they are sending me one tomorrow. I ran some dirty creek water through the pump last year and I think the sediment has take a toll on the port cylinder. Let us know how you make out.

[lew]

Brian, My parts are on the way. When I talked to Randy at Tuthill he made it sound like no big deal. Check out the port cylinder for scoring then replace if needed. Also replace shaft seal since you are in there. When I deadheaded my pump after it had totally thawed out, I got a lot of air going through my flow meter, so I think my problem is the shaft seal. The port cylinder has 2 very minor scores on it. Tuthill said to just sand them off with emery paper and fire it up. Must be the tolerances between the port cylinder and the rotor aren't terribly critical. I had them send me a seal rebuilding kit that included seals for the port cylinder and the O-rings for tearing the pump apart, $123 plus shipping. Didn't ask about price for port cyclinder as I didn't think I needed one. How much did that cost, if you don't mind me asking?

[Brian Ryther]

So... Gingrich did not send me the port cylinder. But I wasn't too upset after reading Lew's last post. I dead headed the pump and held the discharge hose vertical so I could look at the h2o exiting the pipe. Just a few small bubbles mixed in the water. So I feel that the loss of "'s was not due to a leak in the seals. I dumped the nasty h2o in the recirculation tank. Shop vacuumed the crud out of the bottom of the tank. Flushed the in line "Y" strainer. Put cold. clean, fresh water in the tank. 26" deadheaded. I am still confused. Typically when I put cold H20 to the pump it will gain an inch of vacuum, 25 - 26. I am confused. I hope I can keep the pump over 25." I am confident the woods are tight. I visually inspected every main line loop and fixed every micro leak I could find.

[lew]

Got my rebuild kit today. Glad I got the whole kit instead of just the shaft seal. Supposedly things should just slide apart. But the brass shaft sleave definitely would not and that ended up destroyed, but was included in the kit. Also, when putting the impeller back on, it needed an extra shim to keep it from binding on the housing, again glad I got the whole kit. When bolting the housing back together the tolerances were non existent. You simply twist and turn the housing until it doesn't hit the impeller and tighten the bolts. Besides getting the brass sleave off, everything went well. Would have hooked it up tonight, but the puddles started freezing up so there was no sense in working in the dark hooking it up. Tomorrow morning I'll hook it up and test it out.

[maple2]

my moisture trap failed on my oil cooled Airtec pump, filling it with sap. Froze solid. Brought it home and set it next to my wood furnace overnight to thaw. Hope there is no major damage.Sap is going to run,today.Maybe no vacume?!!

[doocat]

Lew,
We use the A20 as well. Thursday in that real cold the exhaust that went out through the wall froze from moisture at the end and plugged it. The electric motor burnt. It is toast. Goodrich had a used one so is sending it down as well as a seal kit. The weather this year is taking its toll.

Craig

[lew]

Well, I hooked up the "repaired" pump today. Filled the cooling reservoir with 50/50 antifreeze/water and fired it up. Deadheaded at 23 inches. Grrrr!. sent boys up on hill to check for leaks anyways while the lines are thawed. They kept working at it until they got the gauge on the releaser to 20 inches, from a beginning of 4 inches. I was running around trying to figure out the problem, figuring that the pump was toast right from the get go. Well, when I stopped, calmed down and looked the situation over I noticed that the gauge at the pump was reading 15 inches and the one on the releaser was reading 20. Checked with the boys up in the woods and the ones in the woods were reading 19-20. Voila, the gauge on the pump froze and is reading low. If I take liberty with the differences of the gauges, 5 inches, then the pump is pulling 28 inches deadheaded. And I forgot to add that wen it is deadheaded it pulling air from a leak somewhere in the coolant line, not the seal like I had thought. When I get that leak fixed, the pump should be 100%. So the moral of the story is, DONT JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS. My conclusion jumping cost me $200 and 3 days of stress. It cost my crew 3 days of being b***** at. All for nothing. These pumps are very tough. I froze it and it kept on ticking, I broke the coolant line off of it a couple years ago and it ran for who knows how long with no coolant going through it and it kept on ticking. I'd be hard pressed to buy another type pump.

[Amber Gold]

Lew I agree...tough pumps. My cooling tank ran dry sometime in the overnight this season. Got there the next morning and the pump's still going and pulling 5" w/ no water going through it. Fill the tank back up and still pulling 27".