Bushing / bearing noise in lapierre

[orser506]

Hey Folks ,
I have a Lapierre RO and the recirc pump started making wierd noises a few days ago. It's not like i have much down time but i disassembed the post, motor and pump this AM before the sap run. All I could find was when i took the back off the motor there was a little and i mean very little play in the shaft. Is there supposed to be any play at all ... wouldn't the bearing take the play out of it when reassembled. And it's not a constant sound .. comes and goes ...
By the way , just found this site yesterday and all i can say is WOW, what a pile of great info. Seems like there is a lot of ingenuity floating around here..

[maplwrks]

Sounds like you have a recirc pump bearing going on you. If it comes and goes, you might get through the season with it like it is.These bearings need to be installed at the factory as they are torqued to a certain pressure. Do you have a dealer near you that has a recirc pump on the shelf? You might exchange the pump with him and pay the repair.

[orser506]

Hey Mike ,
Thanks for the input. I will call my rep and see what they have.
Leonard

[driske]

Hey orser, welcome aboard,
Got a LaPierre too. One of the posts did some weird warbling the first day we ran it this spring, but has been quiet since. I suspect bearings may be the issue. We're using the amchine as is and keeping my fingers crossed.
The best antidote is a couple friends with great mechanical abilities.
If the unit makes the season , we'll stick a new bearing in for next year as a precaution.

[Jim Brown]

Hey Guys I wonder if this is an inherit problem . When we started our RO this season(Lapierre 3 years old) the recir pump squeeled like nobodys business! I called Swanton Vt. Talked to an RO guy by the name of Tom and he said run her till she blows or it stops squeeling which ever comes first.He would ship me a new pump over night if it quit. He said they have had pumps squeel for 2-3 yaers and then quit for no reason. I intend to make a road trip to Vt. this summer and deliver it to them and have it repaired. Can't have it shutting down with 1000 gallon of sap sitting in the tanks(like a normal year not this year)

Jim

[maplwrks]

The other thing that Lapierre recommends is to store your columns upside down, this way no water will sit in the pump and rust up the bearing.

I ran my column all last year with a squeeling bearing--had it replaced last summer.

[Mike]

I have a 600 an HR LaPierre RO and its 3 yrs old....I had a noise in the recirc pump for a while and the RO wouldnt run the other day after we had ran some sap thru.....It was a capacitor in the pump...A part LaPierre doesn't carry and ended up buying one from a pump shop in town. It cost $21 for the part , glad I didnt have to buy one from the dealer it would of cost a lot more...And if the bearings go in mine the pump shop should be able to rebuild it for me, and if not, ill look on the internet for a new one....I think great northen tools sells the pumps........