Assuming power has not been applied to the pump while it was flooded
or later its quite likely the electrics are salvageable. Wash
everything very thoroughly with lots of clean warm water, use a soft
paintbrush and a trigger spray to help shift any muck. Where possible
remove covers, connectors and PCB's to clean behind them. Once
everything is very clean leave it no more than an hour to drip dry and
then spray Hellermans Fospro
http://www.studiospares.com/Aerosols/Fospro-400Ml/invt/635090
_very_ liberally over everything. Repeat about an hour later. Leave
a day to drain and test for continuity and insulation as appropriate.
With any luck it will work.
I once helped a friend recover four large electric motors and control
gear that had been underwater in mud for a month when the trailer
carrying them overturned and they went into a river. We used low
pressure washers and took two days to wash out the mud from the
electronics and windings. We then applied about 5 gallons of Fospro
in all - but after cleaning and spraying all four motors and their
electronics worked perfectly.
Washing the pump is a good suggestion. Just make sure it's fully dried
out afterwards, which at room temperature might take weeks. I'd suggest
that you remove the coils from the pump, to allow the air to circulate
more freely, then put the coils in a warm environment, perhaps on top of
a boiler, for a week or so. You could instead put them in an oven, but
I'd suggest a temperature no hotter than 70 deg. C. Once they're dry and
cool, you can either reassemble the pump and test it, or for added
protection you can paint the covering of the coils with insulating
varnish (Farnell and RS stock it). I think this is a safer choice than
spraying them with Fospro, which sounds like an equivalent to WD-40.
Oily substances like this attract dust, which isn't good for coils as
the thermal insulation provided by a layer of grime can make the coils
run at a higher temperature.
If that doesn't fix the pump, check the fuse in the plug and look for
loose connections. If it still doesn't work, you may need to get the
coils rewound. If it needs a rewind, it'll probably make a buzzing
sound, but the rotor won't spin, even if you try to start it by hand (I
forget if these pumps are self-starting or not). Depending on the design
of the coils, a rewind could be straightforward or it could be
difficult. And once you get the pump running, check the manual to see if
the pump requires lubrication (I've seen a copy of the manual on the
Internet; let me know if you can't find it).
Lastly, if you decide not to fix the pump, I might be interested in it.
You can reach me at chris AT ruggedmachines DOT com.
Best wishes,
Chris
On Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:48:14 +0000, Christopher Tidy
That's where the Fospro comes in, it is a remarkably effective
dewatering agent and can be used to good effect before you dry
everything out - which often leads to surface corrosion forming. It
also extract water from within windings whereas warm air drying, even
for some weeks, will often leave moisture. It does leave a slight
oily residue (less than WD40) which evaporates within a few weeks. It
is a very well regarded substance in the salvage industry.
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