Schaefer 20LE05P4 - motor question

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wbnethery3

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Howdy,

I have a Schaefer e-series 20 gpm submersible pump in my home septic system. Hopefully even though this says it's a well forum, someone here can give me some good advice.

This pump has been installed about 4 years, and it recently quit working. I decided to take it apart to see if there was anything wrong that I might be able to fix. Need suggestions on how to diagnose the problem. The problem is the motor end of the assembly... the pump end turns freely.

Here's a picture of what it looked like when I pulled it out... looks like it overheated, but it's been underwater so I don't know what the discoloration is from.

DSC05311.jpg


This is a picture of when I had it out for replacing one of the level floats in April... note the discoloration. I assume it has something to do with being in a septic tank... :confused:

DSC05189.jpg


I killed the breaker, and pulled it, which probably took 20 minutes. It was still warm when I first pulled it out (even though it had been submerged). I was out of town when my wife first reported the problem, and it probably sat 2 days with the power on and just locked up.

When I disassembled it, I didn't find anything noticeably wrong. The rotor had a light coating of rust, so I took some 1200 grade wet or dry sandpaper and smoothed out the slight roughness. When I put it back together, everything spins freely. I apply power and it runs for about 15-20 seconds, then locks up. I'm running it submerged in a bucket of water to keep it cool, but it still feels warm when I take it out. I know a motor gets warm when it's running, so maybe that's just normal.

I tried lubricating it, but that didn't help. I've googled it and cannot find any sort of exploded view diagrams of the pump, or service parts lists. Here's the detailed info:

DSC05312.jpg


Appreciate any help you folks might be able to give me.

Bryan
 

Reach4

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The 12L22 date code is 2012 November 22.
 

Valveman

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That motor has been sitting in 6 inchs of muck or something. The thrust bearing on the bottom is not getting flow past for cooling. I'm sure the motor is bad. Needs to be raised up or install a flow inducer sleeve or shroud.
 
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