Return pump seized for 3 days... Can I replace impeller?

[nerdz]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I believe it's the shaft and impeller he can't separate.

Thats correct, impeller comes out of body. Inner ceramic shaft is seized inside magnet.

I was able to push out the shaft using a clamp and a small rod as a drift. Man, was it welded in there!

Scraped off all the rock-hard build up with a razor. Pump is currently running fine. If it to works I for the next few days I'll replace the impeller.

Cheers

[asylumdown]

it's a much better idea to put it in vinegar. Even with a razor you won't have gotten it all, and the CaCO3 that gets left behind is like a magnet for more precipitation. On a smallish impeller and shaft like that, 45 minutes in regular old table vinegar would leave it sparkling and 100% free of any calcified build-up. You should do the same with your skimmer's impeller, and any supplementary water moving devices you have elsewhere in the tank, making sure to completely disassemble any parts that move against one another first. You will probably be surprised at how many bubbles start rising off things you didn't think were coated in precipitation.

[nerdz]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

it's a much better idea to put it in vinegar. Even with a razor you won't have gotten it all, and the CaCO3 that gets left behind is like a magnet for more precipitation. On a smallish impeller and shaft like that, 45 minutes in regular old table vinegar would leave it sparkling and 100% free of any calcified build-up. You should do the same with your skimmer's impeller, and any supplementary water moving devices you have elsewhere in the tank, making sure to completely disassemble any parts that move against one another first. You will probably be surprised at how many bubbles start rising off things you didn't think were coated in precipitation.

After the shaft was scraped clean with a new razor blade I gave it the vinegar treatment.