Quite awhile ago I purchased a spare March
pump to convert my 1985 11kW
Westerbeke from a
gear driven impeller
pump to an AC powered pump. To be installed when the standard pump shaft started leaking, they all do eventually. It's in a bad place, I have to unbolt the entire
generator and slide it away from the wall to even change the impeller.
I had hoped it would do this somewhere where I could have a plate made to cover the hole where the geared pump attaches to the accessory
gear. But of course Im in a place where that is questionable at best, and it's leaking.
The question is, if I remove the Impeller,
route the
raw water around, not through the pump, can this shaft just spin? It will no longer have any
cooling from the
raw water flow, and I wonder if the bearings are OK that way. I can shoot it with an IR gun, but how hot is too hot?
I may look at removing the gear from the shaft of the impeller pump, but don't know if it comes off or not. Yet...
Thanks, Bob