Rotate Impeller on Occasion

Berdink

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Mar 5, 2020
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I replaced my impellers on both my Suzuki and Yamaha today.

I haven't started either since about October.

I noticed the fins are more bent on one side. Im wondering if it would be a good idea to rotate the Impeller 180 degrees on Occasion.

That way you trade off which fins are compressed on occasion.
 

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Berdink

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Yeah, I'm just thinking that it staying in the same position for 3 or 4 months caused some of the fins to be bent over more than the others.
 

Berdink

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I went back and checked, I replaced the impellers March of 2022. That's almost 3 years ago.
So I probably should have replaced them last year.
 

Berdink

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Mar 5, 2020
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fire the motor up with water to the pump once a month or even more would be a good idea to lube and exercise everything
Yeah, I try to start them up and run them until they get warm every few months. I just happened to have let them sit for three or four months.
But, then again, the fins being bent that bad means the impellers should have been replaced sooner. They were losing their flexibility.
 

Stinnett21

Chief Petty Officer
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Jun 24, 2012
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513
Yes turning the shaft every once in a while is a good idea. When I remove my I/O I grab the shaft and give it a turn in the off season. The vanes get compressed to one side but when the shaft starts spinning under power they tend to straighten out.
 

mike_i

Ensign
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
951
This is what a mechanic told me many years ago. He also said it keeps the impeller from drying out.
fire the motor up with water to the pump once a month or even more would be a good idea to lube and exercise everything
 

airshot

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
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5,228
Why would anyone go thru all the trouble of dropping that leg just to flip over the impeller ? If your gonna go thru all that work, just replace it with a new one !
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
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Dec 28, 2013
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38,165
He is taking about rotating the flywheel to reposition the vanes.----Hopefully no one flips impeller over.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 25, 2004
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Impellers that are flipped over often fail catastrophically, in short order, and that is bad for the motor.
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
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Dec 28, 2013
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38,165
I would say that the impeller / pumps are much misunderstood. -----They are critical for long motor life.----On most motors they should be replaced every 5 years.----And even more often in when running in cold water !
 

airshot

Vice Admiral
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He is taking about rotating the flywheel to reposition the vanes.----Hopefully no one flips impeller over.
Sorry, misunderstood what they were saying....caught me offgard.!!
The pictures showed water pump impellors,
 

Mc Tool

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Aug 7, 2024
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Impellers that are flipped over often fail catastrophically, in short order, and that is bad for the motor.
Yeah but you can see why some peeps would think that it was a good idea ..... you could get a whole nother life by bendin them back tother way........NOT (n):)
 

Mc Tool

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Aug 7, 2024
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I would say that the impeller / pumps are much misunderstood. -----They are critical for long motor life.----On most motors they should be replaced every 5 years.----And even more often in when running in cold water !
The "cold water " is probly quite significant in some places , round here the only water that freezes is way to small for a boat.... like puddles in the driveway . None of our lakes or rivers freeze so its not something we would give any real thought to in New Zealand .
 

Berdink

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Mar 5, 2020
Messages
243
Yeah, no, not flipping it over.
It sat shutdown for 3 or 4 months. I bought new ones. The pics are the old ones I took out and won't be reusing.
The pics show how the fins are bent over more on one side of the circle than the side 180 degrees opposite.
I'm thinking for my future care to not let it sit in the same position so long - by compression one side of the circumference of the fins.
Opposite side in the rotation of 360 degrees would be 180.
The impellers are OEM brand with only 3 years. But I only get out about 8 days a year.
Maybe I'll just plan on running the motors with muffs more often, but also replace them every two years. It's not a huge job to replace them with new every couple years.
 
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