One of my pumps was making noises and ended up with a very poor/restricted flow rate. I followed this guide and turns out the hex set screw on the shaft was loose, so the magnet could slide back and forth a bit. Tightened it up and works like a charm now! Only took about 10 minutes, thanks for the easy to follow guide!
I had this same noise in my first and only so far use of the Spike Flow. It did it for a few minutes at a time then would stop and then start again later. Thanks for the tip.
Great simple video without nonsense. My Flow tends to chatter here and there, and last time I pulled it apart I noticed metal shavings sticking to the impeller. I was testing my new eBIAB setup with water today and the pump got really loud when the temperature was reading upper 170F. I will definitely be checking the gap on the drive motor. The centering of the thrust washer / shaft is hard to eyeball. The structure that centers the shaft in the pump head is clearly not symmetric, but it's hard to tell if the hole is centered. Overall it's a great pump but these quality issues are very disappointing, especially given how much Spike talks up their game and the premium price.
Thanks. I totally agree with you. FWIW, if you haven’t already you can reach out to Spike about the noise and they’ll ship you a thrust washer for the impeller to quiet it down. Their official line of reasoning was along the lines of “we don’t think everyone needs one, but we’ll ship you one if you want.” I think over time the impeller develops enough play that it slides up and down the shaft and bangs against that middle structure. As far as shaft center-ness goes - very unscientific, but if you look through the front and look at the hole for the ARV, then look across to that center support structure, if it’s nice a smooth then you’re shaft hole is probably center. If it’s got a big gouge in it, the hole is not center. Based on my experience with 2 heads now, I think they have some sort of jig at the factory that aligns this and they drill both the shaft and the ARV at the same time. If it’s lined up slightly off, then the shaft is off and the bit for the ARV will go just a little too far and nick that center support. My first was bad. My second was less bad and I just smoothed that gouge over with a dremel. Shaft centerness not perfect, but much better. But that’s my theory… after the prototypes were made and given the green light, the “Friday crew” got sent in to finish the rest of production.
My gap slightly big and I corrected it to 35 cents :). I also closely inspected my impeller and found a gouge over about a quarter of the circumference along the direction of rotation. I'm not exactly sure what could have caused this, but I'll check in with Spike and see what feedback I get.
Thank you for posting this. Just did a test run and it was a little noisy, but got worse the longer I left it on. Going to check for this easy fix prior to making a report to Spike. I don't want to listen to that thing grind for a hour to "break it in." Cheers!!
Thank you! I turned my pump on for the first time and immediately heard the same noise as yours. Took the pump head apart and sure enough the magnet was a dime size thickness out too far. Adjusted back to the .220 and is about 90% quieter. It still has a faint crackling type sound more so when throttled down. Is that normal? It even sounds like yours does as well at the end of the video.
It definitely gets a bit more noisier when you restrict it. A small crackle is okay and it usually gets better with warmer fluid. A loud very noticeable crackle is often times indicative of air bubbles that didn't get purged. You can hear these crackles without putting your ear to it. You should also unscrew the center spindle and check the center-ness of the hole. My first one was off center by a noticeable bit. To be clear I don't think this is always a cause for concern. The impeller magnet "floats" on a cushion of liquid, so the axis of rotation definitely has some lateral play as long as it's not touching the backing plate. After posting this video, I encountered a few other issues and contacted support. They were very apologetic and shipped a new head right away. The new spindle hole happened to be pretty center and it's now a tad bit quieter that the one in this video.
I see, so I've only tested with room temp water so far. I just removed the spindle and mine too is just a hair off center. Nothing appears to be hitting while spinning by hand. I don't want to contact Spike with an issue that doesn't actually exist. I may try to do a full batch and see how it goes. I appreciate your help!
mine has a faint crackling as well. turned it on today to test it and pump 5 gallons through my kettle. I havent measured or timed it but this pump is slow as heck. It probably takes 2 minutes to fill 5g bucket?????
Ijust plugged my new flow in todag first time because im waiting on their controller abd i noticed two things. I can even hear it with yours. Its quiet but ut still has a slight click noise like its chopping air or rattlihlng a little. I think i hear it with yours as well? Also i feel like uts pumping slow. There is no way mine filling a 5g bucket in a minute. Its suppose to be 9gpm. I dont think mine is even close to that. I have to confirm when i get home
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One of my pumps was making noises and ended up with a very poor/restricted flow rate. I followed this guide and turns out the hex set screw on the shaft was loose, so the magnet could slide back and forth a bit. Tightened it up and works like a charm now! Only took about 10 minutes, thanks for the easy to follow guide!
I just unboxed mine and found this video. I’m prepared just in case now. Nice simple video with no wasted time!
I had this same noise in my first and only so far use of the Spike Flow. It did it for a few minutes at a time then would stop and then start again later. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for posting...the hardest part of this process was finding 35 cents...who uses change these days
Great simple video without nonsense. My Flow tends to chatter here and there, and last time I pulled it apart I noticed metal shavings sticking to the impeller. I was testing my new eBIAB setup with water today and the pump got really loud when the temperature was reading upper 170F. I will definitely be checking the gap on the drive motor.
The centering of the thrust washer / shaft is hard to eyeball. The structure that centers the shaft in the pump head is clearly not symmetric, but it's hard to tell if the hole is centered.
Overall it's a great pump but these quality issues are very disappointing, especially given how much Spike talks up their game and the premium price.
Thanks. I totally agree with you. FWIW, if you haven’t already you can reach out to Spike about the noise and they’ll ship you a thrust washer for the impeller to quiet it down. Their official line of reasoning was along the lines of “we don’t think everyone needs one, but we’ll ship you one if you want.” I think over time the impeller develops enough play that it slides up and down the shaft and bangs against that middle structure.
As far as shaft center-ness goes - very unscientific, but if you look through the front and look at the hole for the ARV, then look across to that center support structure, if it’s nice a smooth then you’re shaft hole is probably center. If it’s got a big gouge in it, the hole is not center. Based on my experience with 2 heads now, I think they have some sort of jig at the factory that aligns this and they drill both the shaft and the ARV at the same time. If it’s lined up slightly off, then the shaft is off and the bit for the ARV will go just a little too far and nick that center support. My first was bad. My second was less bad and I just smoothed that gouge over with a dremel. Shaft centerness not perfect, but much better. But that’s my theory… after the prototypes were made and given the green light, the “Friday crew” got sent in to finish the rest of production.
My gap slightly big and I corrected it to 35 cents :). I also closely inspected my impeller and found a gouge over about a quarter of the circumference along the direction of rotation. I'm not exactly sure what could have caused this, but I'll check in with Spike and see what feedback I get.
Thanks for posting this. I just received my new Trio system with the new pumps. I'm going to check those pumps before I even hook them up.
A thank you from me as well. I have not used my Spike Flow yet, but the gap was off. I adjusted it with your 35c fix. :)
Thank you for posting this. Just did a test run and it was a little noisy, but got worse the longer I left it on. Going to check for this easy fix prior to making a report to Spike. I don't want to listen to that thing grind for a hour to "break it in." Cheers!!
Great explanation! Mine was slightly off as well. Quick fix.
Thank you!
Thank you! I turned my pump on for the first time and immediately heard the same noise as yours. Took the pump head apart and sure enough the magnet was a dime size thickness out too far. Adjusted back to the .220 and is about 90% quieter. It still has a faint crackling type sound more so when throttled down. Is that normal? It even sounds like yours does as well at the end of the video.
It definitely gets a bit more noisier when you restrict it. A small crackle is okay and it usually gets better with warmer fluid. A loud very noticeable crackle is often times indicative of air bubbles that didn't get purged. You can hear these crackles without putting your ear to it.
You should also unscrew the center spindle and check the center-ness of the hole. My first one was off center by a noticeable bit. To be clear I don't think this is always a cause for concern. The impeller magnet "floats" on a cushion of liquid, so the axis of rotation definitely has some lateral play as long as it's not touching the backing plate. After posting this video, I encountered a few other issues and contacted support. They were very apologetic and shipped a new head right away. The new spindle hole happened to be pretty center and it's now a tad bit quieter that the one in this video.
I see, so I've only tested with room temp water so far. I just removed the spindle and mine too is just a hair off center. Nothing appears to be hitting while spinning by hand. I don't want to contact Spike with an issue that doesn't actually exist. I may try to do a full batch and see how it goes. I appreciate your help!
mine has a faint crackling as well. turned it on today to test it and pump 5 gallons through my kettle. I havent measured or timed it but this pump is slow as heck. It probably takes 2 minutes to fill 5g bucket?????
Thank you for the how to! What is the setup you have on your bump output?
That’s a Blichmann linear flow valve. It provides a good degree of control over output similar to a ball valve, but easier to clean.
Ijust plugged my new flow in todag first time because im waiting on their controller abd i noticed two things. I can even hear it with yours. Its quiet but ut still has a slight click noise like its chopping air or rattlihlng a little. I think i hear it with yours as well? Also i feel like uts pumping slow. There is no way mine filling a 5g bucket in a minute. Its suppose to be 9gpm. I dont think mine is even close to that. I have to confirm when i get home