Vico/Sta-Rite

Vico/Sta-Rite pump parts

Vico and Sta-Rite are names that turn up together on a great many spa and pool pumps, where Vico wet ends are paired with Sta-Rite motors or sold as service parts under a combined reference. The parts listed here cover the small, replaceable items on those pump assemblies — the pieces that are expected to be removed, replaced and renewed over the life of a pump rather than the castings and housings that stay put. At present the range centres on the Niagara pump drain plug for single and two-speed wet ends, part PPS-10155.

Drain plugs on a Niagara wet end

Every pump wet end has at least one drain point at its lowest part, and on single and two-speed Niagara wet ends that point is closed with a threaded plug. It does very little in normal running: it simply has to hold back the water sitting in the volute while the impeller spins. The work it does is seasonal. Each time the pump is emptied for winter, or drained so the seal, impeller or wet end can be opened up, the plug comes out and goes back in again — and each cycle wears the sealing face and the thread a little further.

Because the plug sits at the bottom of the pump it is also the part most likely to be hit by grit, scale and the general sediment that collects in a volute. A plug that has been cross-threaded once, or overtightened with pliers because it was stiff, rarely seals properly again. Replacing it is far cheaper than chasing a slow drip that soaks the pump pad and corrodes the motor shell beneath it.

Signs the plug needs replacing

• A weeping drain point — a small, persistent bead of water under the lowest part of the volute while the pump runs, which returns however hard the plug is tightened.
• A damaged sealing face or seal groove — nicks, flat spots or a chewed groove where the O-ring or washer sits.
• A rounded or split head — the plug can no longer be turned by hand or with a correctly sized tool without slipping.
• Thread damage — the plug will not start cleanly, or needs force on the first turn, which usually means the thread has been crossed.
• A lost plug — common after winterising, when the plug is left loose in a plant room and never found again.

Wybór odpowiedniej części

Pump service parts are only interchangeable within a family, so start from the pump itself rather than from the look of the old component. Check the label or data plate on the motor and the markings cast into the wet end, and note whether the pump is a single-speed or two-speed unit, as that is how this plug is described. Where an exploded view or parts diagram is available for the pump, use the position number on that drawing — it is the quickest way to be certain which of several similar-looking plugs and fittings is meant.

If no diagram or model reference survives, measure before ordering. Record the diameter across the threads, the thread length, the head shape and the diameter of any O-ring or sealing washer, measuring the seal across its inside diameter and across the thickness of the cord. Keep the old plug until the replacement is in and dry, so the two can be compared side by side.

Fitting and seasonal care

Drain plugs are low-torque parts. They are designed to be hand-tight, with the seal doing the sealing rather than the thread, so tools are usually only needed to break a plug loose, not to put one back. Clean the threads in the housing before refitting, make sure the seal is seated squarely in its groove, and keep a light smear of a silicone-based lubricant on the seal so that it releases cleanly next time instead of tearing. When draining for winter, store the plug somewhere obvious — taped to the pump or into the pump basket — and check the seal for flattening or splits before the pump goes back into service in spring. A plug and seal that have spent a whole winter compressed and dry are the usual cause of a leak on the first restart.

Vico/Sta-Rite at PoolParthub.com

Here you will find service parts for Vico and Sta-Rite pump assemblies, beginning with the Niagara drain plug for single and two-speed wet ends under reference PPS-10155. These are the consumable items on a pump: the plugs, seals and small fittings that come out during maintenance and are not always worth refitting once they have been disturbed.

The aim is to keep a working pump working. A sound drain plug lets a pump be emptied and refilled each season without a leak appearing afterwards, and it is a far smaller job than replacing a wet end that has been dripping onto its own motor for a summer. If a model reference is unclear, note the markings on the pump and the measurements of the old part before ordering.