I wanted to pass along some important info that I had the unfortunate circumstance of discovering first hand recently.....
I noticed liquid dripping onto my garage floor, coming from the area where my Methanol Pump is mounted.
Not sure if this was simply snow melting off, or an actual leak of some sorts, as the ambient temps in the garage, were warmer than outside temps. So I decided to crouch down further and investigate.
Sure as poop, I noticed a clear liquid dripping from the upper, center portion of the Methanol Pump.
All the connections on the inlet and outlet side, bone dry. So I was left scratching my head.
I did call up the mfg'er of the kit, and learned some interesting facts.
Apparently, these pumps do have a "duty cycle".
From what I was told, most pump users are reporting an average of 3yrs for their life cycle.
Some have experienced less (2yrs) others have reported as long as 5yrs.
The problem, as it was explained to me, was that by running Methanol through the pumps, that by it's mere chemical nature/compound/make up, that the Methanol eventually degrades the seals and O-rings on the pumps internals.
By me articulating exactly what I was seeing on my end, to the mfg'er, it sounds spot on for what has occurred in my instance.
I had two options available to me:
#1.) Remove failed pump, and send it in for rebuild (which would lead to down time)
#2.) Purchase a new pump entirely
I chose, based on what I learned, to purchase a new pump outright and have it shipped to me. My reasoning in purchasing a new pump, was simply due to the fact of now knowing of these "duty cycles" for the pumps.
I will install the new pump, and once the failed pump is removed, I will then ship it off for rebuild. By following this described course of action, I can then always have a pump "in reserve" for 3yrs from now (+/-) just sitting on the shelf collecting dust for immediate use.
So, just some important FYI for any current, or future Methanol users, that please understand, just like any other mechanical part, parts do fail over time, and with use.
This item is certainly no different, than in any other application. Exacerbated further by it's "performance" use and pushing parts to the upper ends of the designed limitations.
Applying here is the old adage "You gotta pay, to play".
Personally speaking, I'm not really to miffed about this. It is what it is. Use the pump, it's gonna wear out eventually.
I could say that I probably "use the pump" more often than the average Joe (and no, I'm not talking about a penile pump either for any of you sicko's out there just waiting to insert your jocularity here, haha)......
I make it a habit of not disclosing actual pricing between a vendor/customer, but I would say in a general sense, a new pump would run on average of around $200, with a rebuild being less than that. So for that type of general price point, coupled with an average 2-3 year "duty cycle" I chalk that up as mere peanuts for it's lifespan, and would say Methanol users should incorporate that into their maintenance plans when considering purchasing, and upgrading to this type of kit, no matter which vendor you purchase from.
Hope the disclosure and resulting info is of some help/importance.
