John_Yossarian . I do remember coming across several threads about problems with the gear pump on the V, mostly related to the magnet that needed replacement (on the old-ish models). I, however, do not remember what the symptoms were. Best option would be if @DavecUK advises on that.
In the early days of production Fluid-O-Tech (FOT) produced a batch of gear pumps with magnets from a different manufacturer (made to the same specification). The magnets were not potted properly and this meant that air could get to them (Cobalt Samarium I believe) and the air interacted with the magnetic material causing it to corrode and degrade…loosing magnetism.
The Problem:
- You cannot see this visually
- you can’t tell which pumps were affected
- you have no way of knowing how much stock is affected
FOTs Solution:
- Give free replacement magnets to machine manufacturers for affected magnets
- manufacturers and retailers bore the other costs of this
- magnets can be replaced easily
- FOT believed the affected pumps would be out of the supply system very rapidly !?
The issues are obvious including that of magnets having a problem after 10 years….is it this, is it something else. How many manufacturers/spares companies had spare pumps that were affected and are still in their inventory (gear pumps are not a common failure item). How many years are retailers/manufacturers meant to bear this cost for a problem they didn’t create. Every problem can be blamed on this, often incorrectly and with bad outcomes for owner, retailer, manufacturer..
In your case it does sound like it’s a bad pump magnet and they are easy to replace. If your machine is an early one, it’s a very strong possibility…if it’s a late one…then it could be something else.