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Frymaster RE17-2 filtration problem
Hello to the forum.
I bought used FPRE217 Electric fryer about a half year ago. Everything else worked on the fryer, except filtration. The pump motor was seized.
The fryer had been stored for over a decade. So I disassembled the filtration system, took the tray containing pump motor and pump out, and all the little plumbing from the pump to the trail.
The pump was clogged with tar like substance, i believe it is the oil that has turned bad. The motor was completely seized up, so I disassembelt that. The front bearing of the pump was seized ( the pump had leaked oil into the motor)
Changed the motor front bearing, that fixed the motor ( 2 euro bearing vs new motor, 800 eur).
Disassembeld the pump and cleaned everything in it. Also friend of mine CNC:d a cavity to the pump front face, which is present on the new style pumps, that if the pump sealing fails, oil will drop the filter pan, instead of the motor.
Assembled the pump with new o ring and new axle seal.
Then put everything back together. Then i put hot water in the filtration pan and started the pump. Water pushed out like dog turd of old grease/oil. on every vat. So the lines from the oil rail to vats were colgged with tar like oil.
I boiled the water and used the pump for two weeks to get every little bit of old oil out of the filtration plumbing.
Yesterday we took the unit to use with new oil. Today when filtrating the oil ( oil is filtrated every morning, cold. Has been done like that for 20 years), the oil is cloudy when returning to the wat. Like yellow cloudy.
Here is a video of the oil:https://youtube.com/shorts/LHn4-LGORL0
So we discarded the oil and put new oil. Same thing happened on vat 2.
On vat 3 the oil looks clearer, but when warming the oil up, it started foaming.
Foaming subsided after oil was hot and 10 mins after that. Made fries and they taste normal, good.
So my question is, why was the oil so cloudy on the 2 vats, and foaming on the third? Maybe there was some water in the filtration pipes and that made the oil cloudy?
I know that the Frymaster manual says to never pump water, but this was mandatory to get the caked oil crud out of the plumbing system. Why is water not recommended?
We have another similar fryer, which is now ready to be deep cleaned, how would you recommend to clean the filtration plumbing, if not with water?
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3 Replies
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The foaming and cloudiness is because the pump is sucking air. Usually, the fitting between the sump and the pump suction line. But it can be the pump shaft seal too. Often the plug in fitting mount gets bent or out of alignment from misuse and gets wear where the “O” rings seat. I like Viton rings for this over the OEM.
But the tank line can also heated on some models. And I’ve seen many that the oil has turned to carbon in that line. To date, I’ve never found a good way to clear it. What has worked for me is a drill with a heavy speedometer cable. With electronics taking over in place of mechanical indicators, they are hard to find today. However, a hand hanging style 1/8th grinding tool has one. Flushing has to be done with a light oil. Water in hot oil is dangerous and will flash to steam causing a real mess eruption. especially with electric fryers. As the gap below the heaters is where the water will pool being heavier than oil. So be careful. Fryer boil out is also dangerous, Sodium Hydroxide. But sometimes necessary.
It’s easier for the pump system to move warm oil. So if you drop time is a long way from pump up, and the tank has no heater, you may want to shorten it.
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Apologies, forgot to mention the heater.
The heater strip, about 30 cm long was wrapped in foil around the pump, when I disassembled the pump and motor.
When I assembled the pump, i put the heater strip back wrapping the pump and put some tinfoil around it.
So no, it does not heat any plumbing, only the pump.
The o rings between the oil basin pipe and pump suction pipe could very well be the culprit, because I have no spare o rings, so they are old, very old. And they were not used for over a decade, so they may have hardened.
Do you know the o ring measurements and what type of material they are? In Finland Frymaster original parts are expensive AND take about month to arrive, so if I had the measurements and material info, I could by them from the local hardware store.
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Do you have a vernier caliper? If so, you can measure the groove width, the ID of the bore, and the inner diameter of the groove. Then measure the old ring thickness. From that information you can find a suitable “O” ring. Make sure it’s rated for 500F. Silicone or Viton. Also grease with a food grade grease.
Make sure to inspect the socket bore for cleanliness and any wear grooves or scratches. I’ve found a few that were loose or bent. Also, the sump pan rails wear over time, requiring a realignment as the pan drops from the original in-service placement. Buna-N will work for short term use, but tend to harden prematurely.
Being the pan and tubing is not heated, I wouldn’t let the oil set overnight. It’s real tough on the pump with cold oil.
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