So I made some total newb mistakes over the winter. New house, new pool, total newb, didn't discover this site until last month. My pump timer is inside the house next to the main electrical box. The timer looks exactly like the timer for the outside lights at my old house. So naturally, when I first got to the timer, I set it to come on around 4 or 5 PM and go off at 11 PM to light up the driveway at night. Meanwhile, whatever I did outside to make sure the cover pump came on as needed would cause the filter pump to run if it was plugged in, and you won't believe it, but I actually thought I needed to circulate the water through the filter over the winter. This was really dumb as my water was likely one giant frozen block of ice eventually. Plus, even if it wasn't, all the pipes had of course been blown out and plugged at closing long before I moved in.
Long story not so short, I really screwed up the pump/motor. Needed a new seal and a new impeller when we opened, but even with those installed, the pump leaked (possibly unrelated to my newb-ness as the new seal may have been installed incorrectly by pool company) and the sound of the motor was unbearable. So, now I have a new motor and you have the wonderfully entertaining back story. Questions I am hoping folks can answer:
1) Should I be concerned that the pool company replaced my Hayward motor with what looks like a no-name, off brand motor? It has the same specs and all, but knowing nothing about manufacturers and quality, I wonder if I will get the same performance and longevity.
2) Pressure while vacuuming was typically 9 PSI with the old motor. This new one doesn't quite reach 5. And the pump basket housing thing (or whatever that's called) never fills completely with water. There are air bubbles rumbling through it the whole time, and I assume that means I am not really getting the pump totally primed. I also hade to get a new vac hose as my old one snapped in half. I guess my main question is should the basket fill with water and have no air bubbles? I am thinking YES. Could the motor be responsible or did I just get a crappy hose at the big box hardware store? Or am I just failing to get it prime by not getting all the air out of the hose before I start the pump?
Thanks everyone. Just my second thread here, but I learned a lot from the first one and from several weeks of lurking.
Long story not so short, I really screwed up the pump/motor. Needed a new seal and a new impeller when we opened, but even with those installed, the pump leaked (possibly unrelated to my newb-ness as the new seal may have been installed incorrectly by pool company) and the sound of the motor was unbearable. So, now I have a new motor and you have the wonderfully entertaining back story. Questions I am hoping folks can answer:
1) Should I be concerned that the pool company replaced my Hayward motor with what looks like a no-name, off brand motor? It has the same specs and all, but knowing nothing about manufacturers and quality, I wonder if I will get the same performance and longevity.
2) Pressure while vacuuming was typically 9 PSI with the old motor. This new one doesn't quite reach 5. And the pump basket housing thing (or whatever that's called) never fills completely with water. There are air bubbles rumbling through it the whole time, and I assume that means I am not really getting the pump totally primed. I also hade to get a new vac hose as my old one snapped in half. I guess my main question is should the basket fill with water and have no air bubbles? I am thinking YES. Could the motor be responsible or did I just get a crappy hose at the big box hardware store? Or am I just failing to get it prime by not getting all the air out of the hose before I start the pump?
Thanks everyone. Just my second thread here, but I learned a lot from the first one and from several weeks of lurking.