Time for a new pump..

[Luclin999]

So my Pentair Whisperflow-26 died and I am shopping for a new pump.

looking for some opinions on what 2-speed pumps would work well with the filter and 2" lines that I already have.

 

[bobodaclown]

Why not change out the motor with a 2-speed one. Save some funds.
I believe you'll need a B2983.
56Y and 48Y Frame Pump Motor for Threaded Shaft Square Pool & Spa

 

[Luclin999]

Why not change out the motor with a 2-speed one. Save some funds.
I believe you'll need a B2983.
56Y and 48Y Frame Pump Motor for Threaded Shaft Square Pool & Spa

From the noises it was making it sounds like both the impeller and the motor bearings are shot.

Plus, the pump is in an awkward location with the motor barely an inch away from our neighbor's fence so there is really no way to change out the motor without removing the whole pump assembly and re-plumbing everything anyway.

 

[mas985]

Impellers almost never go bad so more than likely it is just the bearings and perhaps the motor seal. Given you have a spa (i.e. you can't downsize), I would have recommended the same pump but in a two speed anyway so you might as well save some money and just replace the motor but it is up to you.

But if you do get a new motor, you will want the B2982. The WF-26 is a 1.5 HP uprated pump which is the same as a 1 HP full rated pump.

A 1 1/2 HP up rated pump seems small for a spa. How many jets do you have in the spa and do they all feel fairly strong?

 

[Luclin999]

Impellers almost never go bad so more than likely it is just the bearings and perhaps the motor seal. Given you have a spa (i.e. you can't downsize), I would have recommended the same pump but in a two speed anyway so you might as well save some money and just replace the motor but it is up to you.

But if you do get a new motor, you will want the B2982. The WF-26 is a 1.5 HP uprated pump which is the same as a 1 HP full rated pump.

A 1 1/2 HP up rated pump seems small for a spa. How many jets do you have in the spa and do they all feel fairly strong?

We don't use the spa often but I have a booster for it for when we do.

Without the booster the spa is "okay", with it turned on it's like sitting in a blender on "Puree".

 

[mas985]

By booster are you talking about a blower or another pump? The blower just adds air which changes the effect (pulsating). The pump generates the water power.

 

[Luclin999]

By booster are you talking about a blower or another pump? The blower just adds air which changes the effect (pulsating). The pump generates the water power.

3/4 HP booster pump. It's plumbed so that I can bypass it or divert the line it is on either to the spa or to the output in the pool that the Polaris connects to.

But I also have a blower too... never use the thing.

 

[mas985]

Hmm. Seems like a kludge. That is not a normal setup.

Your main pump should probably be a little larger to properly run the spa so you don't have to use a cleaner pump.

 

[Luclin999]

Hmm. Seems like a kludge. That is not a normal setup.

Your main pump should probably be a little larger to properly run the spa so you don't have to use a cleaner pump.

Setup came with the house. Not a surprise that it is odd though, a lot of other stuff here is as well. I think the previous owner thought of himself as being "handy" and put in a lot of these things on his own.

Half the wiring in the house was originally running through one GFI circuit. Took me over two years to figure that one out.

 

[Mike Hawk]

Hey OP, I have the same pump as you and my motor shorted out so I was in the same predicament as you.

Even though I had to replace ALL my internals, I still came out way cheaper by 'simply' upgrading from a 1spd 1.65sfhp to a 2spd 2.205sfhp instead of just buying a whole new pump/motor combo

Post 23 has the model #s of what I bought to do the upgrade.
1.65sfhp single speed is dead. Looking to upgrade. Can someone look over my stats? - Page 2

If your internals/plate etc are still good and you stay at the same SFHP all you'd need to buy would be a motor, a seal kit, and decide how to control the speed selection. You'd save a lot of green.

 

[Luclin999]

Couple of days ago I ran across a Pentair 340043 Superflo 2 speed pump as a deal on Amazon for $312 so I just grabbed that.

Only odd thing was that it came with the standard 1 speed back plate installed (no "hi/lo" switch) but with the switch plate (and attached wiring) in a separate parts bag that I had to wire in myself. Took me a couple of minutes to figure out the wiring (the diagram on the side of the pump is tiny and nearly illegible) but I managed to get it wired in correctly.

Installed it today and it purrs like a kitten.

 

[pooldv]

Good price for a good pump!

 

[Luclin999]

New pump is a dream and running it on low seems to promote MUCH better filtration over the single speed pump.

Since it was over two weeks without a pump, the pool turned back into a green swamp.

Last time that happened (a couple of years ago) it took me four weeks to get the water clear again.

This time... four days. The sand filter is doing a tremendously better job of trapping the fine particles of dead algae with the pump on low speed than it ever did before.

So... Happy.

 

[pooldv]

Excellent! Yes, filters are much more efficient with pumps running on low speed.

For future reference, keep testing and adding bleach to your pool and brush it to mix in the bleach to keep it from getting swampy. Not that you'll have to worry about it for a long time!

Happy now? Wait til you get your electric bill!