pump dilemma

[eag]

Hello fellow pool owners.. We're in a pickle here and are a little desperate for guidance. In short, 15 year old centurian motor died; so, trying to bypass the expensive and not very helpful pool store, we went online, found ourselves at an online store that starts with the letter I, explained our needs and were sold a motor..Our electrician comes to hook it up, and says that the pump needs replacing too.. Got back to I... who basically no longer have any interest in helping us,, we've called three local pool stores, who won't come out to deal with this because we didn't buy the motor from them.. Now that I've done a little more homework I see that we should have just bought a whole pump with motor and filter basket all in one.. We're going to send the motor back and buy an all in one piece but not from I.
We have a 30,000 gallon L shaped pool and a sand filter dome. The old Centurian motor was 1.67 HP and 115/230 watts. We don't have any other water features like spa etc. I looked at a pool calculator on a website regarding how to figure out gallons per minute and head distance? and it came out as our pool needs a 1 hp pump, but what was on there was 1.67hp.. I want to buy a pump online and bypass our pool store.. btw, they just put in a 3000 liner and a sand dome and still wouldn't help us!

I guess I'm wondering about hp, i hear too large hp is bad too. Can anyone help educate us ? Our pool is a very unusual shade of deep green at the moment, and w/o help from iI..pools or local guys we're in a tough spot.

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

Most pool will do just fine with a 1 hp pump, we have people that have gone to 3/4 hp

Here is a great little pump that is 2 speed, uses very little power on high and is great on low

Amazon.com : Pentair 340042 SuperFlo High Performance Energy Efficient Two Speed Pool Pump, 1 Horsepower, 230 Volt, 1 Phase - Energy Star Certified : Swimming Pool Water Pumps : Patio, Lawn Garden

and here is a great write up on pumps

Pool School - Pump Basics

Because it is 2 speed pump it will require a different type of timer to switch it
I used this one, you can set times for low, high and still use it to control 3 more things and its wireless and you can set up to 4 times each speed can turn on and off
Intermatic PE653RC Wireless Control System for Variable Speed and Two-Speed Pumps - Sump Pump Accessories - Amazon.com

this one has a low speed and high speed in an enclosure
Amazon.com: Intermatic 2-Speed Pool Pump Timer 208-277 Volts; 40 amps #T30404R: Home Improvement

This one will allow you to set both speeds 1 time each a day..
Amazon.com: PE103 Seasonal Timer 1-2SPD: Home Improvement

I hope this helps

 

[gwegan]

Generally Inyo is better than that. Why did the electrician say you needed a new pump? Was he a pool electrician?

You might try sending a privilege message to patrick3229 he's one of the founders of Inyo and a member here. I don't know how often he is on. Or call Inyo and ask for Patrick and say the folks at TFPs suggested you call about you problem.

[email protected]

 

[patrick3229]

Hi EAG I'm sorry that our customer service did not handle this up to your expectations. Please PM your order details and I will get this taken care of.

 

[eag]

the electrician who was trying to hook up the motor said the pump was too brittle to hook up to,, I really know zero about the pool parts and he isn't a pool electrician ; i got back to the guy who sold us the motor at inyo, i sent a photo of the wheel shaped part, he asked a question that i didn't understand and i wrote back to ask for clarification and just didn't get an answer.. we emailed all week and called to leave messages,, eventually my husband got lucky and our rep picked up the phone.. he told my husband he was too busy to help. I think we are just not knowledgable enough to buy parts online and i didn't understand that inyo isn't really set up i guess, like this forum, where some advice could be given.

I think the product and the shipping and price were good but we obviously needed more assistance than inyo gives.. and return policy is costly. I would keep it if I could figure out how to use it, but our electrician has basically said he can't help, the pool stores are punishing us for not buying through them, and the electrical parts store will work on it for $60 an hour to try to fit it all together.. really just need to buy a whole unit.


I guess I saw the motor as a unit, and i thought the wheel shaped part it attaches to was also a discrete unit that i could buy just like i bought the motor, but it got complicated and we still don't really understand if a pump is that whole wheel shaped unit or if there are pieces inside that you need to identify and buy separately.

Thanks for the link to patrick, maybe he will help or let us exchange for a whole unit w/o the restocking fee. thanks for your advice. The pool is getting worse,; the smell in my house wasn't the vase of flowers left too long I just realized it is the pool, and after having a look, even the frogs are trying to get out.!

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you! It's like "just somebody tell me what to buy" lol

 

[patrick3229]

Eag I really do apologize for the service you received that is not how we normally operate, I will get with the rep. you were working with to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime if you could private message me your order # I can get your first motor picked up and I can get you set up with the proper pump to purchase. Also if you want to contact me directly you may do so at 877-372-6038 Ext: 700 or email [email protected] I'm one of the owner's so I can definitely get this squared away for you. I again I truly apologize.

 

[eag]

thank you patrick, i did just pm you too.. i'm a little afraid to buy the pump part now, because even our electrician seems uncertain about fitting it all together and none of the pool stores with the knowledge will come out. Our electrician will come to install if it is the whole unit, motor, pump, filter combined. if i could exchange for the whole unit and start fresh i would be happy to pay the shipping back.

 

[eag]

thank you to everyone at tfp who helped us and to patrick at inyo pools for sorting this out, like instantaneously,.. we just went for hopeless to hopeful! I've just proudly become at tfp member.. I've looked at this site before for pool chemistry issues and it is just a lifesaver,, what a great community of people!

 

[Casey]

Welcome! Glad to have you!