Help installing Jandy 2 speed FloPro

pendo · May 22, 2012

OK...showing my n00bness here a bit.

I just picked up a 1.5 hp Jandy FloPro 2-speed pump. In big lettering on top of the motor it says the pump requires a controller or switch. There seems to be no direction on this in the manual, nor in any info on Jandy's site.

What's the cheapest option for me to get this wired in? Simple and clean would be preferable. High speed will only be used to run spa jets which is usually pretty rare, so it will be on low speed 97% of the time. I've got an intermatic timer coming tomorrow that it will be wired into.

Thanks in advance.

JasonLion · May 22, 2012

A simple switch is easy to install. There should be a wiring diagram on a plate on the motor. Typically it has common, low speed, and high speed connections indicated. You wire one power wire to common, the other power wire gets wired to the middle connection of the SPDT switch, and the two outer connections are wired to low and high. The switch then controls the speed of the pump. There are other ways to do it, but that is the simplest. Make sure the switch is rated for the volts/amps used by the pump.

pendo · May 23, 2012

Hi Jason,

I did see that on the side.....in all of it's tiny print glory :? And your suggestion is what initially came to mind when I read the plate.

But when I got on the computer to try read about it a little, I rand into stuff like this: http://www.backyardpoolsuperstore.com/Jandy-2-Speed-Motor-Relay-Kit-_p_8208.html
...wild price differences on that part, too...

Anyway, do you have any suggestions for the mounting/securing of the switch?

Thanks, as always.

Durk · May 23, 2012

I did mine as cheaply as is possible. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the lower wall of my plastic Intermatic timer case and mounted a <$5 2hp SPDT toggle switch from Grainger there. Pulled an extra 12 ga THHN wire through the flexible conduit to the motor from the timer case. Wired exactly as described by Jason above. Added a <$1 weatherproof rubber boot to the switch on the timer case.

If it is an A.O Smith motor, there is a manual switch kit they put out for mounting on the motor. It costs two or three times as much and you have to bend over. In my setup, mounting the switch on the timer case is much easier to use.

pendo · May 27, 2012

Thanks for the help guys, I've got it all wired up and installed. I did as Durk did and mounted the spdt switch to a new Intermatic T104R.

The pipe fitting is/was a major pita. I'd never heard of flexible pvc til the other day....someone said it was expensive. If is less than $30/ft I swear it'd be worth it. :hammer:

Anyway, so now the problem is air in the basket. But only in specific configurations. Ours is a pool/spa combo with the spa overflowing into the pool. Single skimmer and main in the pool, and single main in the spa. The spa is not only closest to the equipment pad, but the waterline is a few inches above the base of the equipment pad. In other words....*much* less head loss from the spa.

When on high speed, there's no air when I pull and return to the spa. Once all the air is out of the basket, if I switch over to the pool all nice and smoothly it stays that way. Then if I turn it to low speed, it takes a few minutes or so but bubbles start creeping in the suction side. It's quite easy to see that they're coming from the pool side, not the pump union. After about 30-40 minutes the water flowing into the pump basket is actually 1/4 inch or so BELOW the top of the inlet pipe.

Everything I've read here says it HAS to be a suction side leak. But I'll be Darn if I can find it. The pump that was originally there was a Sta-Rite Max E Pro high head pump, and this Jandy is a medium head. I didn't think much about it since it was still 1 1/2 hp. But now I'm wondering if the Jandy just isn't able to pull the water through the lines. It can when I configure the spa only, but right now there's no way I can filter the pool on low speed.

So, my question is....is it possible that I have way more head loss than what I assumed and this medium head pump can't handle it? Or is it still, 100% for sure/can't be anything else a suction side leak.

JasonLion · May 28, 2012

Having air accumulate inside the pump strainer basket with a variable speed pump on low speed is common and isn't normally a problem. As long as the pump doesn't lose prime, which will happen when the water level falls below the top of the outlet opening (headed towards the impeller) you are fine.

While this could be caused by a suction side air leak, it can also be caused by dissolved gasses in the pool water (there is always some gas dissolved in pool water) coming out of solution due to the low pressure inside the pump strainer basket. As long as the pump doesn't lose prime you are fine.

pendo · May 28, 2012

So you are saying that it might be ok as long as the water level doesn't go below the top of the opening to the impeller? (the lower of the two openings in the basket)

After I posted last night I ran the pump on high speed and made sure all the air was out, then I shut it off. There were a few quarter sized air bubbles that popped in, but nothing else....and it stayed like that.

I think the dissolved gas explanation is plausible for when I'm pulling from the pool on high speed. But at low speed, you can watch the pea sized bubbles roll out of the inlet to the basket. It's not like the violent swirling bubbles.

Whats the best way to find an air leak? (haven't searched yet, but will right now)

pendo · May 29, 2012

Well, I've at least reduced the air leak(s) a noticeable extent. When the original pump failed the water in the line (both in and out) was super-heated....to the extent that a few inches of pvc either side of the pump were deformed slightly. Now there are two 3-ways that are a bit further back than that, but just to check I swapped the valve gate of one of the closest (to the pump) 3-ways with one of the furthest...

...and it helped. So I did the same with the other 3-way and it helped even more. Now, on high speed it will easily evacuate all bubbles even drawing from the pool whereas before I had to do from the spa, then it seemed to maintain on the pool. On low, it seems to be able to hold it steady where there's maybe an inch of space under the cap.

That was starting on high first, then switching to low though so I don't know how it will behave starting on low after being off for ~12 hours.....have my fingers crossed though.

As to the apparently damaged 3-ways, they are in the return lines and shouldn't be critical. One controls whether the return is to the spa or pool and the other diverts the floor cleaning jets to a sheet fall. Niether appear to be leaking any water either...go figure