New guy with old pool seeks sage advice

[KonTiki]

Hi everyone, I'm Eric from Dayton, OH and I've been lurking & reading on the
site for several weeks. I've learned quite a bit from other members projects
and now I'm ready to make some progress on my pool with your help.

We purchased our bank-owned home a year ago and got a very neglected
pool with the deal. Specs are in my signature but here's the lowdown ...
built in 1987 by Buckeye Pools, it's concrete with a little white plaster
left on the bottom & steps, sidewalls are a one-piece blue fiberglass panel with
a riveted seam at the steps. There are 2 skimmers that share a line, the main
drain & vac port share another line, there are 2 returns sharing a line & there is
a dedicated return connected to a booster pump for what I'm guessing was a cleaner.
Everything is plumbed in 1-1/2" pvc.

The existing (1987 original) pump is trashed, its a PacFab Challenger II CHII-N1-3/4
3/4hp. The booster pump is also 1987 original Polaris PB-4 3/4hp. The sand filter
is a Hayward S220T which is in nice condition other than needing a few new seals.
There was a natural gas heater but it was trashed. I removed it with hopes of
adding a solar setup on the south facing roof of my pool shed someday. My son
would also like to add a slide :-D

At the moment I need help choosing a replacement pump. The current pump is
completely dead and in pieces so I don't have current psi or vacuum readings to
go by.

Calculated capacity is 21,420 gallons. When I use the pump selectors I hit a wall
at the head calculations. Not sure how to get there even after reading several
different explanations From the many posts I've followed, it seems a 2-speed
pump is the hot ticket for saving energy.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated, my son's 9th birthday is August 18th and I would
love to have this thing running crystal clear by then. The before pic is when we got
the keys to the house, the after pic is from when we emptied the sludge, powerwashed
the whole thing and cut back the overgrowth. The mechanicals are in the little shed.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

I have no idea on the main pump; I am just as lost. The pb4 booster pump might be available on amazon still for just over $150.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

You can still get that Challenger pump. Depending on what the suffix letter is (A or F) tells whether it's a full rated or an uprated model. It would help to know that.

We also need to know whether you have a 115 volt or 230 volt pump now.

Mark (mas985) will have a better idea but if you have 230 volts, I'd say a Whisperflo 1hp 2-speed would be a good match. A 3/4 hp would be good, but they're usually hard to find in a 2-speed model.

 

[KonTiki]

Thanks for the welcome!
Both the main pump and booster pump are wired for 230. The label on the pump motor is pretty faded but the suffix appears to be an 'F'. The SF field on the label just has dashes -------.

 

[Bama Rambler]

The "F" is a full rated model which makes that 3/4hp a 1.25 sfhp. The 1 hp Whisperflo is a 1.65 sfhp so it's a little bigger. So either the WFDS-4 or the WFDS-26. They're both the same pump just rated differently.

 

[jblizzle]

Given that you have smaller 1.5" plumbing like me with no demanding water features, the Superflo 1HP (SF-N2-1A) is another good option that is a 1.25 SFHP. This would be even cheaper to run than the Whisperflo as it is a little smaller.

The Whisperflo's are very efficient and I think are usually better suited for 2" plumbing ... although since you have 2 different 1.5" runs from the pool, it would work as well.

 

[KonTiki]

The full rated vs uprated is the silliest thing. The sticker may be the only physical
difference, but the prices are are very different. The -26 is less expensive at
most vendors. Thanks for all of the advice so far!