Intelliflo VS 3050 Failure

[jcourt]

I was cleaning my pool today when my Intelliflo pump started making a noise similar to something stuck in the impeller. I shut it off and checked for debris and did not find anything.
My pool was installed 3 years ago with many of the equipment selections assisted by the expert advice from the team here, which I am eternally grateful.

Back to the pump - I turned it back on and it made a clunking mechanical sound and screeched before I stopped it. I turned the power off and reached in to determine if the impeller would turn. It didn't which was not encouraging. Being a few months out of warranty, I decided to remove the motor and impeller assembly to inspect it.

It looks like one of the seals had a slow leak which corroded the captive nuts (and the bottom of the pump motor) on the seal plate which caused the motor weight to shift the axis of the impeller. It looks like the whole thing is toast, but I was able to salvage the drive which tests ok and I will probably sell it.

Could anyone give a recommendation on the newer Pentair variable speed pumps? I am leaning towards the Intelliflo XF.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[JasonLion]

I'm sorry to hear about your seal failure. Seal failures like that are fairly rare, but when they do happen and they aren't caught right away they can be quite damaging.

The XF is new, and we don't know all that much about it yet. On the surface it looks great, but there simply haven't been any in depth reports on it yet, so no real details I can tell you.

All of the IntelliFlo pumps are very good. I would simply get the least expensive one.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If it's just a few months out of warranty I'd call Pentair and you might be surprised. If not, it really didn't cost you anything.

 

[jcourt]

Thanks Dave and Jason.
I contacted Pentair and they want someone to come out and look at it before making a determination. The rep started going down the road of "your long-term water chemistry caused this". Once I informed him that my PH has been within .2 of 7.5 for the last three years due to owning a CAT PH controller, that suggestion quickly evaporated.

Hopefully they cover it.

Thanks again.

Jim

 

[jcourt]

It looks like my PH controller saved the day. They are going to cover the parts, but typically they attribute this to PH problems and deny it.
Dave - many thanks for the recommendation - I was ready to pull the trigger on a new pump.

Jim

 

[Bama Rambler]

Glad they stood up and took care of it.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I bet most of the time they're right about the pH, but yes, glad they're taking care of it in your case!

 

[premierpoolproducts]

As a local warranty station for Pentair, about 95% of all warranty claims are caused by improper chemical balance. But if you have a good warranty station, then they usually try to help you out on a few items. Pentair is really good with their warranties!