Pool Pump Recommendation

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T

trclac

0
Jul 24, 2009
88
Houston
We have a 17k gallon pool in Houston, so the pool pump essentially runs every day, all year. On Friday, I noticed that the pump was not running, and the pump housing was very hot to the touch. I flipped it to off, turned it back on, but it only hummed. Sounds like we have a blown motor, and, of course, the pool has not been filtered since the motor went out on Friday. :grrrr:

We will likely need to buy a new pump/motor for the filter. We currently have Jandy equipment (can't recall HP of motor, and I am not home to check at the moment). Assuming the motor is dead, any recommendations as to a new pump/motor? The Jandy lasted about 5 years, running every day. But it only had a 3 year warranty, so any issues are now on us. If there is a more reliable filter pump/motor, I'd appreciate any advice.

Again, I am not sure of the HP of the current pump, but you may be able to figure it out by virtue of the size of the pool (17,000 gallon).

As an aside, we can't seem to find a pool repair company in Houston that doesn't charge a flat trip charge to diagnose the problem. This may be standard, but another $50 is annoying. :rant:

Thanks in advance!
 
1. What is the GPM rating of your filter?

2. You can likely pay for the new pump in a year or two by getting a 2 speed 1 HP pump if your filter is adequate.

You can still run 24/7 but on low and use FAR less electricity...bumping the pump to high to back wash, etc.
 
Re: Pool Pump Recommendation-- follow up

A pool repair tech came out today. The motor on the Jandy pump (2 HP) is shot. He said that I could do either:

1) replace the motor on the existing pump for $700, or
2) buy a variable speed Jandy pump for $1,700.

On the variable speed, he said the energy efficiency could pay for the higher expense in a couple years, especially since we leave the filter running all year in Houston. However, the model is still Jandy, with a 3 year warranty. To that, he said he's never had a problem with Jandy units, and given that mine lasted 5 years in the sun and running every day (not 24 hours a day, but 6-9 hours a day), we got a good amount of time out of the unit. He said that a motor running as often as they do in Houston causes them to blow quicker.

I was just wondering if anyone had thoughts on this. The variable speed suggestion is consistent with the post above, but I'm just not sure about the Jandy brand.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated, as we need to get the pump in working order and start filtering the pool again ASAP.

Many thanks.
 
$700 to replace a motor is pretty steep. Have you thought about replacing it yourself for less than half that? If you went with a two speed, you would get most of the cost savings of a VS but and much less an up front cost.

But are you sure the motor is bad? If the impeller spins freely, it could be just a bad start capacitor and those are fairly easy to replace. Although you still may want the two speed motor for energy savings.
 
mas985 said:
$700 to replace a motor is pretty steep. Have you thought about replacing it yourself for less than half that? If you went with a two speed, you would get most of the cost savings of a VS but and much less an up front cost.

But are you sure the motor is bad? If the impeller spins freely, it could be just a bad start capacitor and those are fairly easy to replace. Although you still may want the two speed motor for energy savings.
Click to expand...

I agree it's a steep price, but much of it is labor. And, honestly, I'd likely fry myself if I tried to repair it.

I checked around. That price is in the range for Houston.

As for the motor, I don't personally know it's bad. I know the pump silently hums and gets very hot when switched on, but the repair tech advises the motor is shot. I got several referrals for this company, and they got great reviews on Angie's List, but I have no way of knowing whether the motor is actually shot. I assume I can get another company to check, but I don't want to let the water sit too much longer in the Houston heat without being filtered.

On the Jandy issue, is this a good brand, and do you know if what they said is true, ie, that a 3 year warranty is industry standard, and motors typically have a life span of 3-5 years, especially in warm climates where the pump operates year around?

Thanks again.
 
A properly maintained pump should last well over 10 years including the motor. If a motor fails before that, it is usually the start capacitor which again is fairly easy to replace. Sometimes the pump seal will fail and the bearings will rust but those too can be replaced. However, pool techs don't make a lot of money on motor repairs so they aren't likely to recommend a fix and would rather replace it so they can charge more. I don't care how "reputable" the company is, that seems to be the norm.
 
Chlorine question

We went ahead and purchased a variable speed pump. But when the pool guy was here, he noticed the store brand liquid chlorine we've been using (which is the same as Clorox), and he said it's far too diluted to do any good. He said if we want to use liquid chlorine, we need to purchase the type designed for pools. The guy doesn't sell the stuff, so he doesn't seem to have a dog in the fight, but I'm wondering what brand of liquid chlorine he's referring to. I went to the pool store, and they advised they only sell the powder (which I'm trying to get away from).

Any ideas appreciated!

Thanks.
 
Utter nonsense. Your pool guy needs to learn a little about chemistry. The only difference between those products is the concentration so bleach (liquid chlorine) with a lower concentration requires you to use more than liquid chlorine of a higher concentration. However, the lower concentration bleach tends to last longer on the shelf so it can be more cost effective but it depends on the cost of each.
 

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mas985 said:
Utter nonsense. Your pool guy needs to learn a little about chemistry. The only difference between those products is the concentration so bleach (liquid chlorine) with a lower concentration requires you to use more than liquid chlorine of a higher concentration. However, the lower concentration bleach tends to last longer on the shelf so it can be more cost effective but it depends on the cost of each.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I have been using about half gallon/day for a 17k gallon pool in Houston. Does that sound about right, especially for mere bleach? :goodjob:
 
Re: Pool Pump Recommendation -- Operation of Variable Speed

We had the Jandy variable speed pump installed last week. Just like to get some thoughts on how, ideally, it should be set up.

Right now, the installer set it to default to "Filtration", which is a very low speed (1650 RPM) that hardly registers at all on the filter's PSI reading. When I switch the pump to the number 2 mode, it really takes off, the PSI on the filter goes to about 15, and the energy use sky rockets. I was told a primary benefit is energy savings, so I obviously don't want to run it at the number 2 setting most of the day.

Any recommendations as to how to set this up for maximum energy savings and filtration? Note my old 2 HP single speed Jandy would register a PSI on the filter just below 20.

Thanks all.
 
I wouldn't be too concerned with the filter pressure. That simply reflects the flow rate and RPM setting.

But there is really no right answer for your question and some experimentation will be required to see what works. The lower the flow rate, the more efficient the pump will become down to about 800 RPM where the efficiency starts to drop again. However, the lower flow rate will also make the skimmer less effective so there are some trade offs.
 
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