Redoing my equipment: Help me select a (2 speed?) pump

[mas985]

I can estimate it but I need a little more information:

Distance from pool to pump

Pipe diameter (suction & return)

Number of pool returns (eyeballs) and diameter

Height of the pump relative to the water level

 

[linen]

I missed your mention of the C900 filter before. That is a 90 sq. ft. cartridge and we would recommend a minimum ~200 sq.ft. cartridge filter for your ~14K pool. Not the end of the world, but I thought I would mention it if you have any chance to return and replace.

 

[Flot]

Way too late on the filter. Actually the previous filter was a 75 sqft so this is a moderate upgrade. Previous owner built a "box" around the pool equipment with a lid, so I was limited by height in how big I could go. I actually had no complaints about the previous filter's capacity.

mas, I'm not too worried on the flow calc - with the low PSI I just wanted to do a sanity check to make sure the pump was moving a reasonable amount of water but from my bucket test I think it is. It's 2x 1.5" inlets/outlets each way, about a 50' run for the close ones and 70' for the far ones. Pump is about 16" higher than water level, as I discovered when cutting this weekend. LOL

 

[linen]

Sorry about missing the boat ... but it sounds like your old filter was not causing you much trouble, so maybe you do not get much debris in the pool. Your pressure seems a little low to me to be moving that much water with that small cart filter. What was your filter pressure with the old filter?

 

[Flot]

I really have no idea - I assumed the gauge was just no good because I never saw it go past 5 psi, but it's possible it just never went past 5 psi. I always measured the filter condition by the speed of the cleaner - slow cleaner and I'd pull the filter out and hose it down. When the water chem was good I'd easily go a month between cleanings, if I slacked off it might get down to every 2 weeks or so.

Only reason I changed it out was because it was reasonably priced and I figured another 20% capacity wouldn't hurt.

 

[linen]

When the water chem was good I'd easily go a month between cleanings, if I slacked off it might get down to every 2 weeks or so.

That is more often then most tfpers would tolerate, since the cleaning process is tedious...but again, no big deal, you will just have to clean more often. When a cart is properly sized, some owners on tfp can as long as once a season for cleaning.

We normally suggest cleaning the filter when the pressure goes up 25% from the "clean filter" pressure. This will be trickier for you with your apparent very low pressure. If 2 psi is your "clean pressure", then you would clean at 2.5 psi, which will be hard to judge. In the end, if your gauge is repeatable, you can probably get by with waiting until the pressure goes above 4 psi, assuming you are still getting decent flow at that point (which it should be).

..I am still confused as to why your pressure is so low with a cart that small...