2HP 2-speed High/Low pump questions

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M

maieranne

0
Jun 17, 2011
109
Central Iowa
Hi everyone. As you can see below I have a dual speed 2HP pump with 250lb sand filter. When I backwash on high I do loose sand out the waste water and when I vac my pump basket is often only 1/2 full. I really need to watch the pump basket when running my wall suction cleaner (Kontiki2) and manual vac so the flow rate does not get too low and almost run dry. I recently had to replace the ceramic seal on my pump due to leaking after .5 season. I am worried I am causing more harm than good by running the pump on high for these functions and straining the pump and or filter.
Is it ok to do all my pump functioning on low which would be 1/2 HP? I have backwashed on low this last time and it seems to work better as in I don't loose sand and not so much sand in view glass but it just takes a bit longer to get to clean water.
Will 1/2 HP be enough to manually vac with?
 
If low provides enough flow for you vacuum that is fine. Or you could not limit the suction to ONLY the wall vacuum port and leave some flow through the skimmer so the pump is not starved. Or it could be that your hose has an air leak.

Out of curiosity, why do you have such a big pump? I do not see anything that warrants it. Can you add the model of the pump to your signature. I just realized this is AG pool and an AG 2HP pump can be significantly smaller than a IG 2HP pump.

Another option would be to put a smaller impeller in your pump which would lower flow rates and running costs.
 
Thanks jblizzle. I'll see if low will work with the manual vac. I don't think it will with the suction vac. My pump is a Hayward Power-Flo Matrix.
We bought the pool "package" off of craigslist from a woman who bought it a few months before but needed to sell before it was even assembled. So we picked everything up but it came with a one speed 1.5HP pump and I wanted a 2 speed to save on daily running costs. The store that it was originally purchased from allowed us to exchange but the only 2 speed they had was a 2HP. They wouldn't allow my to just return the pump so I had to pick what they had which was:
1-speed
1HP, 1.5HP or 2HP
2-speed
2HP
 
Is there a service factor listed on the motor? Or the word "SPL"?

The true power of the pump is a combination of the HP and the SF ... for some AG pool pumps, you could have a 1HP with a 1.5 SF -or- a 1.5HP with a 1.0SF -or- a 2.0HP with a 0.75 SF ... and they are all IDENTICAL pumps with a SFHP = 1.5.
 
The SPL has nothing to do with the high or low speed. It just means that the motor has a service factor less than 1.

I am not sure I understand what you wrote.
What is the HP?
What is the SF?
What exactly does your motor say? Or post pictures.

Although none of this really matters to what your actual question was.
 
OK, so that just shows that the 2.25 HP with a SPL rating really is probably the same as a 2HP with a SF of 1.0.

So, you could install a smaller impeller if you wanted, to lower the flow rate and save even more. Although I am not convinced that if you problem.
 
You may do damage if you do not figure out how to keep the pump full of water.
Does the pump get air in it when you pull from the cleaning port WITHOUT the vacuum hooked up?
 

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The 2 HP Matrix is an SPL rated pump so the impeller is identical to the 1.5 HP Matrix.

maieranne said:
I really need to watch the pump basket when running my wall suction cleaner (Kontiki2) and manual vac so the flow rate does not get too low and almost run dry.
Click to expand...

But I think this may be your issue. When you vacuum, you should collect the debris in a leak canister and the not the pump basket. That will prevent the pump from running dry and causing air to get into the pump basket.

Also, do you have an adjust for flow between the skimmer/main drain and the cleaner suction port? You should not completely shut off the skimmer and/or main drain.
 
I don't have a cleaning port. Just a skimmer and return. I have the round cover that goes over the skimmer basket and graduates down to hose size nozzle that attached to my manual vac or Kontiki hose. I'm not able to adjust the amount of water going in...it's maxed out by vac tube size and the adapter I put on my skimmer basket. So far it's really only been dirt that got thru my mesh winter cover. No leaves to speak of. The pump basket is typically clean. The water level seems to just go down due to low water flow. As I continue to vac and the filter gets used more water fills pump chamber I guess due to more resistance thru filter?
How full does the pump need to be to be "ok" and not cause damage? All the way to the top of basket?
Thank you both for your comments....aren't newbies fun. :)
 
Well, either your hose has a big leak or the added suction when you hook it up is allowing air to be pulled in somewhere. It should not do what you are describing if there was not a problem.
 
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