Pump maintenance, help requested

[DirtyRat91]

Greetings folks. I've been a Trouble Free Pool follower for the past year or two. I've all but abandoned pool chemicals based on info I'm learned here. Still enjoy the convenience of 3" pucks.

However, my problem, and why I'm begging for help, is I need a new pump motor. Last season, the motor kept getting louder and louder, a squeal/whine type noise if I recall. I figured bearings were tired, and I vowed to replace them before opening the pool this year.

Well the time is upon us to open the pool, so I removed the motor from the pump, and attempted to disassemble. I found quickly that it appears the front seal has failed, as the front of the pump is covered in white chalky (chlorine looking jazz) evilness. Then 3 of the 4 long through bolts broke off in the motor. Furthermore the guts of the motor look rusty and unpleasant. I've decided to abort attempting to rebuild, and just fork out the dough for a new motor.

So here's where I'd like your advice. I have a Hayward Super Pump 2605x7. The motor is a A.O. Smith UST1102, which is a 1 HP motor. Most websites suggest the 2605x7 pump uses a 3/4 HP UST1072 motor now sold by Century the company who appears to have absorbed A.O. Smith.

I'm sorry to report I ran the tired pump 24/7 during the swim season. I'd like very much to get an outdoor timer to limit pump time to perhaps 8 hours max per day. Suggestions for ideal pump time are welcome.

Basically, I'm looking for advice on which motor I should get. If the 3/4 pump suffices, I'd much rather use a lower amperage pump to reduce electric load. Also, need suggestions on where to get a good pump timer, and also a seal kit for the pump. It appears I need a GO KIT 3? Looks like there are plenty of aftermarket folks selling these different kits. Anybody wants to recommend a seller or specific type of seal kit, I'm all ears.


Finally for my pool specifics. I'm failing for exacts right now, but the pool is roughly 14' x 33' if I recall. And about 4 feet deep everywhere, flat bottomed pool, no depth variation. I believe it is about a 14,000 gallon pool. I run a sand filter with a in line chlorinator which I had turned down very low (~2 I believe) due to the 24/7 pump run. I believe all the equipment is Hayward stuff (I know the multi-port valve is). I can get more specifics if required, but for now looking to nail down my pump motor goodies.

Thanks for hearing my ramble. Love the site.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Can you post the HP and service factor of your old motor? You're interested in HP*SF, and you don't want your new motor to be less than the old one! Sometimes companies fudge the HP numbers a bit by increasing or decreasing the SF...not sure what the point of that is, but they do it. If you want to use a smaller pump (less electricity) then you'll need to switch out the impeller as well, which is easy.

An intermatic T104R is the basic standard pool timer. They're fairly inexpensive and just about indestructible.

 

[DirtyRat91]

My current A.O. Smith pump (the dead one I'm looking to replace) is rated at 1 HP, and I believe the SF was 1.1.

In my free time recently I've poured through the threads here, and see that impeller size makes a world of difference as to what motor you can/should run. I'm curious to see what impeller I have, as most sites show my pump (SP2605x7) to have a 3/4 horse motor. I'll check that later when I get home, I suppose there's a part number on the impeller someplace to tell its HP rating.

I've seen the T104R is popular, I'll probably pick up an outdoor model of that and mount it near the electric box.

I noticed the wiring is flexible strand, instead of typical solid strand house wire, is this typical for pumps? Perhaps, since they vibrate? As I thought I might replace the wiring from the box to the pump.

I'm second owner of this pool, bought the house roughly 6 years ago now, first issue with the pump was this bearing noise.

 

[DirtyRat91]

Just checked the impeller, stamped with a SP2605C which is a 1/2HP or 3/4HP impeller.

So I'd like to go with a 3/4 horse pump to reduce the electric bill slightly. I'm sure the 1 horse job running 24/7 wasn't really helping the utilities.

As far as pump load, I've got a main drain, and a skimmer, and two returns. Otherwise all I've got is a sand filter, nothing else on the circuit.

 

[DirtyRat91]

Pulled the trigger on a Century UST1072 pump. Ordered an Aladdin seal kit for SP2600x pump kit off eBay. And got a T104R timer in an outdoor case coming from Amazon. Looking forward to a new quiet pump. And the timer should help tremendously with the utility bill.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Sounds like a good plan!

 

[DirtyRat91]

Motor and timer came in yesterday. Nothing like a freshly painted new motor. The drive shaft on that thing spins so easily. The old motor requires noticeable effort. Those bearings were tired!

But a big concern remains, is this motor really meant to be out in the elements? The electrical connections under the back cover are (apart from a tight fitting cover) unsealed. The motor's instructions say 'Open motors' are meant for 'relatively clean, dry, and noncorrosive' environments. Where as 'totally enclosed' motors are okay in damp locations. I don't see where my UST1072 is labeled one way or the other, but it seems far from totally enclosed. Which makes me wonder if the driving rain and being covered in snow is the best for its lifespan.

I know it isn't unusual for pump equipment to be outdoors, but is this motor not intended for this use?

 

[jrross]

Similar situation here..... pump on but seems seized... second one in 8 years or so and both seemed sized. Curious alos to see how to properly maintian and if should be brought inside and such. What is the typical lifespan on a 1 hp hayward pump?

 

[rodrigo]

I've had mixed luck with the Hayward single speed superpumps. We built our pool in the summer of 2005 and I either had the motor rebuilt or replaced the whole pump four times. I started with a 1HP superpump, the motor of which I had rebuilt by a shop after a couple years. When it died again on short notice I replaced it with what I could get locally that day, which was a 1.5 HP model (and, it turns out, way too much pump for my pool). At some point after that I put the old 1HP impeller on the bigger motor. and then after that I had the motor rebuilt by a shop again. Continuing the saga, for this season I purchased a Century 1HP motor and seal kit, which I installed on the old 1HP pump assembly.

All that is the long way around saying "I am a slow learner".

First, with the single speed pumps I learned that I was running the pump way too long... 14 to 16 hours a day in the hot months. I have a timer and a SWG, and I was operating under the notion that I wanted to run my SWG at a lower percentage over a longer period of the day. But this was putting too many hours on my pump... I see that now.

I also bring my pump and SWG inside over the winter. I started doing this the first time I took a motor to be rebuilt. My pool installer had told me specifically to leave the pump outside over the winter, but the electric motor guy told me the opposite. So in it comes.

As for lifespan, I figure an electric motor will be able to spin itself a finite number of times (surely a very big number, but still finite). Therefore, the lifespan of the pump depends simply on how long you run it every day.

 

[DirtyRat91]

Happy to note I got the pool uncovered yesterday. Bit of funky water due to a hole in the cover.

The pump/motor has performed flawlessly. Motor is quiet, great flow, can't tell any difference in 3/4 HP pump verses older 1 HP pump. I haven't used the timer function much yet, as I'm running pump more often than I plan to normally run it due to clearing up the initial water.

The Hayward multiport valve instantly started leaking (BADLY). It was throwing water 5 feet from the filter. I got the cover off the valve and found the cover o-ring had folded over last time I installed it. I had the cover on/off several times last season as the stinking spring/handle wasn't working properly. The handle wouldn't spring back into position once released, and I'd have to pull the cover off to force the key (spider gasket assembly) down, thus locking the handle into position and seating the spider gasket. Anyhow, the cover o-ring had swollen to roughly 25% bigger. It wouldn't even consider filling the groove in the cover anymore.

A lucky score at Lowes on a GE cartridge filter seal, and a bit of cardboard trickery to 'buldge' the Lowes o-ring out further, and I got the valve sealed up well enough to run the pump.

Long story short, I have the proper valve cover o-ring and a complete cover/key assembly (does NOT include the o-ring of all things) coming from Amazon. The parts to rebuild the valve cost more than the cover assembly already built. I believe this is a problem mostly reserved to the SP0714T valve, as the spider gasket is molded into the key. Other valves appear to use a replaceable spider gasket.

 

[DanielP]

When you get a "floppy handle" and it's dragging on the spider gasket when you try to turn it, it is a worn handle and/or worn or missing washer under the handle. A handle, washer, new gasket, and 2 o-rings to rebuild the key assembly was only $27 online, which was less than just a handle at the pool store. I think it was hydropool.com.

The swollen gasket sounds like you used a lube that wasn't 100% silicone, probably used in an attempt to make the valve easier to turn.

 

[DirtyRat91]

The parts totaled together that I would need come to 58.06. This includes the spring, its washers, both key seals, and a new key (which includes spider gasket). The issue is unrelated to the handle. The spring within the valve cannot reseat the spider gasket down against the valve body. The reason being, the two key seals (I'm assuming) are swollen, causing the key to be too tight within the cover. I've never had the cover apart until yesterday, so the only lube they saw was what they were factory assembled with.

Granted, if I reused the key/spider gasket (30 dollar part), I could reduce a rebuild to about half the price of a new cover/key assembly. However, this is what I was saying about the SP0714T valve, that the spider gasket is integral to the key, resulting in an unusually expensive gasket/rebuild. The gasket simply looks too compromised to consider a rebuild without the key.