Newish Owner With A Pool Pump Service Problem, Help!

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A vs pump below $600 is a good deal. I am not familiar with the retailer. As long as you have 230 volts and a working timer, the model you linked to should work. With your mechanical experience, you should have no problem installing the pump.

Note: The WhisperFlo pump has a reverse screw in the center of the impeller. If the screw is not removed, then the impeller won't come off. I wonder if the service person removed the screw before trying to unscrew the impeller?
 
kimkats said:
I am not telling you what to do but..........my husband installed our new pump last month with no problems. It was a simple switch as we bought a copy of the old pump to make life easier.

Kim
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Hi Kim, thanks. Yes I watched as the aforementioned buffoon did the job, seemed to be a simple 3 wire hookup plus external ground, nothing I haven't done before. I'm just wondering how I know it is 230 vs 115 is all. I thought maybe b/c the 2 hot wires both being 115v a piece but not sure that is right. There were 3 wires the tech hooked up inside the cap of the motor, one was green, can't remember the color of the other two off hand. And there is a bare (ground I assume) on the outside of the motor. Everything was color coded, just want to know how to tell 230 from 115.
 
Just found this on a wiring site, I just want to make sure I order the right pump:

If you are wiring for 230V, the three wires coming to the pool pump from the circuit box are red, black and green.

If you are wiring for 115V, the three wires coming to the pool pump from the circuit box are white, black and green.


 
The bare copper wire outside the pump is a bond wire. The green wire is the ground. If the the motor is wired 115, then the wires giong to L1 and L2 should be one black and one white. If it's 230, the wires are typically both black or one black and one red. A basic multimeter can measure the voltage line to line. Put meter on Voltage AC and put the leads on L1 and L2.

The breaker labeled Pool Pump looks like a standard two pole breaker, which would be 230 volts.
 
JamesW said:
The bare copper wire outside the pump is a bond wire. The green wire is the ground. If the the motor is wired 115, then the wires giong to L1 and L2 should be one black and one white. If it's 230, the wires are typically both black or one black and one red. A basic multimeter can measure the voltage line to line. Put meter on Voltage AC and put the leads on L1 and L2.

The breaker labeled Pool Pump looks like a standard two pole breaker, which would be 230 volts.
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Thanks, I also just read if it is a double breaker thanks for letting me know!
 
Interesting update, I just got a call from the company's senior technician. He was the first guy that came out and diagnosed to put on the new motor and I actually thought he seemed pretty knowledgeable. The bad tech that did the swap was a guy that just showed up. He asked how the pump was running and when I told him everything that had happened he said not to worry he will be out tomorrow or first thing Tuesday and will have everything to rebuild the whole system if it needs it. He promised it would be right before he left, so I'm not holding my breath but I'm hopeful that maybe my pump wont be loud and my flow will be back and transformer not smell. I told him I thought something might be binding or something but not sure. Is there anything I need to demand at this point b/c after the first screw up I feel ok asking for it (like all new pump internals, etc.?). Any advice appreciated, thanks again.
 
At least there is hope. It will be interesting to see IF he can fix it without just having to replace it.

I wonder if you could talk him into just putting the cost of the new pump towards the vs pump you want??? Kind of like----How much does this pump cost? If I add XX money in could I upgrade my pump to __this pump?

Kim
 
Thanks everyone, I hope so as well. In regards to him upgrading, I wish that would be the case but unfortunately it won't happen. They won't even replace the pump if they can piece it together, which is fine as long as it is quiet and better flowing. I'm still going to get the VS, but maybe I can wait a bit. I will update as soon as they come, not holding my breath but am cautiously optimistic.
 

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kimkats said:
update?
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Didn't show today, but he told me if he didn't it would be first thing in the morning, so I'm hoping tomorrow morning this will be fixed, we will see.

Another thing I forgot to mention that may be important: The bad tech who screwed things up left an o-ring off the diffuser inside the pump housing. I questioned him about it and he said they don't do anything and he leaves them off even brand new assemblies. He said if he didn't that it is too hard to get in there. I know this can not be right, but I figured he knew more than me at the time. Could this be what is causing my flow/noise problem? I looked at the VS pump today at the pool store and it had a cut out of the pump and I saw the o-ring. It looks like to me without it water will flow backwards towards the impeller which to me I think would cause noise and inefficiency which would explain the reduced flow? Anyone know the physics of leaving out the o-ring?
 
The O-ring is there for a reason. I wouldn't believe anything the disservice person had to say. The diffuser O-ring seals the diffuser to the basket housing.

Unless the person has a degree in fluid dynamics, they should assemble the pump the way it was designed by the manufacturer.
 
JamesW said:
The O-ring is there for a reason. I wouldn't believe anything the disservice person had to say. The diffuser O-ring seals the diffuser to the basket housing.

Unless the person has a degree in fluid dynamics, they should assemble the pump the way it was designed by the manufacturer.
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James, hahahahahhahaha, I said that exact same thing to him. When I asked why the pressure had dropped so much he said "pressure has nothing to do with flow" I laughed out loud. I don't know much about fluid dynamics I told him, but I said given a certain size pipe (like my system has) and you don't change that size and you have a pressure drop, that would mean your flow is reduced. He said I was wrong so I said, "well how about I can also see it reduced on my waterfall" lol, guy just stuck with the same "everything is fine" and it has the same flow even though I could see it at the pressure gauge and with my eyeballs on the waterfall/jets. It was seriously unbelievable. I wish I would have videoed it b/c it was classic screw job tv at its best. I will MAKE SURE the other tech puts the o-ring back on.

On a side note: If I get the VS pump, I didn't know how having a solar heater on my roof effects the pump speed. Will I ever be able to run it on the low speed if it has to pump up the side of my house to the roof? I would bet 20 feet total, with 10' straight up I'd bet. I can shut off the flow to the solar but I'm talking about when wanting to use it, would the pump need to be running pretty fast? I'm guessing the higher up you go the more the flow is reduced?
 
Wanted to give the final update on this. The senior technician (that I first talked to who diagnosed the issue) came out about 10am this morning. He confirmed the previous technician had "screwed up everything". He took apart the pump, replaced all the gaskets and oring that the previous tech said didn't matter and even put me on a brand new 1.5hp higher dollar pump that matched to a tee my old one.

Result: The system is ultra quiet, more so than even originally! The flow is back to exactly what it should be both visually and on the pressure gauge. Interesting fact, he told me he had to go back to EVERY SINGLE JOB the other tech did the day he screwed up mine (5 total) and redo the repairs. He said he made one other customer so mad the guy flipped out or something and now will not let them work on it without being supervised lol.

So now comes what to do in regards to feedback to the owner/warranty company. I would highly recommend the first technician but am not sure how to review the company as a whole? The tech asked me to call his boss (the owner) and tell him everything that happened. I normally don't do stuff like this but I feel like it is warranted in this case. I want to praise the senior tech and let the owner know just what type of person the other guy is, any advice on how you all might handle it? Thanks again for everyone's help. I'm still pumped about a VS, but honestly as quiet as this thing is now it might (hopefully) be a while :)
 
:goodjob:Thanks for the update. Good to know that everything was made right.

In my opinion, no one should ever tolerate any service person acting unprofessionally in any way. If they cannot be professional, they should be terminated immediately.

I think that a letter or email to the owner commending the good service person is in order. I would note that the bad tech was unprofessional and incompetent. I would specify that if you were to use the company again, that you would only want the good senior tech.

I would wait to see the owner's response before deciding how to rate the company as a whole.

Regarding the diffuser gasket, if that is left off, then some water from the high pressure chamber outside the diffuser would get sucked in at the gap where the diffuser and basket housing join. This would cause a loss of performance because some of the water would just recirculate around the diffuser.

This could also potentially cause vibration and noise.
 
Well I called the owner and left a message commending the senior technician. I also said he could call me if he wanted to know the details on what happened when the first guy came out. After 10 minutes or so I got a call from him, and he was not a friendly guy. His attitude felt like he thought I was just a "problem" customer wanting something for free...HA! So I told him that the only reason his company isn't going to get blasted with a horrible review was because of the other tech that came out and put everything right. I said I didn't appreciate being looked at as a problem customer that wants something for free (because that is what the bad tech told him I came to find out...nice) when all I wanted was a competent person to fix a leak I had. What I got was an incompetent buffoon that dropped F*bombs and ruined 2 motors and messed up my system. I let him know that I doubted I was the only one that had complained, but being lied too right to your face and basically robbed and told "too bad" is no way to do business. His exact words were, "He did what?! Ok I'm going to move on this today and call (the senior tech) to get the facts, thanks..." So I'm pretty sure that means the guy is toast according to what the senior tech told me which I don't wish on anyone but I had to be honest with the guy. Last thing I told him was exactly what was mentioned, and that was that I would possibly let his company work on my equipment again, but ONLY the senior guy would be allowed on my property, no exceptions. So hopefully they will make a change so other customers won't get hassled the way I did. Thanks to everyone that advised me throughout the issue, I love TFP!

Oh and interesting side note: The new pump does not get hot like the other motors (even my original got super hot). It just gets warm, I think that must be a good thing.
 
Glad to hear you got it straightened out. Don't feel too bad if the, err, "unprofessional" technician lost his job. That's definitely not your fault -- especially if the senior tech had to follow behind the other guy and re-fix all of his work... At least the owner of the company finally "saw the light". :D
 

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