Hayward Tristar pump and whining sounds, replace motor or replace pump?

[Dru]

I have a 2HP Hayward Tristar pump that is starting to make a mild whining sound when it is on. The pump is about 6 years old. I am debating whether to replace the pump motor now, or wait until it stops functioning and replace the entire pump. I talked briefly about it with my pool service company (I maintain the water chemistry and do simple stuff, but I use them to clean the filters a couple times a year and more complicated repairs) and they suggested replacing the pump with a Pentair variable speed, which would actually be run at a fixed speed because I have a Paramount floor cleaning system that needs a certain amount of pressure to work correctly.

So that sounded a little goofy to me so I figured I would ask the experts. My three choices seem to be:

1. Replace the motor now (quoted ~$650)
2. Run pump until failure, replace with a new fixed-speed pump.
3. Run pump until failure, replace with a variable speed pump that basically only runs at 1 speed.

The guy suggested that option 3 would result in less energy use over time, but I don't really see why a variable speed pump running at 2HP would be more efficient than a fixed 2HP pump, so that didn't sound right. So my questions for you experts are:

Which option would you choose, and what pump would you recommend if you choose option 2 or 3?

 

[JohnT]

Or you could just take the motor off and have the bearing replaced at a fraction of those costs. If you can't DIY, most pool stores can change the bearing.

 

[Tigershark]

Our pump ran dry either last year or the year before (thanks to all the leaves) anyways it whined pretty bad. At the time I didn't want to invest in a new pump so I took it to a small motor repair shop that the local pool store recommended. To have everything rebuilt including the bearings was less than $90. It was pretty simple to take apart and take it to them and reconnect everything. My pool was down about 3 days total for the repair. Having it repaired is probably going to be the cheapest option

 

[mas985]

Can you bypass the floor cleaner? If so, you might take the opportunity to replace the motor with a two speed and save quite a bit on energy costs. Buy the motor online and it should be <$400.

But a single speed motor with a seal kit should be <<$650.

Assuming the pump is full rated:

Century B809 2 HP 208-230 Volt 3450 RPM Century Pool and Spa Pump Motor B809 - Electric Fan Motors - Amazon.com

2 Speed is not much more:

B979 2 2 1 2 HP 3450 1725 RPM New AO Smith Electric Motor | eBay

 

[Dru]

Can you bypass the floor cleaner? If so, you might take the opportunity to replace the motor with a two speed and save quite a bit on energy costs. Buy the motor online and it should be <$400.

I definitely like the idea of a dual speed motor, but I know it would negatively impact the floor cleaning system which relies on pressure to do its work. The floor cleaner runs whenever the pump runs, except for an hour when it is bypassed to allow the pool to funnel all the floating stuff to the filter, and I only have to brush down the pool once every 6 months or so. The electricity rate isn't bad ($0.06/kwh) and I only run the pump an average of 4-5 hours a day at 2KW total, so around $200/year in electricity in total cost. If not for the floor cleaning system I would definitely do it.

As an update, I checked with a couple places and looked into the motor repair (got one quote for $250 if I bring it in, two other places don't do it at all). I also checked out the schematics of my pool cleaning system (60 GPM @ 80 feet), so it looks like I would actually be able to downgrade to the 1.5HP Hayward Tristar pump without any problems. That pump is about $650 new on Amazon, and it seems easier to replace the whole pump than just the motor (hopefully the plumbing is basically identical - looks like it to me), so I will probably just run this pump to failure and then replace it with a new 1.5HP TriStar and install it myself.

Thanks for the help and replies!

Edit to add:
The two specific pump models are:
SP3220EE (current)
SP3215EE (proposed new)

Looks like the electrical is different in that the SP3215EE can handle either 110 or 220V, and my current pump is 220V only, but all the wiring instructions match up if I use the current 220V feed for the new pump. So I think it should work fine.