Need advice on pool pump

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thewayne

0
Apr 14, 2008
24
East Texas
I think it is time to replace my pool pump this year. It was making a horrible noise at the end of last season and I fully expect it to not spin at all when I fire it up this weekend.

I have a 29' round AG pool with 48" walls. I believe it is about 19,000 gallons. I currently have a 1.5hp pump that really drives the electricity bill up in the summer.
I run it 4hours in the morning and 4hours in the evening. I would like to maybe downsize to a .75hp if possible and maybe get a dual stage pump if they are affordable.

Where should I look and what should I look for?


Thanks,

Wayne
 
I replaced my 1.5 HP Whisperflow with a 0.75 HP Hayward Tristar Energy Efficient model.

You should read the article on pump sizing in pool school. Also the Haward website has a worksheet for doing the hydraulics calculations for sizing your pump to your pool.

Each brand/model of pump has a unique pump curve and you ultimately have to buy a pump with a pump curve that matches your application.

For my application I was able to go with a much smaller pump and run it a bit longer each day and save overall considerable electricity!

Variable speed pumps will save you the most electricity but are the most expensive. A 2 speed pump is a nice compromise and will save electricity also. Most pump product lines have ones that are designed to be more energy efficient that the rest. My understanding my be incorrect, but I have been told they are more energy efficient because they utilize motors with large permanent magnets in them. Whatever the reason, now is a great opportunity for you to make an energy saving decision.
 
I would encourage you to look at the energy efficient pumps also. When I replaced mine two years ago the difference in cost was made up for after a single season of use.

The energy efficient pumps typically have both a starting capacitor and a run time capacitor. The run time capacitor typically can be seen as a big bump on the side of the motor.

I found that A.O. Smith had a lot of good info on the different pump motors.

Do you need to replace the whole pump or just the motor? I just replaced my motor as the pump still worked. The replacement motor is much cheaper than the whole thing in my case.

You just have to figure out the motor flange type and replace it with the same type flange.
 
Hayward has a nice worksheet to go through when matching a pump to your pool. It can be found here:

http://www.haywardnet.com/pdfs/Pump_filter_sizing.pdf

Every pump (motor + impeller) manufacturer has a graph or "pump curve" available for their pump. You can get that off the internet for some of the pumps you are considering.

If you are considering changing out only the motor, I would advise you to go with a motor with similar power as the design of the impeller is lots of times matched to the power of the motor for best efficiency.

Sizing a new pump is a technical thing and a little more than meets the eye at first, but you can do it and we are here to answer questions along the way.

Good luck!

Lee
 
Just as I suspected, the pump is completely seized up. I read through that hayward worksheet, and that was a lot of info. I will be replacing the pump and impeller but I need to do this as economically as possible.

I did the math on the worksheet and my pool is 19805 gallons I have 2" piping from the pool to the pump. I am having trouble selecting a pump. Can someone reccomend a specific pump or point me in the right direction?


Thanks
 
I don't think you could go wrong with getting a Pentair pump. I've got the 1 hp 2 speed Optiflo, and like it so far. Price-wise, it fit my budget. Looks like they make two other pumps designed primarily for AGP's; the Dynamo and Whisperflo series, and the prices increase accordingly. I think you could downsize to a 1 hp pump, and I would definitely go with a two speed for energy savings. I got the following prices from Amerimerc.com . They're the company I ordered my pump from.

1 hp 2 sp Optiflo - $243.95
1 hp 2 sp Dynamo - $269.95
1 hp 2 sp Whisperflo - $528 - $608

The Whisperflo would give you the best energy efficiency of the three, but as you can see, it's the priciest of the three.
 
Since your old pump is now toast, taking flow measurements is out of the question.

Ask your self this: "Do you think your pool needs more flow or less flow".
Consider the number of skimmers you have to run.
Also consider the number of pool returns you have.

What is the brand/model of your existing 1.5 HP pump?
What is the SF (service factor) of this 1.5HP pump? It should be stamped on the pump plate with the electrical info.
Is it 120 or 240v? How many amps does it draw now?

Is your pump located above or below the water level? How much?
What is the max flow rate of your filter?
Do you have a SWG?

Most likely you could go with a 1.0 HP Hayward Tristar Energy Efficient 2 speed model. You may even be able to go with the 0.75 HP model.

I use the Tristar 0.75 HP pump to drive water to an overflow spa/pool with about 7 water returns through 2" PVC. It also runs 2 skimmers and a pool skim. I have an oversized 520 sq ft. cartridge filter so not much head added there. My pool is 24000 gal. I run 10 hrs per day which is more than needed (long story). I have been very happy with it all. When I did my pool total dynamic head measurements I found that I got 90 GPM out of my old Whisperflow 1.5 HP pump and my new pump produced 80-85 GPM with only 0.75 HP. My old pump pulled 10 amps on the 240 volt and the new pump only pulls 7 amps which is a 30% reduction in electricity for almost the same flow.

My pump turns over my entire pool volume in 5 hours. I run 10 so I get 2 turns per day. I installed a flow meter on my plumbing to get a clear picture of all this stuff. The one I installed was made by RollaChem and less expensive ($35) than others. It seems to work fine.

Remember, if you go to the 2 speed pump, you may not need as much flow on the high speed because of all the turnover you have accomplished on the low speed. You only need enough water flow speed on the high speed to run your pool surface skimmers a few hours a day.

For MY pool Total Dynamic Head came out to be 50.

Attached is a file with the pump curves for the Hayward Tristar pumps. Also a WhisperFlow curve for comparison. I went with the Tristar because the pump curve/head combination worked better for my situation than the Whisperflow.

A model for you to consider is the Tristar SP32102EE dual speed with 1.0HP (1.85 SF) runs on 240volt pulling 8.5 amps on HIGH speed and 3.0 amps on LOW. I purchased my pump from http://www.h20poolproducts.com. There price on this pump is $529.

Good luck

Lee
 

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Since thewayne has an above ground pool, the Tristar and WhisperFlo pumps are most likely not the best choices. Those two pumps are designed for in-ground pools. While it is sometimes possible to use an in-ground pump on an above ground pool it is not usually a good match.

MikeInTN suggested two good Pentair pumps, the OptiFlo and Dynamo pumps. If you want to go with Hayward, something in the Power-Flo series would be appropriate. All three are designed for use with above ground pools.
 
learthur said:
Since your old pump is now toast, taking flow measurements is out of the question.

Ask your self this: "Do you think your pool needs more flow or less flow". Less flow. With the current pump, everything floating in the pool acts as if it is floating in a flushing toilet.

Consider the number of skimmers you have to run. There is only one skimmer.
Also consider the number of pool returns you have. There is only one return.

What is the brand/model of your existing 1.5 HP pump? My current pump is an Astral Pool pump model AGP1615#
What is the SF (service factor) of this 1.5HP pump? I could not find any marking for SF but did see a Pump Duty of 1081/1795
Is it 120 or 240v? How many amps does it draw now? It is 120v, 12amps

Is your pump located above or below the water level? How much? The pump sits on the ground about 10' away from the pool. The pool walls are 48" tall.
What is the max flow rate of your filter? The info on the filter is as follows: Max Pressure Drop 15.2PSI. Rated Pressure 50PSI. Rated Flow 60GPM. Also, the filter measures about 24" tall and 20-21" wide.
Do you have a SWG? No, but I would like to add one in the future.
Click to expand...
 
Jason & Mike gave you some pretty good suggestions on brands to choose from. I would go with as low HP pump as you can because you really don't need anything bigger.

My suggestion would be the 3/4 HP 2 sp Dynamo. It looks like it would give you at least 40 GPM for an 8 hour turnover which is probably the most you would ever need (i.e. 3 turns per day). On low speed, you could probably let it run 24/7 for constant cleaning and real energy savings.
 
I agree with Mark S. I don't think I would go with anything larger than a 3/4 HP.

Other than perhaps size selection and pipe size, I an not sure what the difference is between the above ground vs. inground pumps.

The Tristar 2 speed is too large for your application. I am not as familiar with the above ground pumps in the Penrair line.

Lee
 
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