Hi all, and thanks in advance for any wisdom you can provide. My old single speed pump recently decided to start making a lot of noise then quit working. So, after seeing my electric bill went down 50 bucks and the only thing that had changed was the pump not running I figured it would be worth the investment to buy a 2 speed pump. I settled on the Pentair Superflo 340042 1 HP 2 speed pump. The thing arrived yesterday with the switch in a little baggy zip tied to the pump and poor installation instructions. Between the poor diagram (lines not showing) on the side of the pump and some of the articles I've found here, I determined the yellow wire off the switch goes to position 2 on the pump, the white wire goes to position 3/4, one of the hots coming from the timer goes to position 1 and the other hot attaches directly to the black wire coming off the switch, then the ground coming from the timer goes to the green ground screw. What I can not figure out is how to route the switch wires inside the pump housing. There is literally no room in there. When I tried routing them in what I thought was the most efficient manner, the black coming off the switch is going to be too short to work with. If I route them another way they are in the way of the terminal block on the pump. I am really disappointed with the way this pump arrived. For the amount of money it cost, and due to the fact that I specifically purchased a 2 speed pump I don't feel I should be in the position of having to actually install the switch that makes it a 2 speed pump. Has anyone here successfully installed one of these switches that could perhaps shed a little light?
Help with Pentair 2 speed pump wiring
- Thread starter ScottCh
- Start date
The reality here is that Pentair doesn't have to do anything more than what there doing now at all, the installation instructions you consider to be poor, only seem that way to you because Pentair expects you to have the skill set, product knowledge, experience, etc, that meets there definition of a qualified installing party, one of which is being able to read and understand schematics, the motor schematic label clearly verifies various connection points, which are the motor manufacturers responsibility to provide, not Pentairs.
As far as the switch in the bag is concerned, my truck glove box is full of them, I am surprised the motors even still come with a switch, the switch is provided by the motor manufacturer, not Pentair.
Not that there is anything wrong with connecting the switch, It is just more professional to include a dual timer set-up that is configured to work with 2 speed pumps as a package deal, this way the pump continues to provide on/off time operation as the original single speed did. (or an already existing pool automation system that can interface/connect to new 2 speed pump)
As far as fighting with installing the switch as you seem to be now, i would consider another location if you still plan on using it. I assume there is some length of 4'-5' of flexible conduit that connects the pump wiring, to maybe a time clock box, etc?
If so, you could run an additional piece of wire through the flexible conduit that connects to the pump, this way you only have to connect the extra wire to the motor terminal, instead of trying to cram the switch in to (remember, the single speed had only "3" wires, the 2 speed needs the additional "4th" wire) It will be much easier than trying to fit that switch on the motor the way that you have been trying to do already, it will be much better if it ends up in a more open timer box or something, and then figure out a way to mount the switch to the box etc
As far as the switch in the bag is concerned, my truck glove box is full of them, I am surprised the motors even still come with a switch, the switch is provided by the motor manufacturer, not Pentair.
Not that there is anything wrong with connecting the switch, It is just more professional to include a dual timer set-up that is configured to work with 2 speed pumps as a package deal, this way the pump continues to provide on/off time operation as the original single speed did. (or an already existing pool automation system that can interface/connect to new 2 speed pump)
As far as fighting with installing the switch as you seem to be now, i would consider another location if you still plan on using it. I assume there is some length of 4'-5' of flexible conduit that connects the pump wiring, to maybe a time clock box, etc?
If so, you could run an additional piece of wire through the flexible conduit that connects to the pump, this way you only have to connect the extra wire to the motor terminal, instead of trying to cram the switch in to (remember, the single speed had only "3" wires, the 2 speed needs the additional "4th" wire) It will be much easier than trying to fit that switch on the motor the way that you have been trying to do already, it will be much better if it ends up in a more open timer box or something, and then figure out a way to mount the switch to the box etc
I can read and understand schematics when the lines are all there. The problem in this case was the lines weren't there. Musta been a problem at the print shop. A dual timer set-up sounds nice and probably works real well, but in the grand scheme of things this pump will operate 99% of the time on low speed. The only time I will kick it to high is to vacuum the pool. I, unfortunately, don't have a fancy setup with water features, etc, so the dual timer would probably be overkill for me. I finally went and pulled the pigtail off my timer that goes to the pump and brought it into the shop where I could get the pump up on a table to make it easier to work with. After a little bit of playing around I finally got all the wires tucked neatly in and the switch plate installed onto the back of the pump. I do thank you for the input, I especially like the idea of putting the switch in another location. It would be handy to have it up by the timer. I will keep the blank backing panel for the pump in case I ever do try to do this.