Pump Selection Advice

[bigpapa54]

I am trying to get some advice on the correct pump to buy for my inground pool as I am a bit out of my depth. I am replacing a Jandy PHPM 1.5 pump single speed. I would like to replace it with a 2 speed pump as I really can't afford a variable speed right now. My pool is ~13,000 gals with an attached spa which flows into the pool.
The construction on the pool is a bit old and there is only one intake from the pool, it is in the skimmer and is 1.5 inch. The pump is about 3 feet above the intake in the pool. The plumbing from the pool to the pump is 1.5 inch. After the pump it is 2 inch to to the heater and Jandy Dev60 DE filter. The return to the spa is 2 inch with 5 heads into the spa, where I push the majority of the return water. Not sure of the pipe size on the spa return heads as they appear to be for an above ground spa, they spin and can be closed off if you turn the outer collar. There are two returns into the pool which are 1 inch in dia.

From advice given on TFP I have been looking at the pentair 340043 1.5 hp 2 speed pump. I am not sure if it will have a high enough head to run my system. I would love to be able to use my Kreepy Krauly Great White pool cleaner as well.

I have attached a few pics of the plumbing and spa. Any advice that y'all could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

 

[isospin]

I have that exact same pump and pipe setup on my 15000 gal pool, except that my pump is almost 13 ft above the pool water level. The company that installed it (before I owned the home) did a really lousy plumbing job, so there are several unnecessary elbows after the pump going into and out of the filter, a 500sf cartridge filter.

The company that put in the pump simply did not wire the low speed, and so the pump ran on high all the time it was running. Curiosity got the better of me a couple weekends ago, and I went and wired the low speed to see if it would work at all. It turned out that I was able to keep the low speed on for a full 24hours after switching it from high (the pump wont prime on low with it being that high). After the leaf catcher basket filled up some the pump stalled, of course, since with that much head the pump is barely able to keep up at low speed. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it worked at all. If It worked in my application with a 13ft rise, my thought it should have no trouble in your case since you have a much lower head (assmuing the plumbing past the pump is well thought out.)

 

[mas985]

Welcome to the forum!

I am replacing a Jandy PHPM 1.5 pump single speed.

If the wet end is in good condition, you could just replace the motor with a 2 speed. But if you do replace the pump I would go with a 1.5 HP Whisperflo WFDS-6 (or WFDS-28). The SuperFlo is a lower head pump and won't perform as well with the spa jets.

 

[bigpapa54]

Thanks for the welcome! I did replace the motor on the PHPM 1.5 with a 2 speed but unfortunately didn't replace the shaft seal and ruined it in about 6 months. That pump has had issues for a while so I just want to put it to bed with a new one. Thank you for your advice!

 

[Patrick_B]

Hey Papa, welcome to TFP,

I hope to see a pic of the pool nice and clear once you get your pump issues sorted. Sorry to hear your troubles, and hope you enjoy the forum.

 

[bigpapa54]

Thanks! You certainly will!