Pump Voltage...125 or 220?

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FlyboyTR

FlyboyTR

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Jul 5, 2009
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Mobile, AL
Hello,
We are purchasing a used 16x32 pool. Will start the moving process next weekend…I’m sure I’ll have questions about that! The pool has a sand filter and a 125vac pump motor (sorry…don’t know the details). Last year a man that lives next to our little airport was tearing down his AGP (guessing…20x40…it was huge) and offered to give me the strainer, pump, sand filter, injectors, breaker box, timer…etc. I said sure…knowing we were eventually going to do the pool thing…loaded it on a trailer and move it into our hanger.

Again…no details…but the pump is a 220vac pump and is obviously larger than the 125vac pump that is currently on the pool. Generally speaking, is there an advantage of having a larger, 220vac pump? …electrical usage and filtration/water flow?

Thanks!
 
Since you're getting a pool with filter and pump already sized for it I'd leave the other one in the hanger till the one oyu have goes south.

You really can't make the assumption that the 220v pump is larger than the 125v pump. It could be, but not necessarily. We have a 1 1/2 hp 125 volt but they make the same pump/motor in 220v.
 
For filtration, you usually want a smaller pump, not a larger pump. Obviously you can go too small, but for the most part it is really common to have pumps that are too large, and quite rare to see pumps that are too small. A larger pump uses more electricity and don't work any better (unless the small pump is way too small).

Of course, as Bama Rambler said, you can't really tell how large a pump is just by the voltage. The very largest pumps are 230 volt only and the very smallest pumps are 115 volt only, but for a wide range in the middle pumps are available in both voltages.
 
As far as power usage goes, 240V uses the same as 120v. 120 v pump will pull more current than a 240 v, but the usage (measured in Watts) will be exactly the same given the motor size is the same HP rating. (Watts=amps x volts)
 
In fact, many pool pump motors can be converted from 220V to 110V (or vice-versa) simply by connecting them differently. The details are usually on or inside the rear cover or connection block cover, assuming you can read a schematic. They will use the same amount of power (in kWh) but require different wiring from the supply panel. 220V circuits are preferred mainly because smaller wiring can be used because they carry only half the amperage and the load is spread over two phases (thus there is less chance of a single phase becoming overloaded because of the pump.)
 
Great info! Thanks...
I will remain with the pump and filter that came with the pool. I will lube all the pump/filter parts on the extra unit and just keep them in storage until something dies! thanks again! :-D
 
Some pump motors may have a 220VAC input, however there are a few thigns to bear in mind
most 220VAC/240VAC motors are designed to run on a 50Hz power cycle while your 110V power is 60Hz.
This cycling makes more of a difference than the input voltage.
running a 50Hz motor at 60Hz is not such a good thing, they go really well for about 5 mins or less then burn out
Generally capacitors are ated for one or the other, and the 50Hz pumps have smaller impellors than their 60Hz equivilants

stick with the unit that comes with the pool and hang onto it for emergency situations
 
So...if a pump motor pulls 10 amps and is wired for 110v, it is pulling the 10 amps through one wire (basically) and if wired for 220 it is pulling 5 amps on each of the 110v phases. So...really no difference in overal power consumption. Is this correct?

Travis
 
It doesnt really work that way, EXACTLY, but for all intents and purposes, yes. But, it would only pull about 2.5-3 amps per leg. A 240 motor will pull about half the amps a 120 will pull.
 

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Brad S said:
It doesnt really work that way, EXACTLY, but for all intents and purposes, yes. But, it would only pull about 2.5-3 amps per leg. A 240 motor will pull about half the amps a 120 will pull.
Click to expand...

Brad,
So…If a motor can be wired either 110 or 220…If it’s wired for 220 will there be less “total” electricity used? …Will it cost less to operate it when wired for 220? Based upon our hypothetical 10 amp draw on 110, you said it would be drawing 2.5 – 3 amps per leg. A total 5 -6 amps total draw on 220. So would that equate to a 40% energy savings…hypothetically? :scratch: Thanks! :-D
 
No difference in power usage.
Electricity is sold by the watt. A 240 volt motor will pull about half the current that a 120 volt motor will pull.
So..hypothetical situation: if a 120 volt motor pulls 5 amps, thats 600 watts (120 x 5), then a 240 volt motor pulls 2.5 amps, or 600 watts (240 x 2.5)

A 240 volt motor will not save any electricity usage. The amps and volts might be different, but the actual watts used will be the same..
 
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