New 2 Speed Pump

[Laenini]

Well, I did finally get a new 2 speed pump. My old pump was a Hayward 1HP, single speed unit that was installed with the pool 2 years ago. My new pump is a Waterway 1HP 2 speed pump, I think very similar to FPM's waterway pump. My whole intent with the new 2 speeder is to put it into its low speed and just let it run like that with the hope that it keeps the water moving enough to keep the heater operating. I got a friend to swap the pumps for me and the new pump is running. I have some questions though if anyone can help?

*the clean system pressure with the old pump ran about 14 right after cleaning, with the new pump at the high speed its about 11, and at the low speed it reads 0! That 0 concerns me, although even when its reading the 0 I can see and feel that water is circulating and the heater is staying on like I wanted. Should I be concerned?

*The water level in the pump strainer basket seems to fall a bit after the pump has been running at the low speed for a long time. Backwashing seems to be the only way to fill the strainer all the way back up again. Any ideas why it is behaving this way?

*At the low speed, the heater does keep running, but sometimes it makes a whining noise while running that I have never heard it make before. Again, it seems to be operating ok, but it makes me nervous none the less.

The new pump didn't come with any literature. Even if it did I'd still want advice from you guys as you have always steered me right! So what do you guys think? Should I be concerned about any of this? Did we maybe do something wrong when we installed the new pump? Or is this the way a pump should behave when operating at low speed? All advice is appreciated!

 

[mas985]

Answers below:

Well, I did finally get a new 2 speed pump. My old pump was a Hayward 1HP, single speed unit that was installed with the pool 2 years ago. My new pump is a Waterway 1HP 2 speed pump, I think very similar to FPM's waterway pump. My whole intent with the new 2 speeder is to put it into its low speed and just let it run like that with the hope that it keeps the water moving enough to keep the heater operating. I got a friend to swap the pumps for me and the new pump is running. I have some questions though if anyone can help?

*the clean system pressure with the old pump ran about 14 right after cleaning, with the new pump at the high speed its about 11, and at the low speed it reads 0! That 0 concerns me, although even when its reading the 0 I can see and feel that water is circulating and the heater is staying on like I wanted. Should I be concerned?

No concern there. Pressure should be a lot lower with low speed. The pressure is probably slightly above 0 but the gauge is not all that accurate for such a low pressure.

*The water level in the pump strainer basket seems to fall a bit after the pump has been running at the low speed for a long time. Backwashing seems to be the only way to fill the strainer all the way back up again. Any ideas why it is behaving this way?

This is also typical of a low speed pump. On low speed, the pump lid usually doesn't seal as well so will let some air into the basket. Put some pool lube on the lid seal and try to tighten down the lid a little more.

*At the low speed, the heater does keep running, but sometimes it makes a whining noise while running that I have never heard it make before. Again, it seems to be operating ok, but it makes me nervous none the less.

This might be caused by the temperature differential in the water. Low speed allows the water to heat up a lot more (2x) so it could be causing some expansion in the heat exchanger and/or another part of the heater. This one could be a problem but is hard to tell. You might talk with the heater manufacture just to make sure. Is it the blower fan whining or something else?

The new pump didn't come with any literature. Even if it did I'd still want advice from you guys as you have always steered me right! So what do you guys think? Should I be concerned about any of this? Did we maybe do something wrong when we installed the new pump? Or is this the way a pump should behave when operating at low speed? All advice is appreciated!

 

[geekgranny]

When I run my new Intelliflo VF on about ~15 gpm, clean filter is barely above 0. On ~34 gpm it is 5. On my pressure gauge the first jump from 0 to 2 is a really tiny increment and harder to read accurately. After 2 the increments are spaced larger.

gg=alice

 

[Laenini]

Answers below:


*At the low speed, the heater does keep running, but sometimes it makes a whining noise while running that I have never heard it make before. Again, it seems to be operating ok, but it makes me nervous none the less.

This might be caused by the temperature differential in the water. Low speed allows the water to heat up a lot more (2x) so it could be causing some expansion in the heat exchanger and/or another part of the heater. This one could be a problem but is hard to tell. You might talk with the heater manufacture just to make sure. Is it the blower fan whining or something else?

Temperature differential makes some sense as the noise seems to pop up when the heater has kicked back on, and the noise seems to eventually peter back out as the heater continues to run. Have you ever played with a balloon and after blowing it up let the air back out of it slowly while pulling two sides apart on the neck of the balloon? The whiny, high pitched hissing-squeek the balloon would make is very similar to the noise the heater is making. So that maybe could be the blower fan? I don't know?


As always, thanks for the advice!

 

[mas985]

One thing that comes to mind is a water heater will sometimes pop, whistle or whine when there is a sediment or calcium buildup in the heat exchanger. This is dependent on the amount of heat so it could make the noise on low speed but not on high speed.

Do you have high CH in the water?

How old is the heater and has the exchange ever been inspected and/or cleaned?

Next time the heater is used and starts to make noise, flip the motor up to high speed and see if you can't flush out the heater. Try this a couple of times. If this is unsuccessful, it may need to be taken apart and inspected.

 

[Laenini]

One thing that comes to mind is a water heater will sometimes pop, whistle or whine when there is a sediment or calcium buildup in the heat exchanger. This is dependent on the amount of heat so it could make the noise on low speed but not on high speed.

Do you have high CH in the water?

How old is the heater and has the exchange ever been inspected and/or cleaned?

Next time the heater is used and starts to make noise, flip the motor up to high speed and see if you can't flush out the heater. Try this a couple of times. If this is unsuccessful, it may need to be taken apart and inspected.

We have VERY high CH here in Minnesota. I haven't tested it since last year (since there isn't anything that can be done about it anyway as far as I know) but if I can remember correctly I want to say that the CH was 480 the last I did bother to check it. The heater is not even a year old though. When living in a area with super hard water, one does get kind of used to things like coffee pots and irons having to be replaced frequently. I will try the flushing procedure you suggested and see if that helps, got my fingers crossed...