Replacement pump motor

[martypres]

The motor on my Hayward Super Pump is on its last legs and needs to be replaced. The current motor is 1 HP with a SF of 1.1. My first inclination was to replace it with an energy efficient single phase motor, so I found a A. O. Smith E-Plus 3/4 HP motor with a 1.5 SF that would have equivalent SFHP (1.125 vs. 1.1). After doing some research on this forum I noticed that dual speed motors are recommended and can result in significant energy savings even over the efficient single speed. I identified a full rated A. O. Smith dual speed 1 HP motor with 1.5 SF, which leads me to some questions. Could increasing my SFHP from the current 1.1 to 1.5 cause problems? I have a fairly large pool, but only 2 intakes and 1 return. I wouldn't want the increased pump power to cause any problems with my filter. Perhaps the fact that I would me primarily running in low speed mode would mitigate any potential problems? The 3/4 HP version of this particular dual speed motor is stated to be 115V instead of the 230V that I require.

Any other potential issues with replacing a single speed motor with dual speed? From other posts it looks like I'll need to add a switch at the motor for low speed mode. I have a standard timer that I don't currently use as I have been running the pump 24/7 for various reasons (algae issues and the current motor locks up when it stops). Hopefully, when these issues are resolved I can start using the timer to use even less energy.

 

[Bama Rambler]

You did fine. As long as you are equal to or slightly above the old SFHP you'll be fine. You will need a switch or a dual speed timer. You can add a manual witch and let the timer you have run it on one speed and use the switch to run it on the other when you need to.

 

[martypres]

I installed the new two speed pump motor and it works great. It did take a few trips to the hardware store to get the right parts (20 amp switches, wiring, conduit, clamps, 2 gang box). I have been very happy with the motor and it's a big improvement over the original. I have bypassed the timer for now but may use it in the future. It's been running on high due to separate issues with algae control, but plan to switch to low speed and save $$$ soon.