Pump Died, Options?

[cnr1089]

So, yesterday (it was about 90F out), I got home from the gym and saw that the pool temperature read 95F. Realizing that it would be impossible for the pool to go from 85-95 overnight (without the propane running), I went out to the pool and noticed that the pump wasn't running.

Hmm, so I turned it off, and turned it back on again, nothing. I then turned everything off, turned off all the breakers, and brought everything up. The pump turned on, then started to smoke, then the breaker broke (it happened so fast, that there wasn't much I could do). This is a new pool (just less then 2 years). The pump is a Hayward NorthStar 2HP (dual speed) pump which has never really given us trouble (except our salt cell always reads No Flow on low speed, but I think that was unrelated, there was some flow, just not enough to run the salt cell).

Hopefully this will be warranty replaced (pool company is coming out in a few days, which is the earliest they can do). The water level, was low, but not too low (certainly not below the skimmers). The pump basket is still full with water (so I don't think it was a loss of water/burnout).

A couple of questions:

1) Any ideas on what could cause this?

2) We have had issues with our flow rate at the slow speed of our pump, it has really been bugging me. Our pool company was going to have Hayward come out and take a look, but obviously we have to fix the pump first.

If for some reason, I have to pay out the nose to fix this (for some reason, the warranty doesn't cover it), I am thinking maybe I should go with a variable speed pump (so that I can make the low speed just high enough to allow my SWG to run). The pool company says the variable speed pumps have been less reliable for them (man, if it is less reliable then the 2 years I got out of my dual speed pump, I will be in trouble). Also, could my Hayward (Goldline Controls) controller control another brand Variable Speed pump? I keep hearing that Hayward isn't as good, especially for the variable speed pump.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mas985]

The pump lost prime and the cause is probably on the suction side of the pump. Clogged line, stuck weir door or maybe a larger air leak somewhere.

VS pumps have pros and cons. They are more efficient and flexible but are more complex too so they can have more things that can go wrong.

But without a spa, I am wondering why they used such a large pump. With just a pool, you could have gone with the smallest 2 speed on the market. A couple of two speed options:

Whisperflo WFDS-3 or WFDS-24 (115v)
Superflo SF-N2-1A (230v)

 

[cnr1089]

The pump lost prime and the cause is probably on the suction side of the pump. Clogged line, stuck weir door or maybe a larger air leak somewhere.

VS pumps have pros and cons. They are more efficient and flexible but are more complex too so they can have more things that can go wrong.

But without a spa, I am wondering why they used such a large pump. With just a pool, you could have gone with the smallest 2 speed on the market. A couple of two speed options:

Whisperflo WFDS-3 or WFDS-24 (115v)
Superflo SF-N2-1A (230v)

If the pump lost prime, would the pump still be 100% full of water? Is this sort of thing covered under the warranty (for the pump)? Also, the pump is about 5' above the pool, which might be why they have such a large pump. As I said, on low speed, there isn't enough flow (except immediately after a backwash, but after a day it is back to being to low) for the SWG's flow switch. It certainly doesn't do a great job skimming at low speed. At high speed, everything is hunky dory, but costs me more $$.

 

[cnr1089]

So, the pool company is out here replacing the pump (under warranty) with a Hayward Tri-Star Dual (of similar HP).

The pump seems to be about half the size of the failed (Northstar) pump. Hopefully it works well for us (yes, it is being replaced for no $$).

 

[linen]

Wow, that is still a massive pump assuming it is the SP32202EE! 150 gpm at 50 ft of head! Unfortunately when talking about pumps, bigger is not better...especially if you do not have any water features. IMO, not only is it oversized for your pool, it is slightly oversized for your filter as well. Definitely run on low when you are filtering, and even then, it looks like there will be a lot of flow (50 gpm at 20 ft of head).

 

[cnr1089]

Believe it or not (and it may have been the other pump), we actually couldn't run the previous pump on low (they were "debugging" the problem, and didn't finish before it died), as there wouldn't be enough flow for the SWG to detect flow.

We do have a "Power Fall" (which with the previous pump, required high speed). I am all for saving on electricity, so the lower the better. I think their thing is about the fact that my equipment is about 20 feet from the pool and 4-5 feet above the pool, I have a heat pump, propane heater, etc, which by the time it flows through everything, reduces the flow.

They are still working on installing it now (the size of the pump is different enough that they are having to do some replumbing), but I am hoping thins all just work perfectly after the fact....