Which Pump???????????????

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R

Richard_S

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LifeTime Supporter
Jul 30, 2011
122
SW France
OK, I am going to eat my own arm shortly.

simple question;

can someone please give me a suggestion for replacing my pool pump, considering these perimeters:

In ground pool
90 cubic Meters
Salt
Pump house is within 10 ft of the pool - about 2ft above water level of pool
Gets used for 3 months of the year
Finally - I live in the UK
budget not considered, although spending money on a low energy use pump should be able to be amortised with 3months use per year, so my guess is this is not worth the spend.

I'm just completely confused by the choice and would simply like a quiet, efficient, long lasting, self priming pump!!

thanks for your help.....will stop gnawing now...
 
OK, so I think I have narrowed it down to the following - needs to be self priming:

Pentair Superflo P-SFL-153 1.5HP (what's the difference with Whisperflo?)
or
Waterco Hydrotuf 1.5HP (Australian?)
or
suggestion?>> Hayward Maxflow 2

Any thoughts out there?
 
Why such a large pump? The Superflo 1 HP would be plenty big for that pool.

The Superflo's are a little cheaper than the Whsiperflo's and bit less efficient too at higher flow rates. However, the Superflo up rated 1 HP has about the same efficiency at a lower flow rate than the Whisperflo up rated 1 HP so once you get small enough in the pump line, the Superflo is just as efficient.

There are several on the forum that own one and are highly recommended.
 
I was advised (by local pool man) that my current pump was limit for the pool size and use (the pump is a 1HP Astra Pool Sena) as this pool is in southern France where summer use during the months of July/August is high, as well as being in full sun all day, with temps averaging 35C/95F. The pool itself, unheated, sits at around 28C/83F, so the pump and chlorinator (pool pilot digital) run for approx 12hrs per day. He - the pool man - suggested I put in a 1.5hp pump....but happy to put in 1HP if you think this is enough, especially in light of the electricity costs!!

picture of pump info below, although can't work out HP, but the serial tells me it's the 1HP.
 

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Unless I am losing something in translation here (Two countries divided by a common language, ...), it seems likely that a 2 speed 1 HP pump would handle your requirements nicely. This assumes a somewhat typical layout that your pad is not located an excessive distance from the pool, no unusual water flow requirements, no solar heater, or water feature (fountain, water fall, etc.) that needs flow to operate. Note a 2 speed pump will generally pump about 1/2 the volume on low as they do on high, but using only 1/4 of the electricity, therefore making longer run times more practical. Also note that in our experience, most pool owners run their filters much longer than is needed assuming the water is well balanced.

Ike

p.s. as a revised thought, since you have a 50 hz electrical system your pumps will spin slower than pumps in the U.S. on a 60 hz electrical system, I am not sure how this effects flow, but might be a reason to move up one pump size.
 
Thanks Isaac for that. Yes 50hz cycle, but not sure that this has any effect on pump speed?.

The current pump is either on or off....Would I be right in saying that the Superflo can run at two speeds? Is this a matter of flicking a switch? what is the reduction in waterflow from one speed to the other, as I note that currently my Pool Pilot will not tollerate anything but a full return of all the water via the cell (I have a bypass valve). Anything less than that and the alarm light comes on telling me that the flow rate is too low.
 
Flow rate is proportional to RPM which is proportional to the line frequency. So a 50 Hz pump will have an RPM around 2808 (see motor label) and the flow rate will be about 46 GPM on 1.5" (~40mm) plumbing (instead of 56 GPM for 3450 RPM). Which is plenty of flow rate for that size pool. The only issue could be with a high solar installation.

Also, the Superflo is a two speed pump and flow rate on low speed is half of high speed so in this case about 23 GPM. But you should be able to adjust the bypass of the SWG such that it doesn't alarm.
 

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mas985 said:
Flow rate is proportional to RPM which is proportional to the line frequency. So a 50 Hz pump will have an RPM around 2808 (see motor label) and the flow rate will be about 46 GPM on 1.5" (~40mm) plumbing (instead of 56 GPM for 3450 RPM). Which is plenty of flow rate for that size pool. The only issue could be with a high solar installation.

Also, the Superflo is a two speed pump and flow rate on low speed is half of high speed so in this case about 23 GPM. But you should be able to adjust the bypass of the SWG such that it doesn't alarm.
Click to expand...
bypass fully closed at mo, when pump is full on, so cannot bypass the SWG in any way otherwise flow to SWG is insufficient and alarm goes off.


with 1.5" pipes what flow rate should I be looking for? Is the current (as you've worked it out) 46GPM sufficient?

Also with regards to the Pool Pilot digital then the "46GPM" that you calculate would appear to be the minimum flow that it will accept without setting off the alarm. The manual for the Pool Pilote suggests that 15GPM is the minimum for it to operate, so is it possible that the current pump is not doing a proper job and that the "46GPM" that you calculate is more like just over 15GPM? If I take you figure of 46GPM as correct then either the pool pilot is incorrectly set up (it's new) or there's something blocking the return to the Pool Pilot. If on the other hand this is correct then this would of course mean that running the pump at a slower speed would be unusable, so not much point in getting a dual speed pump.
 
First, let me be clear. 46 GPM is for the Superflo, not your current pump although they should be close.

But if you are getting an alarm without bypassing any water (i.e. bypass valve closed), then yes, something is seriously wrong with your setup.

What is your clean filter pressure and how high is the filter gauge above the pool water level?

Also, how many skimmers, main drains, and returns are in the pool?

Can you post a picture of the equipment?
 
Mark, thanks for your reply, will try to give the info that you mention;

Clean filter after backwash sits in the green area. not sure of PSI but around 14-16PSI would that be right? - basically in the last 3rd of the green area on dial (photo below)
the filter is probably about 3ft above water level at it's base and gauge is on top
There are two surface skimmers, 1 bottom of pool drain/filter and two returns

Photo below is of setup as it was originally when first put in, the only thing that has changed is where the gap (in the piping on the right) is in this photo has been replaced with Pool Pilot Horse shoe system with cell.

I have a separate pump for the Polaris 280
 

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Based on the picture, the flow rate out of the returns should be pretty strong. Is that the case?

Is the pump not working now?
 
yes, flow is strong back into the pool. both jets push water 3ft into the pool. distance from return in pump house to the side of the pool and the return there is about 30ft, as the pump house is at the skimmer end of the pool.

The pump is running - after a fashion.... It ran dry last year, for how long no one knows....could have been 3 weeks.... Now when it switches on via the timer, you get motor buzz, but not always pump action. A tap with my toe to the pump and the pump fires up....Or a switch off then on again sometimes does the trick....
 
Ok so it sounds like you are getting plenty of flow rate. But now I don't understand your comment about the SWG alarm. Can you give me a little more detail about when the SWG alarms and when it doesn't?
 
If I so much as open a crack the valve that bypasses the SWG - so in the photo above the orange valve second from the bottom of the picture and furthest to the left - then the Pool Pilot goes into "low flow" alarm mode. - In the photo above it's fully open as are all the valves.
 
14 PSI seems much too high for that plumbing setup so I am wondering if there is a blockage in the cell somewhere. Do you remember if the filter pressure changed by a lot when you fully opened the bypass valve?

Also, did the configuration of the SWG change with the Pool Pilot. The cell in the picture looks to be different than the pool pilot which is normally installed like this:

pool%20Pilot.jpg


So if you have a second bypass then that may be part of the problem.
 
Hi Mark, the Pool Pilot is exactly as you have it pictured and slips into the gap on the photo where there was an old cell (in the photo the cell is sitting on the return splitter but not plumbed).

Pressure does not change when you bypass the SWG. I am assuming it's 14PSI as I am reading the dial in the first photo - the inner scale being in PSI and outer being in BAR and the needle normally sits on the 1 BAR mark = 14PSI

The bypass at the bottom of your photo of the PP is for too much pressure and only kicks is when the pressure is too high for the cell. This hasn't yet been activated.
 

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