Wiring a Pentair VF (VS probably applies too)

[RobbieH]

So, before I go out and start working on this pump again, I have been thinking about this and wanted to pose this question.

My old pump (and the new Pentair) is 220v. It was wired with the two hot wires from the timer, and a bonding wire from the case of the pump. There is not a third "ground" wire to the timer or breaker box. The new Pentair mentions the need for a ground wire. Is this truly the case? Has anyone wired one of these pumps with just the two hot wires?

 

[Bama Rambler]

The two hot wires will run the pump without issue. The ground wire is a safety issue. The ground is designed to route the voltage to ground in case of a short in the motor which will trip the breaker. without a ground there is a possibility of energizing the case and not tripping the breaker if there's a short to the case. The bond loop will probably route the power to ground but it's not designed for that purpose.

 

[RobbieH]

Gotcha, thank you. I hooked it up with just the two and it's running fine. It was definitely the drive that was dead, the new one is running perfectly. I am having a lot of electrical work done on the house in a few months, so I may be asking these questions again when I get to that point. I want to bring it all up to modern standards when the wiring is being done.

Now to learn about the pump. Running 24x7 it is pulling 250 watts, 30gpm, at 1400 RPM. It is pretty neat that the filter's gauge says zero PSI, but the flow at the returns is almost as strong as it was with the old 1.5 hp single speed thrashing away at it. Just need to research the sweet spots on this pump for energy efficiency. I recall seeing it somewhere, just have to do a search.

Now that it is running, I'm extremely happy with it. Very quiet even when ramped up enough to put 14 psi at the filter. At the current mode, it's a whisper.