Pump motor DIED, what to replace it with? (Solar)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
FlyAU98

FlyAU98

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jul 6, 2014
59
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
My pump motor is starting to make noise that I think may indicate the bearings are going bad.

The house/pool are new to me, so I don't have any background on the equipment selection (listed in signature).

Its a single story house, with the solar panels on the roof.

The pump is controlled by a standard intermatic mechanical timer, which could also stand to be replaced. It isn't pretty and the latch is rusted away, but it works fine.

I'm interested in a two-speed or variable speed pump, but easily open to staying with a single speed.

I looked at the link in another post that showed how to replace the bearings...I don't know the age of the motor, but it has some time on it. I'm probably more interested in just replacing the motor (and pump if I should) than trying to replace the bearings and reinstalling the old motor.

But I have no idea where to start, other than doing a direct replacement of what is there (1hp single speed pump), primarily because of the solar panels.

My future plan for the equipment is to add a Stenner pump for the Chlorine once I got around to having an electrical outlet installed at the equipment pad...although sometimes I think I should just bite the bullet and switch to salt instead of the Stenner. Perhaps this is a time to knock it all out.
 
Re: Pump Motor Going Bad? What to replace it with?

You can get a new housing for the timer. The Intermatic mechanical timers are pretty bullet proof.

Depending on the pump you can remove the motor and backing plate and bring it to a local pool store they'll mount a new motor and just re-install.

What's your DIY level?
 
Re: Pump Motor Going Bad? What to replace it with?

I think replacing the motor or complete pump/motor is well within my capability. Where I'm struggling is in the decision about direct replacement of an identical single speed, or making the two-speed/variable speed jump. The solar panels seem to complicate that.
 
Re: Pump Motor Going Bad? What to replace it with?

When you are running solar you'll want to be running on high speed. Is your system 120V or 240V? Will the aqua solar do switching? https://www.hayward-pool.com/pdf/manuals/AquaSolarGL-235.pdf

I'm not positive, but I think you can wire a 2 speed motor for low, then when the solar comes on it will switch it to high. That might be the ideal setup.

I'm sure others will chime in.

If the pump is fine, I'd just replace the motor (2-speed) also a new shaft seal.
 
Re: Pump Motor Going Bad? What to replace it with?

Hey Auburn, do you have any model or part numbers from your motor or pump so we can see what you are working with? A picture of the label would do nicely.
 
Re: Pump Motor Going Bad? What to replace it with?

The motor stopped working sometime yesterday afternoon or this morning. So its replacement time one way or the other.

Pictures of the set up are below. The solar panels are on a one-story, gradually sloped roof.

Like I said, I don't have any hangup replacing it with a single speed motor/pump, but if there is some reasonable savings to be made without significant installation costs, I don't mind the extra $$$ for a two-speed or variable speed pump.

At this point, not knowing the age of the existing pump (it looks like its been there for a while), I'm inclined to replace the entire thing, pump and motor.

I'm looking for advice....

Motor Label.jpg
Pump Front View.jpg
Piping Setup.jpg
Setup Closeup.jpg
 
Looks like a dura glass pump. They're pretty durable. No need to swap out the pump. You can take off the silver band and remove the mounting plate/motor assembly with out having to do any thing with the plumbing.
http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/DuraGlasOM.pdf

How many hour a day is the pump running? How long is the solar on? You could get a two-speed motor and wire it with a high/low switch, keep in on high speed, use low when the solar isn't working. I'm sure there's a relay you could install to switch from high to low. But don't have any info currently. I'm sure it's been done in the past.
 
That looks like the right manual. The pump runs about 5 hours a day, I try and keep the time adjusted so that its running when the sun is best for the solar (we like the pool warm). I'm not sure that manually going from low to high for solar would be very useful to us.

That said, I'm not entirely sure when the solar is on or off. I leave the solar controller set just below 90 and ignore it. I assume that has the solar running full time, except perhaps in the summer.

I think my only interest in a variable/2 speed pump would be if somehow my existing solar controller would clue it in to run fast or not.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
bobodaclown said:
You can take off the silver band and remove the mounting plate/motor assembly with out having to do any thing with the plumbing.
Click to expand...
I removed the motor as you suggested. It came off fairly easily, other than the nut that secures the silver band was pretty well rusted...it was tough to back off.

Here is what I have now:
IMG_0799.jpg
IMG_0801.jpg
IMG_0802.jpg
IMG_0803.jpg
IMG_0804.jpg

Any thoughts on the pump section? Its a bit discolored...is it still worth reusing? If I go all DIY on this, I assume I need an o-ring kit?

I'm thinking about just having my wife take what I removed to the 'old school' pool shop nearby and seeing if they have the motor/seal kit to fix it, so I can try to pop it back on tomorrow night...
 
Up here in Northern California, I turn off the solar during the winter and run on low speed which saves quite a bit of cash, but being that you get a lot more sun and run your solar year-round, a single speed motor would probably be okay. Your pump's wet end looks okay to me and if you replace just the motor, you avoid having to do any PVC work. You would need the two o-rings (and lube) and a new shaft seal. Sounds like you're a DIY'er, so you should have no problems replacing the motor. I just followed the instructions in the manual and got it done.

[EDIT] Replacement parts are readily available, so if you want to, say, replace the band clamp and a new shiny one, just order one.
 
bignick said:
Up here in Northern California, I turn off the solar during the winter and run on low speed which saves quite a bit of cash, but being that you get a lot more sun and run your solar year-round, a single speed motor would probably be okay.
Click to expand...

I definitely run the solar all winter. With a few exceptions when we had a stretch of cloudy days, the pool has been at least 81 degrees on days I've wanted to use it for the past couple months!
 
My local, non-chain pool store replaced the motor and seals for me...he did the work in the shop for the same price the motor itself (without the seal kit) was going to cost me online.

But of course, the rusty clamp band that holds the pump together won't tighten up now (from the threads being damaged when I removed the nut) so the pump is leaking.

New clamp on order...

And of course, the plastic nut that connects the chlorine feeder (that I don't use) completely disintegrated when I touched it, so now I have to figure out how to fix that too.
 
So...1 year and 12 days later...the pump/motor is getting a little noisy again...

I would suspect the 'quality' Chinese replacement motor.

All that has changed since my original post is that the intermatic timer has been replaced with a intermatic combo transformer/mechanical timer...and everything has been rewired fresh.

So I intend to continue using the Intermatic timer for on/off. Solar is still running most all the time, so I suspect I stay with single speed.

Where do I get a motor that lasts for more than a year?

I'm going to swing by the old school pool store that swapped the motor for me last year and see how close we are with the 1-year warranty...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply