High pitch terrible noise from spa pump

[pcm2a]

Was troubleshooting my main pool pump today and I turned on the spa pump. I was greeted with a wail of agony from it. I have total confidence that someone will know what is wrong from the sound. I had the tiny seal changed out where it was leaking about 2 years ago.

 

[ajw22]

@JamesW @Jimrahbe ideas?

 

[JamesW]

Sounds like bad bearings.

 

[pcm2a]

Solution is to replace the motor?

 

[ajw22]

Solution is to replace the motor?

Repair or replace the motor. You can see if you have a local motor shop who can replace the bearing.

 

[pcm2a]

Better during "freeze mode" to run the pump with the bearings wearing out or just turn the pump off at the breaker? In my system the pool pump pumps water through the spa pump in both pool and spa mode. The spa pump is only there for additional water flow in the spa.

 

[ajw22]

If your pump is not running during "freeze mode" and water circulating then your plumbing is at risk for freezing.

I suggest you read ...

The Physics of Freezing and Freeze Protection

Recently, there have been a lot of questions from those living in moderate climates about using automatic freeze protection or running pumps to prevent freezing and what a pool owner should do when temperatures drop so I thought it might be useful to have a thread which dealt with the issue from...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[pcm2a]

The pool pump does circulate water through the spa pump. Water is always moving through it. I couldn't find in that article where it talks about water flowing through a secondary pump but the pump not being on.

 

[ajw22]

I thought you were talking about your main pump. If you are sure water flows through the spa pump when the pump is running then you should be fine.

Your setup is unusual. Most spas with a seperate pump have a separate intake in the spa for the spa pump and it has an independent water loop.

 

[pcm2a]

I'm sure that water from the main pool pump flows through the spa pump, but once I annotated everything I think there is a spot that would freeze without the spa pump running. I circled the area that I think could freeze without the spa pump pulling from that line.

Unrelated to this, but I wonder why the builders (13+ years ago) would have had two spa suction lines going into the pool pump. Wouldn't it have made more sense to just have one line and put the actuator valve on it? Right now the valve switches between spa suction (spa mode) and spa + pool suction (pool mode). In pool mode water goes into the pool and into the spa, the spa water spills over into the pool, down a waterfall. Maybe at one time it was set up to be able to turn the spillover off and run the pool and spa separately.

 

[ajw22]

About your circled area .... the frost line in TN is 3" deep. Water level in that line will be the same as the water level in the spa. What is the level of the spa compared to that pipe?

I would like to see the way the handles on the actuators are when in pool mode. it looks like the pic you posted above is in SPA mode.

Running the SPA return water through the spa pump is dumb and it puts more restriction on the water flow. I would replumb it to return water to your spa return after the pump and put a check valve in between the T and the pump. See the pic below.

I believe the SPA SPILLOVER function on your AquaLogic in the Configuration Menu. You can adjust the cam on the return actuator to close water flow to the SPA when in POOL mode.

I do not understand why you have two spa suction pipes. There are a few things with your spa plumbing that is not the usual way it is done.

 

[pcm2a]

What is the level of the spa compared to that pipe?

The spa is higher than ground level. With the pool pump on and the spa pump off I believe water is in that line up to the check valve at the ground. In the pic below I labeled a check valve. When I moved in there was not one and if you turned the pool pump off, since the spa is higher, all of the water would drain out into the pool! I asked the previous owners about it and they said they ran the pool pump 24/7.

Pool mode:

I would replumb it to return water to your spa return after the pump and put a check valve in between the T and the pump. See the pic below.

Great idea. If I ever have to start cutting into those pipes it makes total sense.

I believe the SPA SPILLOVER function on your AquaLogic in the Configuration Menu. You can adjust the cam on the return actuator to close water flow to the SPA when in POOL mode.

In my controller the Spa Spillover is disabled. It seems like if I wanted to turn spillover on and off then I would need to be able to stop the pool pump from sucking and returning water into the spa.

 

[ajw22]

The spa is higher than ground level. With the pool pump on and the spa pump off I believe water is in that line up to the check valve at the ground. In the pic below I labeled a check valve. When I moved in there was not one and if you turned the pool pump off, since the spa is higher, all of the water would drain out into the pool! I asked the previous owners about it and they said they ran the pool pump 24/7.

That CV was not visible int he prior picture.

So in pool mode both the pool return line and spa return line equally get water.

In my controller the Spa Spillover is disabled. It seems like if I wanted to turn spillover on and off then I would need to be able to stop the pool pump from sucking and returning water into the spa.

I believe you enable the SPILLOVER function in the Configuration menu.

Then you need to adjust the actuator cams do that it blocks the SPA return when in POOL mode.