I think my 2 years old Inyo pump/vgreen motor is failing

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mas985 said:
I would not use WEF to compare pump efficiencies. It will lead to the wrong conclusion. Because of the way WEF is defined, larger pumps always have lower WEF even though they are more efficient at the same flow rate. It is nearly always advantageous to go with a larger THP VS pump for both noise and efficiency.

Note on WEF pump ratings

I just updated the Hydraulics 101 sticky with the following paragraph as WEF seems to be getting some attention. Any feedback is welcome. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pump WEF Rating DOE has adopted a metric for rating pumps for their...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...

Yup, that is the conclusion I came to in post #18.
 
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The old pump did struggle if I ran all returns so I Usually forced all return water to the spa. Option 2 was run the pump wide open so I will go bigger. The Inyo pump seemed to struggle priming itself from day one
 
mas985 said:
I would not use WEF to compare pump efficiencies. It will lead to the wrong conclusion. Because of the way WEF is defined, larger pumps always have lower WEF even though they are more efficient at the same flow rate. It is nearly always advantageous to go with a larger THP VS pump for both noise and efficiency.

Note on WEF pump ratings

I just updated the Hydraulics 101 sticky with the following paragraph as WEF seems to be getting some attention. Any feedback is welcome. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pump WEF Rating DOE has adopted a metric for rating pumps for their...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
I did buy the big boy. Thanks for helping..
Other factor is inyo doesn't even list that pump so I am guessing it would be a challenge getting parts.
 
New pump coming today. If the inlet lines up I am set. Specs show old one at 8” and new one at 8.12”. If not I will have to add a piece of smooth 2” PVC. I may still have some left over.
Out to the filter would be easy to rebuild if needed
 
Mark,

Fascinating post. I've heard great things about Inyopools so I'd still contact them and ask if they can do anything. Even if they don't a new seal kit and bearing are pretty cheap. My old Jandy is still going strong with its retrofitted 1.65 VS motor. If you do keep using the rebuilt pump and V-Green motor I'd be sure to check the hold-down screw on the wiring compartment cover. @JamesW mentioned this is a weakness in the design since it only has a very small o-ring and has been known to leak. I just put a blob of UV resistant caulk on it and had no problems. Took it apart after a year and was bone dry in spite of going through a hurricane so I think this is a simple way to address the problem that works.

Good luck with the fixes you are undertaking and I hope this helps.

Chris
 
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setsailsoon said:
Mark,

Fascinating post. I've heard great things about Inyopools so I'd still contact them and ask if they can do anything. Even if they don't a new seal kit and bearing are pretty cheap. My old Jandy is still going strong with it's retrofitted 1.65 VS motor. If you do keep using the rebuilt pump and V-Green motor I'd be sure to check the hold-down screw on the wiring compartment cover. @JamesW mentioned this is a weakness in the design since it only has a very small o-ring and has been known to leak. I just put a blob of UV resistant caulk on it and had no problems. Took it apart after a year and was bone dry in spite of going through a hurricane so I think this is a simple way to address the problem that works.

Good luck with the fixes you are undertaking and I hope this helps.

Chris
Click to expand...
If I had noticed the seal leaking months ago would have been a easy fix so I take some blame.
I ordered a new seal and just sprayed a little lube into the bearing ( don’t try that at home ). Not a lot but may help.
Plan is to replace my old spa pump ( works with the air jets ) that’s used about 4 hours a year with the old inyo pump. Old one works but loud as heck so hard to relax when it’s running 🎧
 
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It’s a good 1/4” higher so have to redo the plumbing but I was needing a project.
A bolt in would have been though, does that mean I am getting old 😀
Good news is I have a spare union that fits the filter.
 
Mark,

Just to complete the conversation about pumps seals and motors, the most common failure mode is for the pump seal to leak and water travels along the pump shaft to the motor bearing and eventually causes motor bearing failure. Fortunately water leaks from the pump body and the pump gets louder so it's easy to spot before the motor bearing is affected if you are watching for this. But once the motor bearing becomes involved things get much more difficult. All pool pump motors I've seen have dissimilar metals in the long screws that hold the case together and the case end. This causes very rapid corrosion and locks the screws in place so well that you twist the long skinny bolt right off before it breaks loose. Sometimes with very great care you can avoid this on all four bolts but this is very rare on any pump over a couple years old. Used to be you could get a rebuild shop to fix this but most of them won't touch a pool pump in this situation since it cost more in labor than they can charge. You can repair it yourself but it takes drilling out the case and replacing with all-thread which is a real pain and not worth the time. One way to prevent this problem is to take the long bolts out one at a time to coat with anti-seize. It's simple to do and you can do it on bench before installation or after it's installed on the pump base in most installations. If you can get the long bolts out a motor bearing replace becomes almost as easy as the pump seal.

I hope this helps.

Chris

PS Since salt pools are so common these days I would replace with seals rated for salt water if you have or anticipate using a salt system. Not sure what the difference is but @JamesW always recommends this choice and that's good reason to spend a couple extra $ to me.
 
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markayash said:
It’s a good 1/4” higher so have to redo the plumbing but I was needing a project.
A bolt in would have been though, does that mean I am getting old 😀
Good news is I have a spare union that fits the filter.
Click to expand...
In which dimension is it off? Sometimes you can heat the pipe to move it just a little.
 
Pump is up and running. This bad boy will do some serious water volume. Old pump wide open would send pressure to 12 but when this beast started with defaults it was well over 20 with all returns open. Yeah it cost twice what my into pump cost but probably have 3 or 4 times the volume.
Thanks Allen and Mark for suggesting this pump size
 

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