My new Hayward pump vibrates and makes a constant pulsing sound. When you touch/put pressure on the motor it makes a rattling sound as well.

[psychobunny]

Hi everyone,

Last year my pump died on my pool which was a Hayward Super Pump so I replaced it with the Super Pump II at the end of last season which my dad installed. It always sounded a bit louder than the old one, but this year it sounds really bad and we're stumped as to why.

I have a video at the end of this post to show what I mean, but it makes a repetitive pulsing sound over and over and over, and causes vibrations, where you'll be sitting in the cabana outside and you can feel the ground and the chair arm rests vibrating from it. It's a steady rur rur rur rur rur humming sound. When using my iPhone and an app, from 12" away it shows around 73-75 decibels.

New video by Lee Moreau

There's one video of it, you can hear how it isn't a steady hum but instead that pulsing sound. Then, just putting the tiniest bit of pressure on the motor part makes it rattle like that.

Online it said pumps are around 65-90 decibels so I guess it's within range, but it just seems really loud to me, like even though it's in the pump room I can hear it from across the year meaning my neighbours next to me can as well. I can handle the sound, but it's that steady pulse that drives me nuts, as well as how you feel your feet vibrating from the patio, or sitting on the couch in the cabana you feel the arm rests vibrating almost like a big truck is driving by.

Here's one more video, similar to the first but had it so I'll post New video by Lee Moreau

My dad was going to come down tomorrow as he lives 2 hours away, so thought I'd post just to see if any suggestions. He wanted to redo all the plumbing and raise the pump off the ground as he said it should be higher up and not sitting right on the concrete like that.

 

[1poolman1]

Used pump with bad bearings. May have something stuck in the impeller causing out of balance rattle.

 

[psychobunny]

Used pump with bad bearings. May have something stuck in the impeller causing out of balance rattle.

Thanks I will check into that, it's not used though I bought it brand new at the end of last season, so it has probably been in use a total of 30 days between this season and last. I purchased it from a large pool company in the area that's an authorized Hayward reseller.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

It sounds like it's vibrating against the ground. Do you have enough room to slip some type of rubber mat underneath? Something like a truck mudflap or floor mat or ???

 

[psychobunny]

It sounds like it's vibrating against the ground. Do you have enough room to slip some type of rubber mat underneath? Something like a truck mudflap or floor mat or ???

That's what I'm thinking as well and what we were going to try next. It's tight so probably will have to remove the pump to do that but I think it seems necessary. Will give that a shot today.

 

[psychobunny]

Quick update, we redid all the plumbing with flex PVC and raised the pump and put it on a rubber mat, and it's even worse than before. The motor sounds messed so now and is even louder, so going to order another pump from a different brand. Brutal as this pump is only 60 days old, but definitely not dealing with Hayward warranty as reading how it works already sounds like a total joke and waste of time.

 

[1poolman1]

Quick update, we redid all the plumbing with flex PVC and raised the pump and put it on a rubber mat, and it's even worse than before. The motor sounds messed so now and is even louder, so going to order another pump from a different brand. Brutal as this pump is only 60 days old, but definitely not dealing with Hayward warranty as reading how it works already sounds like a total joke and waste of time.

The noise that you hear in your video, after you put your hand on the motor, sounds exactly like a motor with the rear bearing slopping around in the bearing cup in the rear end-bell. If the pump is new, its hard to account for the water tracks down the wet end. Those usually show up after something has been leaking long and been in the sun to evaporate the water and leave deposits. That's why it look old/used to me.

Something you can try is to remove the end cap and be sure all the through bolts are tight. If not, with the motor running, very lightly tap on the end bell with a hammer to set it and re-tighten the bolts. Noise may lessen or go away.

 

[psychobunny]

The noise that you hear in your video, after you put your hand on the motor, sounds exactly like a motor with the rear bearing slopping around in the bearing cup in the rear end-bell. If the pump is new, its hard to account for the water tracks down the wet end. Those usually show up after something has been leaking long and been in the sun to evaporate the water and leave deposits. That's why it look old/used to me.

Something you can try is to remove the end cap and be sure all the through bolts are tight. If not, with the motor running, very lightly tap on the end bell with a hammer to set it and re-tighten the bolts. Noise may lessen or go away.

Thank you! The pump is in the pump house so not in the sun. I did smack it with a hammer and that made the rattling stop a bit but I'm still seeing air in the jets as well as in the pump through the clear lid. It's nowhere near as loud as it was before but it still makes that constant pulsing sound vs running steady. We were thinking though it might be due to the pump being too large. We have 1.5" plumbing but this is a 2hp pump for 2" plumbing. The one that died last year (after only a few years of use) was the one the pool company installed, just the Hayward Super which was also 2hp. A pool store was telling my Dad that this might be too large for our pool causing it to work harder to try and push water through its 2" opening but into 1.5" plumbing making it work harder. We were going to replace it with something lower like a 1hp in case that helps at all.

 

[1poolman1]

Thank you! The pump is in the pump house so not in the sun. I did smack it with a hammer and that made the rattling stop a bit but I'm still seeing air in the jets as well as in the pump through the clear lid. It's nowhere near as loud as it was before but it still makes that constant pulsing sound vs running steady. We were thinking though it might be due to the pump being too large. We have 1.5" plumbing but this is a 2hp pump for 2" plumbing. The one that died last year (after only a few years of use) was the one the pool company installed, just the Hayward Super which was also 2hp. A pool store was telling my Dad that this might be too large for our pool causing it to work harder to try and push water through its 2" opening but into 1.5" plumbing making it work harder. We were going to replace it with something lower like a 1hp in case that helps at all.

While a 2hp Super 2 is too much pump for 1.5" plumbing, that is not what is causing that rattle. It is a mechanical problem in the motor or possibly an out of balance impeller (something stuck in it) but that rarely causes the noise you hear. I've that noise happen when a pump is dropped before installation (yeah, I dropped it, only did that once). Knocks stuff out of alignment. Had to loosen the through bolts at the back of the motor and tap (not smack) the end bell with the motor running 'til the noise went away. Was prepared to have to replace the motor (that's just business), but never got a call back.

Still sounds like a rear bearing cup that doesn't hold the bearing tight. Century had that problem on their motors (56 frame), but it seldom happened on the re-branded A.O Smith 48 frame motor on that pump. Century bought A.O. Smith's motor division a couple of decades ago.
The quick fix was to remove the end bell and wrap about 3 layers of Teflon tape on the bearing and reassemble. Would last a few years. Easy on a 56 frame motor.

 

[psychobunny]

While a 2hp Super 2 is too much pump for 1.5" plumbing, that is not what is causing that rattle. It is a mechanical problem in the motor or possibly an out of balance impeller (something stuck in it) but that rarely causes the noise you hear. I've that noise happen when a pump is dropped before installation (yeah, I dropped it, only did that once). Knocks stuff out of alignment. Had to loosen the through bolts at the back of the motor and tap (not smack) the end bell with the motor running 'til the noise went away. Was prepared to have to replace the motor (that's just business), but never got a call back.

Still sounds like a rear bearing cup that doesn't hold the bearing tight. Century had that problem on their motors (56 frame), but it seldom happened on the re-branded A.O Smith 48 frame motor on that pump. Century bought A.O. Smith's motor division a couple of decades ago.
The quick fix was to remove the end bell and wrap about 3 layers of Teflon tape on the bearing and reassemble. Would last a few years. Easy on a 56 frame motor.

Thank you! That's super helpful, I'll show it to my dad as he's more knowledgable on stuff like this than I am. We did take the pump apart and the impeller spun very smoothly so it's very odd. I'm thinking it might be easier to just call it a day and get a new pump but I'll keep researching, thanks!