Hello all, we have a above-ground 18,000 gallon pool. It is about 4-years old. Due to springs underground we couldn't go down with an inground, so we bought one that is partially (about 2 feet) in and the rest above. (hoping all this info somehow helps).
Our set-up is a Hayward AquaTrol (RJ) Generator with a DE filter and Hayward Power Flo LX 1.5 HP pump. Recently, our pump quit on us. It, on occassion, would trip a breaker, so I checked that and indeed it was tripped, but this go around as soon as I would try to reset the breaker it would immediately trip again. When it did have power it was just humming, not moving any water. Lights, etc on the generator were fine. I tried turning it from 'auto' to just on, etc. I found many videos/posts about the humming being caused many from a bad starter capacitor or corrosion on the wire causing the shaft not to spin. However, my I couldn't for the life of me get my pump open and from what I was reading it was probably close to at end of life anyway. SO I bought a new pump. I hated trying to get into the basket with my Power Flo LX, so I changed to the Hayward Super Pump 1.5 HP. This is where all my questions started.
1) Hayward Super Pump is not pre-wired. I thought I could just take the wire/plug from my old pump to the new one, so I got it all wired up and then found a chart in the instruction manual for the new pump that says it recommends 10-gauge, but appears the Power Flo LX only has a 14-gauge cord. I have a 115 V set-up.
2) So toko all that apart and re-wired with the 10-gauge and was all ready to go. Then notice that the plugin on the bottom of my Aquatrol says it is rated only to 15A max (which is concerning considering the Power Flow LX says it needs 20A).
3) My circuit in my breaker box is 20A. So I now also have to upgrade that to a 30A.
4) THE BIG QUESTION: Given that you are supposed to plug your pump directly into the Aquatrol, what do I do? Is there a relay or something from Hayward to make this work? Are there only certain pumps that can work with the Aquatrol because of this? I cannot be the only person out there with this question, but I have scoured everywhere and cannot find an answer. Help?!
At this point, I am trying to decide if I should just send my Super Pump back and just get the Power Flo LX again, but it seems that that wasn't the best set up either given that the manufacturer says it requires 20 A and the Aquatrol plug is only rated for 15A. Of note, I have ZERO experience with any of this and am trying to rely on YouTube and manuals and this forum (!) to swap this out. I am literally moving to the Super Pump due to the easier to access/clean out basket and I heard they have a much longer life span. Am I just creating a headache for myself by changing pump types?
Thanks in advance for any advice/help offered! I just want to do this right without burning up a new pump, my generator or starting a fire...lol!
Our set-up is a Hayward AquaTrol (RJ) Generator with a DE filter and Hayward Power Flo LX 1.5 HP pump. Recently, our pump quit on us. It, on occassion, would trip a breaker, so I checked that and indeed it was tripped, but this go around as soon as I would try to reset the breaker it would immediately trip again. When it did have power it was just humming, not moving any water. Lights, etc on the generator were fine. I tried turning it from 'auto' to just on, etc. I found many videos/posts about the humming being caused many from a bad starter capacitor or corrosion on the wire causing the shaft not to spin. However, my I couldn't for the life of me get my pump open and from what I was reading it was probably close to at end of life anyway. SO I bought a new pump. I hated trying to get into the basket with my Power Flo LX, so I changed to the Hayward Super Pump 1.5 HP. This is where all my questions started.
1) Hayward Super Pump is not pre-wired. I thought I could just take the wire/plug from my old pump to the new one, so I got it all wired up and then found a chart in the instruction manual for the new pump that says it recommends 10-gauge, but appears the Power Flo LX only has a 14-gauge cord. I have a 115 V set-up.
2) So toko all that apart and re-wired with the 10-gauge and was all ready to go. Then notice that the plugin on the bottom of my Aquatrol says it is rated only to 15A max (which is concerning considering the Power Flow LX says it needs 20A).
3) My circuit in my breaker box is 20A. So I now also have to upgrade that to a 30A.
4) THE BIG QUESTION: Given that you are supposed to plug your pump directly into the Aquatrol, what do I do? Is there a relay or something from Hayward to make this work? Are there only certain pumps that can work with the Aquatrol because of this? I cannot be the only person out there with this question, but I have scoured everywhere and cannot find an answer. Help?!
At this point, I am trying to decide if I should just send my Super Pump back and just get the Power Flo LX again, but it seems that that wasn't the best set up either given that the manufacturer says it requires 20 A and the Aquatrol plug is only rated for 15A. Of note, I have ZERO experience with any of this and am trying to rely on YouTube and manuals and this forum (!) to swap this out. I am literally moving to the Super Pump due to the easier to access/clean out basket and I heard they have a much longer life span. Am I just creating a headache for myself by changing pump types?
Thanks in advance for any advice/help offered! I just want to do this right without burning up a new pump, my generator or starting a fire...lol!
