Pentair Superflo VS stops operating in freezing temps

[popechild]

I've noticed a few times now that my Pentair Superflo VS will quit operating during freezing temperatures. There's no external freeze protector type of hardware and the pump is wired directly to the equipment pad subpanel (no automation center, etc.). During previous freezes, I've only noticed this as a result of noticing that the water in the pool had at least partially frozen, so I assumed the pump stopped because water froze despite the pump being on and quit operating as a safety mechanism or something.

But last night in preparation for low teen temps, I made sure everything was flowing nicely and the skimmer basket was empty, then set the pump to it's highest (3450 rpm) setting overnight. This morning the pool had not frozen, but the pump was showing 0 rpms and not circulating. Turning it on/off with the button didn't do anything. I had to turn off the power at the breaker for a while then power it back on in order to get it to re-start, which it did fine at that point, and all the water is circulating normally again.

Any ideas what's going on? I intentionally left everything open this winter to attempt to avoid winterizing (in Atlanta, so temps are only infrequently below freezing), but if it's going to shut off every time I most need it to be operating, it sort of defeats the purpose.

Any ideas?

 

[ajw22]

See reply #4.

 

[Jimrahbe]

PC,

Does your pump normally run 24/7? If not, what did you do to get it to run 24/7?

Which SuperFlo VS do you have? Look at the label on the wet end of the pump and tell us when it was made.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

What is set in SPEED1,2,3 for duration and RPM in the pump control panel?

Everytime you start the pump it restarts at SPEED1 for the duration set, then moves to SPEED2, and then SPEED3. When the SPEED3 duration ends the pump stops.

If the three SPEED durations do not equal 24 hours the pump will shutoff until the next time it is started.

 

[popechild]

I have been running it 24/7 for a while without issue until the sub-freezing temps. Or rather, I thought I was running it 24/7. Turns out my three speeds (which pre-freeze I set to all be 3450 rpms) actually added up to 23h 45m, so there was a 15 minute window in there at some point that it wasn't running. However, I don't think that I just happened to notice it during that 15 minute window. For one, it's happened a few times and only during sub-freezing temps, and second, when it does happen, hitting the Start/Stop button to try to start (or stop and re-start) the pump doesn't do anything the way it does when it's operating normally. It just stays stuck on the "0 rpm" status. The only way to re-set it when it does that is the breaker.

The label shows a date of 11/09/2019. P/N 342001 if that helps at all.