Pentair variable speed pump not keeping time

[tstex]

Here's some things you can take to the bank:

-No company over builds or over engineers their products anymore [ie, first HP printers that lasted 10-15 yrs, John Deere 50's, 60's and 70's tractors]
-Planned obsolescence is built into every device, even heart pacemakers and their batteries...
-Major corporations all have mechanical/financial actuaries that design components to have only X yrs of guaranteed operability, then it fails 3 yrs, 36,000 miles, 1 yr, 2 yrs AKA, ending of the warranty period...
-If someone does make a longer lasting device, machine, etc, then there's pretty much a consumable component that you will continue to pay them to operate

TFP provides an excellent network of very good collaborators that I feel puts the best of the odds into your court to make you the best informed decision. Many times a prior decision we made that was uninformed, it's hard to find a financially and cost-effective retroactive solution that will provide full resolve for some of us pool owners.

Now, in 3 years, I've had to replace my pump 3 times, 2-3 new controllers on top of newly replaced pumps and have had over 28-29 breakers flip on a variable speed pump. While I am certainly empathetic to anyone w drive failures, 1 drive failure in 3 yrs to me is like a 2010 Ford F-150 just hitting 300,000 miles and my passenger electric window motor just had to be replaced. And for the 5 yr successfully operated VSP owner, I'd have taken 6-9 more 5-7 day vacations bc I could leave my home w out worrying about green in X days....

To conclude, don't buy a Hayward ecostar VSP3400 unless you really want drive failures...And remember, a broken clock is correct 2 times a day, so we just cannot explain it when sometimes know design flaws do not manifest in rare instances.

 

[needsajet]

That's a really important point tstex makes. If equipment lasts too long, some engineer or engineering team misses out on bonus or even gets fired for hurting margin and future sales.

In addition, we're installing residential quality for a commercial duty cycle. We buy all this stuff pretty cheap compared to what you would be willing to pay for a mission critical factory component, yet run it with plenty of stop-starts, often year-round, and often with no preventive maintenance applied. So it's great to get the heads-up information on faults and fixes. Thanks for that

 

[TPKnight]

My 011018 Pentair pump was installed on a new construction pool in 12/2014. Last week I observed a dead pump. I called Pentair, spoke with a rep who informed me I am out of warranty by a few months. I was polite and explained that I had a power-related issue last summer, which they opened a work order and dispatched a local pool company to inspect (ended up being a breaker replacement, not a pump issue). The rep found the work order, understood my concern, and spoke with their supervisor who ended up approving a replacement drive. I was responsible for install and had to pay the shipping, but they provided the part FREE to me. How is that for customer service? Pentair went above and beyond for me and warrantied the part. I have no issue with their quality, and even though I was disappointed the drive failed after 3 yhears and a few months, I do live in Florida and I am sure it has seen a few surges in its lifetime! New drive is installed, pool is back in business, and whole house surge part has been ordered!!

 

[seemike]

I notice that when I lose power my pump clock reverts back to 12:00am but all the other programs stay the same. Anyone else had this issue as well?

I have the same problem with my Pentair, which is now out of warranty. The backup capacitor (if there really is one) has never worked, and the clock resets to 12:00 any time there is a power glitch. This is completely unacceptable for an expensive pump using a digital clock and controller. There should be a replaceable coin cell battery or backup capacitor to keep the clock and microcontroller running for a long period of time after a power glitch or you can destroy your Polaris pump as it runs almost dry when the main pump is off. I would NOT recommend this Pentair Pump.

 

[pooldv]

Many, many people here use and love the Pentair intelliflo. Me included. It is probably the most popular pump on TFP and has been for many years. If your pump does not retain the time then you can place a warranty claim with Pentair. My Intelliflo has not lost the time since it was installed in 2012.