Pine Needles Clogging Impeller

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T

Tris

Gold Supporter
May 25, 2020
25
Hartford, CT
Likely a contributor to my failed pump motor / shaft seal — our impeller gets a lot of pine needles to the point of needing to dismantle the power end off the pump, pull out the needles that are stuck, and then reassemble. Signs I’ve needed to do this included air in the strainer basket, low Flo indicator on the heat pump, or just standard filter maintenance.

We keep a solar cover on 90% of the time and skimmer socks (hair nets) to try to keep the debris going towards the pump strainer to a minimum, however pine needs still make it through.

Given the tree is on my neighbor’s property (I’ll take to them about removal, but it’s easily a ~150’ tree), what recommendations might you have at the pump strainer to contain pine needle and reduce pump wear/tear?
 
I wonder if some pump impeller designs are better at passing pine needles and not getting clogged with them.

I gets lots of pine needed captured in my skimmer basket. The skimmer can be full of pine needles some mornings after a windy day and needle drop. Some needles get caught by the basket in my pump and I clean that out every few weeks.

I wonder if an Intelliflo pump like I have can handle pine needles better then your Hayward 900 pump.

@JamesW any thoughts on this?
 
Tris said:
Likely a contributor to my failed pump motor / shaft seal — our impeller gets a lot of pine needles to the point of needing to dismantle the power end off the pump, pull out the needles that are stuck, and then reassemble. Signs I’ve needed to do this included air in the strainer basket, low Flo indicator on the heat pump, or just standard filter maintenance.

We keep a solar cover on 90% of the time and skimmer socks (hair nets) to try to keep the debris going towards the pump strainer to a minimum, however pine needs still make it through.

Given the tree is on my neighbor’s property (I’ll take to them about removal, but it’s easily a ~150’ tree), what recommendations might you have at the pump strainer to contain pine needle and reduce pump wear/tear?
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Pine needles can get past virtually everything we try in the pool industry. Yes, they will go through a skimmer sock, they get through the fine-mesh Polaris bag. A regular hair net is too porous and will let them straight through, try a skimmer sock. It will slow them down but not stop all.
Having just removed 5 trees from my yard, believe me when I say that is the only permanent way to not have the issue.
The TriStr 900 has a narrower impeller than the Pentair VSPs most have, making it easier to clog, but it can happen to them as well.
There is nothing that nature can't overwhelm when it comes to pools.

 
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