Preventive maintenance for Intelliflo pump?

[Rocket J Squirrel]

My Pentair Intelliflo VS pump will have its 10th birthday this December. This makes me a little nervous even though it is operating perfectly with no issues whatsoever.

I see that Intelliflos are unavailable and backordered everywhere. So I wonder whether there's any preventive maintenance I should be performing to prolong my pump's life and not have to replace it any time soon.

I generally only have to empty the pump basket annually, when I clean my filter cartridges. With an autocover and hairnets in the skimmers, virtually no solid matter makes it to the pump basket.

Is there something I ought to be doing more often to keep my pump happy & healthy?

 

[1poolman1]

My Pentair Intelliflo VS pump will have its 10th birthday this December. This makes me a little nervous even though it is operating perfectly with no issues whatsoever.

I see that Intelliflos are unavailable and backordered everywhere. So I wonder whether there's any preventive maintenance I should be performing to prolong my pump's life and not have to replace it any time soon.

I generally only have to empty the pump basket annually, when I clean my filter cartridges. With an autocover and hairnets in the skimmers, virtually no solid matter makes it to the pump basket.

Is there something I ought to be doing more often to keep my pump happy & healthy?

Manufacturers recommend seal replacement every 5 years. Sadly, seldom done. They are a wear item.

 

[Jimrahbe]

RJS,

I can't think of anything that you could do that would make it last longer.

I am in the same boat.

The only thing that I can think of would be to monitor the drip hole in the bottom and if you ever see it leaking water, replace the impeller seal before the water has a chance to corrode the motor.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

Manufacturers recommend seal replacement every 5 years. Sadly, seldom done. They are a wear item.

Thanks. Do you have a pointer to instructions for seal replacement?

 

[1poolman1]

Thanks. Do you have a pointer to instructions for seal replacement?

Pentair Intelliflo = variable-speed Whisperflo

 

[Jimrahbe]

RJS,

My gut says that replacing the seal, if it is not leaking, will lead to more issues than not replacing it.

Makes sense for someone that does this all the time, but not some much for the majority of DIY pool owners.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

Yeah, I'm pretty handy, but that look like a serious project I'd possibly screw up. Looks like $2 worth of parts but a job perhaps worth paying someone else $100 or more to do. I wonder what the pros actually charge for this? @1poolman1?

 

[1poolman1]

Yeah, I'm pretty handy, but that look like a serious project I'd possibly screw up. Looks like $2 worth of parts but a job perhaps worth paying someone else $100 or more to do. I wonder what the pros actually charge for this? @1poolman1?

Service call plus parts, seal, gasket, possibly diffuser O ring. When you are charging for the service, you replace all those parts so there are no return calls, not to make more money.

 

[1poolman1]

RJS,

My gut says that replacing the seal, if it is not leaking, will lead to more issues than not replacing it.

Makes sense for someone that does this all the time, but not some much for the majority of DIY pool owners.

Thanks,

Jim R.

It is a preventative maintenance item recommended by pump manufacturers for decades. Something similar to an oil change on a vehicle. They are significantly more difficult on newer vehicles. There are numerous videos on DIY'ers doing it wrong, and even some "pros." Still needs to be done.

Question was, "What can be done to prolong the pump life?" Answer, replace the seal. Yes, it seems intimidating if one is not familiar with doing mechanical work. Still recommended. As also mentioned, seldom done. The OP's pump is going on 10 years. Even having a pro do it is cheaper than a replacement variable-speed motor.

Century Motors, now Regal Beloit, used to recommend bearing replacement at the same 5-year interval as well. Used to care for several commercial properties that did that during off season, seal replacement at the same time, so pools would stay open in the Summer. Never had a pool closed for a pump issue.

 

[Jimrahbe]

@1poolman1,

I was not disagreeing with anything you said.

I was just commenting on the likelihood of sucess by a first time DIY guy.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[pjt]

monitor the drip hole in the bottom

Can you point out in a picture where the drip hole is located? I didn't see an obvious drip hole on my IntelliFlo.

 

[Jimrahbe]

pjt,

The hole is at the seam between the pump body and the motor. Obviously on the bottom side.

I'll see if I can take a pic.

Jim R.

 

[Newdude]

Rocket, I'm kinda torn here. I'm usually on the 'it ain't broke' side of the coin. But these days, with a Pemtair pump being so hard to aquire, and the few that are available are well over $2k, I lean towards a several hundred dollar life extension. Even if this is a good week for supplies, you just know it won't be when you actually need it.

I don't trust the stated availability of anything online after the amount of times orders got backordered after the sale last year for me. I even called the retailers to verify with a human that they could ship them. They were reading a screen for the answer. The only one who knew for sure was a Mom and Pop pool store that physically laid eyes on my equipment while saying 'yes, we have it'

 

[1poolman1]

Can you point out in a picture where the drip hole is located? I didn't see an obvious drip hole on my IntelliFlo.

If you look at what the flange, the "square" of your "square flange" motor, the 4 bolts that hold the motor to the sealplate looks like, you will see it is at the very bottom. Can't usually see it but you can feel it if you reach under. If you do, hopefully you won't feel water, but it is there to allow water from a seal leak to drip out and warn of its presence.

 

[JamesW]

At a minimum, I would get a rebuild kit with a good seal and gaskets and be ready to replace the seal and gaskets if you see a drip.

Maybe start looking for a new pump that can be used as a replacement when your pump goes out.

Maybe it will take 6 months to find a pump, but you are ok because you have a working pump.

 

[JamesW]

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

It finally occurred to me to open the IntelliFlo VS manual and read about seal replacement. It says

The pump requires little or no service other than reasonable care, however, a shaft seal may occasionally become damaged and must be replaced.

I'm surprised it doesn't recommend periodic replacement. Everybody knows rubber doesn't last forever.

 

[JamesW]

In my opinion, it’s 50/50 on whether or not it’s worth disassembling everything just to do routine maintenance.

It can be a lot of time and effort and things can go wrong like the bolts might not come out without stripping the grommets and then you are buying a new seal plate as well as a seal, gaskets and maybe an impeller etc. and your time and effort.

It's about $285.00 for a seal, seal plate and impeller.

If you have to pay someone $200.00 several times for routine maintenance, is the value there for something that is working.

 

[guinness]

Rocket, I'm kinda torn here. I'm usually on the 'it ain't broke' side of the coin. But these days, with a Pemtair pump being so hard to aquire, and the few that are available are well over $2k, I lean towards a several hundred dollar life extension. Even if this is a good week for supplies, you just know it won't be when you actually need it.

I don't trust the stated availability of anything online after the amount of times orders got backordered after the sale last year for me. I even called the retailers to verify with a human that they could ship them. They were reading a screen for the answer. The only one who knew for sure was a Mom and Pop pool store that physically laid eyes on my equipment while saying 'yes, we have it'

Although new pumps are hard to come by you can still get parts including the motor.

30 - Pentair IntelliFlo Motor VSF/VS/VST/i1/i2 Motor 3.2KW

 

[1poolman1]

Never understood why the instructions to the consumer were so different than to us in the industry. For example, as I remember it:

1991 - A.O. Smith "Motor University," "To significantly increase the working life of a pool motor, the seal and bearings should be replaced each 5 years."

1992 -Sta-Rite pump school (wasn't owned by Pentair at the time), "It is recommended that the shaft seal be replaced at 5-year intervals."

Ads by Century Motors (who eventually bought A.O. Smith Motors) in 1999 touting how good their motors are, "You'll never seen the end of this Century!" With the very fine print stating "requires seal and bearing replacements at 5-year intervals."

First Hayward pump school, on the terrible NorthStar, "Seal replacements should be a regular part of pump maintenance at no more than 5 years."

Never made sense that the consumer wasn't given this information. When a pool guy, like me, made the recommendation, since we couldn't point to it in their manual, it was generally thought that we were just trying to pad the bill, as seems to be the consensus here.

For comparison:
Us Seal PS-1000 seal, $10.00 on Amazon. (Pentair just repackages them and raises the price). Or get the whole generic kit (seal, gasket, O rings) there for about $20.00. The generic stuff lasts just as long as OEM
Unless broken, impeller never needs replacing.
The only time I have ever seen the bolts holding the motor to the sealplate be an issue on any pump is if the seal has been leaking a long time. Then, if the sealplate is damaged you get the much improved CMP one for the Whisperflo for much less. If you replace the seal at manufacturers' recommended rate, you don't have this issue, unless there is an outside force, like running dry, that damages the seal.

Or, you do nothing and watch for an issue and get it cared for as quickly as possible and your motor lasts 10 or more years and you never have a problem. It was just the answer to a very good question about a recommended course of action.