Pump finally died.....advice on a replacement please...

[mas985]

Your controller supports two relays but the other relay is for a solar booster pump that comes on 30 sec after solar is engaged. Low speed operates differently and both relays (High and Low) cannot be on at the same time. So unless the controller has a specific low speed mode, it won't work and there is no mention of a low speed in any part of the manual.

In order to control the Intelliflo from another controller, you need an Intellicom unit (~$200) but I am not sure that would work with the AquaSolar.

 

[uncledeadly]

OK.....I think I've figured out a solution to my situation.
I'm considering this:
- 2 speed Pentair Whisperflo 1 HP
- going to make up a lever off of the Solar actuator valve shaft that will activate a Limit switch ( SPDT) in the fully open position that will switch the pump to high speed. As soon as the actuator comes off of fully open position the pump will go back to low speed.
- To vacuum on high speed with solar off I can manually hold switch closed with something (elastic band??)

I have noticed that the Whisperflo has 2" inlet and outlet....my current plumbing is 1 1/2".....how far from pump on either side before I switch back to 1 1/2 inch from the 2' ??

Thanks
RR

 

[jblizzle]

The more pipe and fittings you make 2" on the pad, the higher the flow rate will be.

 

[uncledeadly]

Rough installed my new Whisperflo yesterday. Just using the manual high/Low switch on the motor for now and will get to the auto switching later.....This pump is so much quieter than my old pump....even on high speed (low speed I can hardly hear it)....Love it!!

I never had a check valve installed between the return from the solar and the "t" to the return lines of the pool and thought I would put one in while I was installing the new pump so that it didn't back feed the panels when the solar was off.

Had the pump running last night on high speed to get the pool cleaned up quickly and heard a pop, then a rush of water from the roof....blew the end cap off of the solar panel! Somehow I'm pressurizing the panels. Any ideas as to what's happening and how to remedy?
I have a feeling that the panels are getting pressurized through the relief hole in the 3 -way valve and now that I have the check valve it has nowhere to go??

Any ideas?

 

[mas985]

Exactly where did you put the check valve and is it in the correct direction (post new picture)? It should be open when the pump is running and it shouldn't affect anything. It should only close when the pump is shut off.

 

[uncledeadly]

As you can see in the pic just after the filter a spring loaded , ball check valve is installed and where the abs is cut is where the check valve was....this is the return line from the roof back to the pool.....the arrow was pointed away from the panels and towards the pool....I installed it so that when the panels were in the off position that the pump didn't backfeed up to the roof.

I removed the check valve and was going to install a pressure guage to monitor panel pressure.

Your thoughts?

 

[uncledeadly]

oopps....wrong pics....standby for the new ones....

 

[uncledeadly]

Hopefully these pics are the new ones...

 

[uncledeadly]

I added a pressure gauge to monitor the panel pressure....see pic....(notice the red handled valve below the gauge)


With pump on high speed(1 hp) and the solar on the filter gauge reads 28 psi and the panel gauge reads 8 psi.
With pump on high speed and solar off ....filter gauge = 22 psi......panel gauge = 12 psi.

to simulate the check valve in the system I closed the red handled valve and solar off panel gauge went up to 14....I don't think this seems all that extreme so maybe that endcap was loose.....I would rather see closer to zero when panels are selected off though??

One other thing that I see is that at low speed (1/2 hp) my pressure seems quite a bit lower than my old 1/2 hp pump...
My pressures at the filter with the old pump were around 9 psi with solar off and around 13 with solar on. The new pump at 1/2 hp speed shows 5.5 psi solar off and goes to 7 psi with solar on but doesn;t really even fill the panels by the sound of the girgling in the line coming back from the panels....

Do these numbers make sense??

 

[mas985]

With pump on high speed and solar off ....filter gauge = 22 psi......panel gauge = 12 psi.

Solar valve will stop most of the flow but depending on it's condition, it may not stop pressure. The pressure still makes it through the small gaps in the valve.

to simulate the check valve in the system I closed the red handled valve and solar off panel gauge went up to 14....I don't think this seems all that extreme so maybe that endcap was loose.....I would rather see closer to zero when panels are selected off though??

If you shut off the valve while the pump is running, this is not surprising, the pressure remains in a closed off section of plumbing unless it can be released through another part of the plumbing.

My pressures at the filter with the old pump were around 9 psi with solar off and around 13 with solar on.

The filter gauge pressure has probably gone up some because of the check valve that you used. Those types of check valves have a lot of head loss. Jandy check valves are far superior that type.

The new pump at 1/2 hp speed shows 5.5 psi solar off and goes to 7 psi with solar on but doesn;t really even fill the panels by the sound of the girgling in the line coming back from the panels....

Low speed rarely has enough pressure to close the VRV in a roof install so I hope you weren't expecting to run on low speed with solar. With your current setup, it won't be possible.

 

[uncledeadly]

With pump on high speed and solar off ....filter gauge = 22 psi......panel gauge = 12 psi.

Solar valve will stop most of the flow but depending on it's condition, it may not stop pressure. The pressure still makes it through the small gaps in the valve.

to simulate the check valve in the system I closed the red handled valve and solar off panel gauge went up to 14....I don't think this seems all that extreme so maybe that endcap was loose.....I would rather see closer to zero when panels are selected off though??

If you shut off the valve while the pump is running, this is not surprising, the pressure remains in a closed off section of plumbing unless it can be released through another part of the plumbing.
For fun I'll turn pump off, drain the panels , close valve and turn pump on and see what happens...I seem to remember a relief hole in the three way rotary valve....would it be an idea to close that off?

My pressures at the filter with the old pump were around 9 psi with solar off and around 13 with solar on.

The filter gauge pressure has probably gone up some because of the check valve that you used. Those types of check valves have a lot of head loss. Jandy check valves are far superior that type.
The check valve after the filter was there when I had the old pump.


[quote:3eldy252]The new pump at 1/2 hp speed shows 5.5 psi solar off and goes to 7 psi with solar on but doesn;t really even fill the panels by the sound of the girgling in the line coming back from the panels....

Low speed rarely has enough pressure to close the VRV in a roof install so I hope you weren't expecting to run on low speed with solar. With your current setup, it won't be possible.[/quote:3eldy252]
I am planning to run the panels in high speed only but just questioning why the old pump , being a 1/2 hp pump could run the panels but the new pump in 1/2 hp speed cannot??

 

[mas985]

When a pump motor runs at half speed, the motor delivers a braking HP that is 1/8th of full speed or 1/8 HP in your case and not the 1/2 HP you have been quoting. The motor label rating itself does not always reflect that fact. Also, the label HP is somewhat meaningless without the service factor and even then, the total HP (label HP * service factor) only reflects the maximum brake HP that the shaft can deliver but not the actual brake HP the shaft is delivering which can be much less. So the bottom line is that you really can't go by HP motor rating to determine the flow rate of a pump.