Well, it finally happened. I didn't actually expect my current pump to last as long as it did. I bought an Xtremepower dual speed 1.5HP pump when we first put up our pool. It's possibly the cheapest no name brand pump but I will say it got us through and worked extremely well, money well worth it. That is until this morning.
Now, my current setup is breaker box -> gfci outlet -> timer -> pump/salt cell. I finally fixed up a few leaks and o-rings in my plumbing and was filling the pool yesterday. This morning I turned the timer to "on" and turned the pump to "low" and nothing happened. I immediately noticed that the salt cell didn't have power either. The GFCI outlet was tripped, so I reset it and immediately it tripped again. I opened the connection area of the pump and pulled off the red (positive) wire, plugged the timer back into the gfci outlet and turned the timer on, and the salt cell was getting power. Turned the timer off again, plug the red (positive) back into the pump, plug the timer back into the gfci outlet, and immediately tripped again (even with the timer turned off). Super curious how this trips the gfci outlet when the timer (which the power flows through) is turned off?
As a quick remedy I purchased a new wire whip and replaced the conduit and wire from timer to pump. Same thing, trips immediately even with timer off. Therefore, my conclusion is the pump is shot. I have not pulled it off the pad and opened it up yet. But I will be doing this in hopes that I can make a quick/cheap repair and keep it as a backup. FYI: I did not take the pump inside during winters, I unscrewed all the unions and connections to pump/filter and left them on the pad. I also noted water in the conduit from timer to pump as the conduit was never properly screwed into the pump opening. I can only assume snow/water got inside the pump and miraculously it lasted as many years as it did.
I already know, I should've done better about this. I can make excuses, perhaps it was a "let's test it and fix it later" and later never comes, but that doesn't fix the problem now.
The 2 speed pump that died successfully activated the salt cell on the low speed until the filter became dirty enough to impede the flow of water enough. Once the filter has been cleaned the low speed activated the salt cell again.
Now, the same pump is still pretty cheap, around $150ish. I checked out a few cheaper variable speed pumps that can have 3-4 speed selections, with an Xtremepower variable actually having some adjustable ranges. I'm not totally turned off the brand. True variable speed pumps are unfortunately out of my budget (have to recoup vacation money). Is a variable speed pump going to make that much difference to me, or is a 2 speed still the best option since the low speed already worked best for my situation? I'd rather not spend more than necessary, but if an upgrade is worth it I'll consider spending the extra.
To note, I have a couple solar panels but the connections are leaking as o-rings went missing and the connector knobs broke off. They aren't connected and the low speed barely worked to push the water through them. I'm undecided about fixing/replacing them, not sure they made much of a difference.
Now, my current setup is breaker box -> gfci outlet -> timer -> pump/salt cell. I finally fixed up a few leaks and o-rings in my plumbing and was filling the pool yesterday. This morning I turned the timer to "on" and turned the pump to "low" and nothing happened. I immediately noticed that the salt cell didn't have power either. The GFCI outlet was tripped, so I reset it and immediately it tripped again. I opened the connection area of the pump and pulled off the red (positive) wire, plugged the timer back into the gfci outlet and turned the timer on, and the salt cell was getting power. Turned the timer off again, plug the red (positive) back into the pump, plug the timer back into the gfci outlet, and immediately tripped again (even with the timer turned off). Super curious how this trips the gfci outlet when the timer (which the power flows through) is turned off?
As a quick remedy I purchased a new wire whip and replaced the conduit and wire from timer to pump. Same thing, trips immediately even with timer off. Therefore, my conclusion is the pump is shot. I have not pulled it off the pad and opened it up yet. But I will be doing this in hopes that I can make a quick/cheap repair and keep it as a backup. FYI: I did not take the pump inside during winters, I unscrewed all the unions and connections to pump/filter and left them on the pad. I also noted water in the conduit from timer to pump as the conduit was never properly screwed into the pump opening. I can only assume snow/water got inside the pump and miraculously it lasted as many years as it did.
I already know, I should've done better about this. I can make excuses, perhaps it was a "let's test it and fix it later" and later never comes, but that doesn't fix the problem now.
The 2 speed pump that died successfully activated the salt cell on the low speed until the filter became dirty enough to impede the flow of water enough. Once the filter has been cleaned the low speed activated the salt cell again.
Now, the same pump is still pretty cheap, around $150ish. I checked out a few cheaper variable speed pumps that can have 3-4 speed selections, with an Xtremepower variable actually having some adjustable ranges. I'm not totally turned off the brand. True variable speed pumps are unfortunately out of my budget (have to recoup vacation money). Is a variable speed pump going to make that much difference to me, or is a 2 speed still the best option since the low speed already worked best for my situation? I'd rather not spend more than necessary, but if an upgrade is worth it I'll consider spending the extra.
To note, I have a couple solar panels but the connections are leaking as o-rings went missing and the connector knobs broke off. They aren't connected and the low speed barely worked to push the water through them. I'm undecided about fixing/replacing them, not sure they made much of a difference.
