I am replacing my pump before the summer season starts. The platform onto which the pump is to be installed is hopelessly rusted. So bad I can't even tell where the original screw holes were. What options do I have?
replacing main pool pump, but pump mounting platform is hideously rusted
- Thread starter primuspaul
- Start date
Post some pics of your equipment pad and especially what you say is rusted out. Pool pumps are generally on concrete pads and not screwed down, though they could be.
+1 Paul. Details are everything. Throw us a bone 
Doing it the hard way, this is in your media history.
Doing it the hard way, this is in your media history.
Thanks for doing the hard work! Unfortunately it's all covered in snow and I can't really post a good picture of the platform itself. What's rusted out is the platform underneath the pump:+1 Paul. Details are everything. Throw us a bone
Doing it the hard way, this is in your media history.
View attachment 628287
It's so rusted that it seems the parts that used to contain the bolt holes for the bolts that would mount the pump have fallen off completely! As the pumps came and went, I alternated from using wires to hold it down to just having it hold onto the two pipes alone.
The pic gets worse each time I look at it. Both plumbing and electric. Do you have a GFCI breaker ? (Assuming the outlet isn't).
Is the steel plate just sitting there or is it part of something else ? Can you drill new holes into it ?
Ideally you'd remove it and pour a small concrete pad. 2+ inch thick pavers could be used as a not ideal but better than sitting on the dirt option.
If you replaced the pipe section from the pump to the MPV with rigid PVC, you probably wouldn't need to bolt the pump down.
Is the steel plate just sitting there or is it part of something else ? Can you drill new holes into it ?
Ideally you'd remove it and pour a small concrete pad. 2+ inch thick pavers could be used as a not ideal but better than sitting on the dirt option.
If you replaced the pipe section from the pump to the MPV with rigid PVC, you probably wouldn't need to bolt the pump down.
The house breaker for the 220v line is connected to a 220v timer which goes to that wire which I rewired to be a 120v receptacle to make it easier to replace pumps (to which I wire a 120v male wire at a bench so I don't have to do any soldering outside).
I might be able to drill more holes into the steel plate, but I don't think they will be in the right place to hold the pump. I believe the parts of the plate that had the original holes had rusted and disintegrated so any new holes simply won't be in the correct places. I wish I had taken a picture the last time I replaced the pump.
The pipe from the top of the pump to the valve is already PVC. I bought a straight PVC pipe and used a heat gun to soften it so that it fit onto the pump. Basically while it was hot I bent it into place, and then it hardened. It looks the way it does because I covered it in ripped pieces of plastic bag and tape to protect the PVC from sunlight as I heard PVC deteriorates from UV light.
This is the best I can do pictures-wise:
Attachments
You simply need to redo the entirety of your plumbing and get that pump off a rusted steel pedestal. You shouldn't need to heat and mold your pipe as that would weaken it. It's time to spend money on this and stop nickel and diming it.
What do you mean by "entirety of your plumbing?" Most of it is underground, including way underneath where the bottom drain is. Wouldn't the cost be astronomical? It doesn't seem to be leaking currently so I'd rather just patch it up and keep it running for a few more years until it truly becomes unusable.
I mean everything above ground, of course. Unless you know or suspect you have a leak. Everything above ground looks long overdue for a replacement. By the way, is the metal covering a well or a sump pump or just a big hole in the ground, or did someone actually think steel was ideal for mounting a pool pump to?
I honestly don't even know what that thing is. Looks like an abandoned structure previously part of something before the system was rebuilt. We've just been patching it up the last 30 years, things like sand replacement, pump replacement, valve replacement, external plastic plumbing replacement, cement work on the pool liner when pieces fell out, silicone patching at the skimmer line when there is a leak every 5-10 years.