Best energy efficient pumps out there

[jacksonlui]

hi,
I have a 6 yr old Sta-rite 1.5hp Max-E-Glas II pump which has died. It is a pump for my in ground 28k gallon pool that goes through a Sta-Rite System3 Modular Media filter (S8M500). The filter/pump system is about 10ft below the pools surface and 20 ft away. The 1.5hp seemed fine.

In fact it's weird, all three of my pumps died within the year. I'm looking for a replacement pump besides the new Sta-Rite Max-E-Pro. I'll have to replumb everything anyways so it's a good time to buy a good pump that's energy efficient. Anyone has any suggestions on the best pumps to buy these days? I've searched the forum and haven't really found anything concrete.

thanks in advance,
Jackson

[mas985]

Is there a reason you don't like the Max-E-Pro? It would be near the top of my list:

Sta-Rite Max-E-Pro
Hayward Northstar
Pentair Whisperflow

All three are excellent and very efficient. The Northstar edges out the rest for GPM/Watt but it is not by much and probably not even worth considering.

The reason I went with Hayward was for the extended warranty. Sta-Rite did not offer it at the time.

One other thing to consider is a two speed pump. If you need the HP for a vacuum, spa or other water feature then I would go with a two speed.

Otherwise, you might consider a lower HP. A 3/4 HP is probably more than enough for just circulation. For an 8 hour turnover, you only need 60 GPM so a 3/4 HP Max-E-Pro could easlily give you that with as much as 55 feet of head. Your set up will probably have much less than 55 feet of head loss which will mean even more flow.

[jacksonlui]

this pump runs a large filter which is 500sqft and can handle a max flowrate of 130GPM at 50psi as well as a Polaris 380, so it takes care of circulation and the Polaris.

I have separaete pumps for the spa and waterfall so I'm not sure if I should go 2 speed, I don't know when I would run the low speed since the polaris 380 is on there.

There's no reason not to go sta-rite max-e-pro, was just wondering if there was anything better, that's all.

poolplaza has replacement motors and it's $250, not too bad for another 6yrs.
and I don't have to change the plumbing.

any advice. if i need to make a change, it might as well be now.

[Socal_biker]

I went with Pentair Whisperflo EE (Energy Efficiant) WFE-4 pool pump. You must check pump model specs, not all of them fall into the EE specifications.

Since your in California, you may qualify for a rebate on a new pool pump. Info below. Had I known that they have a $250 rebate on qualifying two speed pump, I would have gone witha 2-speed pump. Pool store gave me incomplete info.

http://www.sce.com/SC3/RebatesandSavings/Residential/PoolPumpandMotor/

Southern California Edison - Pool Pump & Motor Replacement Rebate Program
You can get $250 back on a Two-Speed (or Variable Speed) Pool Pump & Motor Replacement ($30 for Single-Speed models)!

SCE pool pump list - Qualifying products:
http://www.sce.com/NR/rdonlyres/38BB682B-A10B-4EEF-98F6-A537E20AB385/0/PoolPumpQPL062906.pdf

[Sully]

hi,


In fact it's weird, all three of my pumps died within the year.

thanks in advance,
Jackson

3 pumps in 3 years, unless your going for 4 in 4.....what were the cause of failures for these pumps? Almost sounds like you have an electrical problem that should be investigated.

[jacksonlui]

the original pump was from year 2000 so it's been 6 yrs.
checked the voltage and measures 240vac.
i live in a hot climate (high 90's in the summers). I think what did it was it running semi dry (cavitating) while I was on vacation and found the pool water below the desired level. Perhaps this caused the seal to fail and water go into the motor??? not sure.

also recently I've increased watering on the slope near where the pump is located, not sure if water got into it. I need to find a way to shield it in the future.

I took the motor out and see if the impeller was binding and ran the motor without it being attached. It started to smoke so I stopped out. Probably under load it will draw too much current and trip the breaker again. So I'm going to replace the motor for $190 shipped with a new seal. Sounds reasonable I think and I hope this is the right solution to my problem. Please let me know if I'm headed down the wrong path. Sounds like it can be fixed but might not be worth the time.
thanks for your help.

Jackson

[Poconos]

I agree with Sully on this. Three pumps? You are on the right track to keep water out of it and just maybe in direct sun under load the thing just overheated and one or more windings shorted. Smoke under no load kind of implies that. What caused the other two to fail? Any common link?
Al

[jacksonlui]

I've tried measuring the current from the main motor and it was higher than the 10A limit on my multimeter. So I've ordered a new motor a few minutes ago with a new pump seal. (I'm assuming the pump seal comes in two parts, ceramic and spring).

How do I measure the winding resistance and what should it be?

The other two pumps (spa/waterfall) just hum and trips the breaker after 5-10s.
I've tried replacing the starter capacitor from the main motor and didn't help. I took it out and noticed I couldn't move the impeller by hand. Didn't see anything stuck. I've also noticed that there is some corrosion (green) on the brass/copper ring inside the diffuser. I'm thinking water go to this part and caused the motor to seize up providing enough friction on the impeller for it not to start. However, the motor still doesn't start under no load, I think maybe the motor is fried? What do you think?

I might try taking everything (impeller, diffuser, seal) off and trying it again.
If there are some measurements I'd like to fix it.

These two pumps are hardly used since they are for the spa and waterfall which we haven't used in years. Maybe running these hardly used motors once every other day for 5 minutes might be good, not sure...

thanks in advance
Jack

[Poconos]

A few general comments. Probably measuring the DC resistance of the windings won't tell you anything unless it's a dead short. If you get shorted turns the DC resistance won't change a noticeable amount but when AC power is applied you get one heck of a current flowing in the shorted turns and they will smoke. Same principle as the Weller soldering guns. A transformer with one big copper turn to power the soldering tip. You may want to invest in a clamp on ampmeter. Prices have become very reasonable and they can have options to measure peak, RMS, frequency, etc. Frequency is handy if you have a generator. A simple way to check a starting cap is to disconnect it, discharge it, and with a VOM on a high resistance range (10K or so) measure the resistance. You'll see it low at first then increase to very high as the cap charges. Reverse the leads and you'll see the resistance bang negative then increase again as it charges in the reverse direction. Obviously a short is bad and if it doesn't charge it is open.
Hope this helps.
Al

[msm859]

does anyone have experience with the Pentair intelliflo pump? it is suppose to be the most energy efficient.

[Big_D]

I am running an Intelliflo, and three Whisper flows. I was really feeling like a bone head for spending so much for the Intelliflo, and the whole pool in General. I did get a small amount of relief after the Power companies raised our rates through the roof. Based on our current rates in North Texas I will recover the pump cost in 1 year and the additional cost for the Intellitouch Control system in 1 more year. Currently using approx 500 watts to get 50 GPM flow. This is a simple pump operation cost calculator provided by Pentair you might find handy.

http://www.pentairpool.com/pool_pump_calc/index.htm

The pump is a neat piece of equipment, if you live in CA I understand there are incentives that will help with the cost of the pump. Whisper flows are also very quiet. The intelliflo is extremely quiet, and this alone would be worth the additional cost if you have an area that you are noise sensitive. My friend is in the middle of a remodel and is going with this pump just because of how quiet it is.

[tphaggerty]

Another option, especially in CA, is the IKERIC line of pumps. These are multi-speed pumps that use a controller to vary the speed at any of 4 settings. These are very much like the Intelli-flow, but possibly less expensive. These qualify for the CA rebates.

I am putting one in sometime this fall.