Pump malfunctioning

[markeast]

Our pump started making a much louder noise, although it isn't continuous. It sometimes sounds almost normal, but you can still hear a different sound. Also, the motor housing gets hot to the touch. Most importantly, our electric bill jumped about 50% last month and we think it's related to the pump.

It's possible the pump was run without sufficient water for a short period due to a leak in the pool (new pool, incidentally).

The electric bill couldn't be related to the heat pump as it hasn't worked since the day it was installed last July (It's a pentair hp 1200 r). Just thought I would throw that in.

It's a Hayward Super Pump, 1.5 hp.

Is it possible for a pump to use more electricity if it's malfunctioning?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Poconos]

I seriously doubt the pump is the cause of a 50% increase of the electric bill. On the bills you are comparing check the number of kilowatt hours used as that is independent of the $$$ amount. If the pump was causing this it would probably have cooked by now. As for the case being hot, they are. Think I measured mine at 140 deg F and that was in a poolhouse and not in direct sun. Make sure you're getting air flow for cooling. Mine is a 1 HP superpump and it sucks air in from the front vents, pump end, and blows out the rear. Can you be a little more descriptive of the noise and are there air bubbles in the pump basket?
Al

[waste]

Mark, I think that both you and Poconos may be on the right track. Here in Ct, the power co go permission to almost double the killowatt/ hour charge recently - they did it in 2 increases 3 mos. apart, but the electric bill increased substantially.
You say the pump was underfed (by water) for a time due to a leak, if the pump cavitated, you may have 'melted' some connections (the pump intake, the pump effluent fitting - AND the shaft seal which keeps water out of the moter) Is there water 'puddling' under the pump? (it's fairly obvious on a dry day). A leaking shaft seal will cause oxidation on the shaft and will result in a 'loud' motor. If the seal is bad, it's an incredibly easy fix (with a 1/4" nutdriver, a 9/16" socket wrench, with 10' extention, and a 7/16" open end wrench) - I could probably do it blindfolded (but we have to do this alot;) ) If you have the puddling/ leak I was talking about, please post back and I'll give you all the part #s to pick up to change the shaft seal and make it 'good as new'. :)

[markeast]

Thank you both very much! I will check out the pump to see if there is any water under it. The electric bill did go from roughly 3200 KW hours same time last year (before the pool) to about 4900 KW this year. I'll continue to compare the differences between electricity usage.

I'm relieved to know it may be easy to fix. First though, I've got to get the builder to find and fix the leak. They're currently working on a small leak they found in the water feature, but there's no way I'm losing this much water from that little leak.