Where's a good online place to buy a pump/motor?

I have a 15 x 24 above ground that came with a 200#sand tank and 'generic' 1 1/2 hp motor & pump. The motor had a bearing making noise at the end of last year and it's almost time for spring start up here in Connecticut.

I've seen advice from Ben and others here about getting a 2 speed pump/motor that can be run at 1/2 hp for normal operations and saving some electricity.

Question I hope ya'll can help me with is: Where is a good place online to order such a pump/motor without getting ripped off? What's a good brand without overpaying for an above ground in this size arrangement?

And did I mention I don't want to over pay? :-)

Thanks and here's to a fresh new spring!

Lloyd

I've had pretty good luck with www.LeisureLiving.com, also called www.IslandPools.com. I bought my FantaSea from them with a 200# sand filter and 1hp 2sp Hayward SuperPump--it's an expensive pump but I think it's well worth it.

I converted my 2 HP IG pump to a two speed set up. I bought a motor from Perrys Pool Pump store on Ebay. Their prices are very competitive. Always replace the seal with a motor change.

http://stores.ebay.com/Perrys-Pool-Pump

My plan is to run my pump about 18 hours a day on low speed (3/4 HP), and only use high speed during prime, and Kreepy Krauler. The KWH power meter barely moves on low speed, and it spins very fast on high speed. My current draw is about 3 amps low, and 10 amps high for a 220 volt motor.

The use of a two speed pump has one drawback. If started on low speed, and if the pump is not primed, it may not prime itself, and could burn up the seal for lack of water. To get around this you may need to start the motor on high speed until primed, and then switch to low speed.

I am currently re-designed my Intermatic PF-1102T timer with freeze control to accomadate the 2 speed motor. I will have an additional switch and 2 relays, one which is a 3 minute time delay. The idea is IF the switch is set to low speed, and the pump comes on, it will do so for 3 minutes, and then switch to low speed.

Once I am done with this, I can post the wiring diagram in case anybody wants to know how I did it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimmy C

Once I am done with this, I can post the wiring diagram in case anybody wants to know how I did it.

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I would love to see your wiring schematics when you get that done.... great idea. I think i'll be in the pump buying business soon... so that will give me something to shoot for. Thanks

Rock G

Jim

Good idea, any way to ballpark measure the economics to payout at todays power rates:mad: ?

I have a 3/4 HP booster pump for my Legend Platinum cleaner so do I need to worry about using the high HP for it? If not then I probably have two issues, the pump priming one like described and second my current main filter pump also drives the water up into my 1 foot raised spa and thus spillover. So at low rates it may look pretty wimpy?

I'm going to read my controller handbook, maybe it could control a two speed pump . . . .

The following link discusses the benefit, and payback of a 2 speed pump, and some real world examples are given.

http://www.smud.org/residential/saving/poolspa.html

I wonder if it is widespread for utility companies to have a peak demand charge for residential customers as is suggested in the article?

I also wonder if anybody has a pump timer that can program a 2 speed pump, and make the operation automatic? By automatic I mean so that it starts up in HIGH speed to insure prime, and then switches to LOW speed after some period of time (like 3-5 minutes). It could also program the speeds independant with two timers. It might be nice to run say 10 hours / day on low speed, and 2 hours on HIGH speed to get a little extra skimmer action, and do so automaticially. Does such a Gizmo exist, or do we need to invent one ourself? The run of the mill Intermatic mechanical timer, although reliable, is too simplistic for this application.

Jim

Thats a good article but I think they are wrong about solar. While it is true that you may have 10-20 feet of static lift on pump start up, if you use high speed to prime the solar, the static lift goes away because you have +10 going up and -10 coming down so they offset each other. The low speed can then kick it to circulate and should be fine.

My Aqualogic controller has the high speed priming setting for 3 minutes, enough time to fill the solar .

Mark

I always know I can count on this forum for my pool advice... now if I just had a forum for dealing with college aged kids!

Seriously, thanks. I just ordered this pump from Perry's:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7755280487

Almost time to start bringing the water level up again!

Cheers,
Lloyd

JimmyC, read you earlier post...did you actually convert a single speed pump/moter to a two speed one? Or did you replace the old motor with a new two speed motor? Just curious if you can convert a single speed motor to a two speed and how to do it if possible. My pump is a hayward 1.5 superpump that I'm currently running on 220. I suppose that maybe if I just run it with just one of the 220 leads, maybe that's how to do it, but I'm afraid to burn it up.

Appreaciate your help.

Ruuning a single speed pump with one lead unhooked will not burn your motor up. It just will not run at all.........but you will save money for sure! :)

Another idea some people have about pump operation cost is that it is cheaper to run a motor off 240 volt than it is to run the same motor off of 120 volt. At the power meter the cost is the same. (This is assuming you have a dual voltage motor)