Filter too small & Pump too big??

[madwil]

when you say pump is hot, do you mean the pump housing, or the motor?
the water flow should cool the pump part- it should be roughly same temp as water
The electric motor hot to touch could be an issue, but motor issue not pump (not trying to confuse you, just making sure which part is hot). If it is hot when outside temp is 56, I'd get an electrician to check it...

I'll let the real equipment experts address your flow rates- but it sounds like you're right about to much pump!

[CarlD]

That is one powerful pump! At 40' of head it flows over 100gpm! To get it down to 40gpm you have to have over 70' of Total Head.

Can you bypass the filter so the pump runs from skimmer to returns? If you can do that, does the flow improve drastically? Does the pump cool down?

You have a small, little filter with a super-powerful pump designed to roof solar panels, fountains and waterfalls. I'm no pump expert but you have 'WAY too much pump!

I wonder what the installer was thinking, with only one skimmer and no low drain. It's clear: Your pump is over-heating because it can't flow enough water--too restrictive.

What to do? Here I'm just making WAGs...Wild A-- Guess. IF it works OK when you bypass the filter and the pump cools down it could be as simple as just getting a bigger filter--one that handles over 100 to 120 gpm. If you like DE, they make them that big and bigger.

If it doesn't then down-sizing the pump is probably better. Something like a 3/4-1 hp uprated pump or a 3/4 full-rated might do it, but sizing has to be done correctly.

There's a very good chance your DE filter has been damaged. It should be opened and examined if you are going to keep it.

These are just starting ideas. The real pump guys can guide you better than I can.

There are ways to calculate and to estimate total feet of head, but I don't really understand them.

Carl

[mas985]

Based upon your description, I estimate that you should have about 82 GPM @ 49' of head. However, because you only have one suction line and it is only 2", the suction is likely to be quite high which could draw in some air into the pump basket. Do you see any air in the pump basket?

If you are trying to equalize the flow between returns, one way to do that is to downsize the eyeball diameter in the closest return, assuming that is even possible for your returns.

[Hey_Dad]

Madwil - "when you say pump is hot, do you mean the pump housing, or the motor?" Answer: The metal part so the motor is what seems to be getting hot.

Carl - I can not bypass the filter without replumbing it. As for the WAG, since I can't easily bypass the filter I was thinking about increasing the size of the filter to handle the load, I was thinking something that would handle at least 75GPM since that is what is stamped on the skimmer,.... I did take the filter apart and did the acid wash etc this spring. Everything looked ok. It's in service now and working just fine as far as I can tell. The pressure in the tank when it's totally clean, NO DE, is 13 LBS pressure. After adding the DE it goes to about 15ish.... I don't let the pressure get above 22. So maybe there is a flow restrictor in the input of the filter. The manual says one is supplied but since I didn't plumb the filter I don't know whats in there.... Bottom line, I think the pressure in the filter is low enough that it's not going to blow up or anything. (If I'm wrong yell at me.... ) However, the more I read, the more I believe the filter size needs to be increased.

Mark - The only time I get air in the pump basket is when I vacuum. When I attach the vac hose the pump couldn't draw enough H2O and just struggled. It had a high pitch whine and then the basket lost prime. To solve this problem I drilled a 1/8 " hole in the vacuum plate. Started the pump, and attached the hose. I repeated this, each time making the hole larger, until the H2O flow could keep up with the pump.

Yes I am trying to equalize the flow. I have "massage" jets that the water just trickles out of. Not much of a massage. :-) I have also been playing around with 2 valves in the pipe manifold (returns) I am able to increase the flow to the massage jets, but that causes the pressure in the filter to go up about 4lbs. So I keep that valve open 100%.

Anyway, the more I think about it.. the more I believe that I need to reduce the size of that pump and increase the size of the filter.... I'd rather spend that money on beer with the neighbors, but....

[Hey_Dad]

Can I just swap the motor out on my pump? Could I swap it out for a two speed motor? If so, how do I know which motor will fit?

I was thinking that this might be the cheapest/fastest way to fix the issues above.

[PoolDoc]

To reduce delivered HP / wattage consumed you need to swap out the impeller and diffuser, not the motor. A motor will draw current according to the load placed on it -- it's just that if you put a 2HP load on a 1HP motor, it will burn up. However, if you put a 1 HP load on a 2 HP motor, everything will be fine.

Ben

[Hey_Dad]

Okay, so that sounds even cheaper than chaning the motor. Do I just order the impeller & diffuser from the 1HP version of this pump? How do I know which impeller & diffuser to get?