Questions on changing to a 2 speed motor on a Hayward Super II pump

[PoolDoc]

OK. Here's stuff I've noticed so far.

1. Cartridge filters are seriously over-rated in residential applications. There's nothing magical about a residential pool that suddenly transforms a 45gpm (0.375 gpm/sft) commercial filter into a 120 gpm residential filter. Your filter cartridge is shot . . . and shows the pleat collapse typical of excessive flow and pressure.


2. Your pump was probably sized to run the in-floor cleaners and span. In-floor cleaning systems require large overpressure value to operate, and consequently are MASSIVELY inefficient. They cost 10,000's of pool owners $100's or even $1,000's annual in excess electrical costs.


3. Your piping is a typical pool guy hydraulic mess! I spent a couple of hours on the phone today, trying to get through to the Pentair engineers. I failed, but did confirm from the tech support guys that putting a 3-way valve in train-wreck orientation (water entering from BOTH sides of the T, and leaving via the side outlet) is a SERIOUS piping error. These guys assume -- they don't have much field experience -- that no one would be so dumb as to pipe a pool that way!

And, because it's assumed no one would install a 3-way valve in such a brain-dead configuration, none of the companies with 3-way valves have published head loss curves for their valves in that configuration!

Your piping has, not one, but TWO train-wrecked 3-way valves. If the spa is off, only one train-wreck (the skimmer + main drain) valve is 'live', but there's no way you can feed a 2HP Hayward Super II that way, and not have suction problems.


4. I can't make out exactly what's happening behind the filter -- I assume that's where the piping is looped to the heat pump? Regardless, I'd need a picture looking DOWN behind the filter, and another looking down on the return (pressure) side automatic valve, to work out what's going on.


5. If you were to
+ take the spa and the floor inlets out of the picture entirely,
(water can flow out of the floor inlets, but any restricters would need to be removed, and the cleaning heads would NOT actuate.)
+ replace the C1200 cartridge,
+ repipe the SWCG to straight flow through for ONE of the returns

THEN you could
+ replace your motor with a 1HP 2speed motor, like the AO Smith B975 motor on this page:

http://www.a1poolparts.com/-strse-Mo...Categories.bok

+ replace your pump seal, and impeller with the correct seal and a 1 HP impeller
+ install a 1HP motor rated DPDT toggle switch on the wall behind the pump

AND THEN
+ run the pump on low most of the time, probably with the MD closed, and the skimmer open.

Instead of running a 2 HP load, you'll would be running a 0.2HP load, with 30% or more of your original circulation. With your cartridge clean, and your piping fixed up, you are likely to get near the optimal filter rate for that C1200 (about 40 GPM), but for 10% of your original electrical costs.