Newbie

[pete c]

I came here looking for info on rebuilding a pool pump.

My Hayward Matrix mysteriously dies a few days ago. It just blows the GFCI breaker in the house. I opened it up, but couldn't find any problems. It spins freely. Anyway, a guy at work offered me his old proline pump with a noisy bearing for cheap. I figured I would replace the bearings as soon as I had a chance. I installed the noisy pump. It ran OK, but also had a badly blown pump seal. So, this morning I attempted to pull it apart. All 4 of the long thin bolts that hold it together were froze solid. Can I get replacements? I could drill out the broken off ones from the motor plate.

Anyway, I looked on CL and found a 2 speed one horse Challenger pac fab. I went and looked at it and was highly impressed with its construction and the huge impeller. It is extremely quiet. It appears to be of a much higher quality than most other pumps that all use those damn thin long bolts. So, I bought it. At low speed it moves water like my old hayward did. At high speed it looks like it will blow a hose! Crazy water flow. I see no need to ever run it in this mode.

Even if I can repair the old pump, i doubt I will. Just not worth putting any money into it at all.

I think part of the old hayward's problem was my habit of placing chlorine tabs in the skimmer. I can't imagine highly chlorinated water going through the pump is the best thing for it, especially if it had a leaky seal and the seal was starting to leak a bit.

[pete c]

Does anyone know where I can buy the long bolts that hold everything together?

[PoolDoc]

A 2-speed pump is quiet and cheap to operate; glad you found one.

Never had to buy any of the long machine screws; always had access to a broken motor I could rob, if needed. Didn't find any listed, either. BUT you could possibly get away with using double-nutted all thread rod, in the appropriate size.

If you can't find the rod you need, call this company: http://www.walterwood.com/ . They are local to me, but they are online now. They don't list the rod, but they have it in stock -- probably in both coarse thread and fine thread stainless.

[pete c]

Yes, I did read about using threaded rod. It can be bought in 3 ft lengths from grainger very cheap. Should I spend the extra few bucks for SS?

Thanks Doc for making me a regular member. This looks like a very informative forum. I guess the minor PITA initiation process is worth it.

One other question. I am going to build a pump house, more of a shed really, to put all the mechanicals in. I was thinking of maybe plumbing everything with ABS or PVC at the same time. What are your thoughts on this for an AG pool? I would use short flexble hose or tubing at the skimmer and return port.