Using variable speed pool pump with SWG

[Motoman]

1. They are far less reliable than a 2-speed pump, especially in areas with thunderstorms (and lighting related power surges). They probably should not be installed in lightning prone areas, like Florida

First, I am new to the site and very new at pools, but i do have a pretty good bit of knowledge on motors, mechanics and physics. I'm enjoying the great education I'm getting by reading the many professional posts. I would love to share some of the knowledge from my field.

With that said, A Metal Oxide Varistor or MOV, can be wired in parallel to each of the line voltage legs to ground, and they are only a couple bucks from Radio Shack. Or you can install a surge protection device to the disconnect box, Home Depot $20

2. Failures in the electronic motor control are common, usually not covered by warranty, with a cost of repair of 70% or more of the cost of a new pump.

most failure in the commutator are caused by surges or brownouts. This causes the NTC thermistor protection device to fail (a very inexpensive repair for an electronic hobbyist). MOV's will take care of this, sacrificing itself before taking out the internal protector. I have yet to tear apart my new Hayward VS pump, but can't imagine it is much different than other ECM motors I have experience with.
Another protection device on VS motors are power chokes. Basically an inductor wired in series with the line input to slow the input current and reduce the harmonics cause by the square wave form. These need to be appropriately sized.

3. Electrical savings, over what a 2 speed pump provides, are significant, but marginally so.

Though residential meters don't allow for a higher apparent power cost doesn't mean we don't pay in other ways. As we continue to build more houses an continue to use poor power factor split phase AC motors, this requires the power company to increase power production and increase the supply line service cables far beyond the what would be needed from more electrically efficient equipment. This is seen in the annual or biannual rate increase for all. For those "GREEN" people, it means a larger carbon footprint.

4. Initial pump cost is almost double what a 2-speed pump + timer costs, so much of the electrical savings is consumed paying for that cost difference.

If the motor and module are properly loaded and protected, these motors will provide years of energy savings. Paying for the difference in less than 2 years when comparing to the cost of an inefficient split phase motor.

Hope I haven't overstepped by greenhorn status.

[PoolDoc]

Motoman, it sounds like you may know how to *improve* the VS pumps on the market today, but that doesn't mean that the pumps currently available to pool owners have those improvements.

The fact that sacrificial lightning protection *could* be installed on those pumps is nice. But the relevant question is, has it been installed? I doubt it, since I haven't seen in replaceable "lighting protection modules" in the parts lists of any of the VS pumps I've looked at.

Varistors have been used in surge protection for as long as I've been around computers . . . and while they can stop ordinary power surges, they don't seem to stop lightning based surges. In California, an MOV may be adequate protection (and probably is already present), but it doesn't seem to be adequate in Florida or Louisiana. If there were adequate cautions with the pumps, warning of the risks of installing them in lightning prone areas -- fine. But the pool industry is back at its normal practice of selling the new gizmo to EVERYBODY, regardless of whether it's appropriate for them.

The whole "my pump is GREENER than your pump" pitch is unpersuasive to me. If you can point to clearly organized and well sourced data validating this, I'm willing to change my mind. But I'm sick to death of "green" alternatives that turn out -- like corn based methanol -- to be anything but 'green'. For God's sake, people in S. America went hungry by the 1,000's because of that particular debacle -- and US citizens are still paying MORE for gas that is LESS efficient and that apparently has a negative net energy gain!

I'm all for energy efficiency: the savings are real, when everyone drives a car that gets 30 MPG instead of 15 MPG -- or replaces a single speed pump with a 2-speed. But I don't think we need any more "Solyndra" projects, which wasted a half billion of taxpayer money OR hokey pool 'green' gadgets which waste an individual pool owner's money.

Your savings factors seem to be comparing VS pumps to single speed pumps . . . which I did NOT do. I've been advocating the use of highly reliable 2-speed pumps for years, and the data I've seen suggests that the savings of VS pumps compared to properly installed 2-speed pumps is small. I will concede that it's easier for the typical pool builder to install the one-size-fits-all VS pump correctly, than it is to size a 2-speed pump.

I don't doubt that the industrial VS controllers for non-fractional motors have the features you describe. But they don't seem to be present, or at least, don't seem to be effective on the VS pumps pool owners are buying.

I'm not opposed to VS pumps; I'm just opposed to the somewhat deceptive and hyped marketing that pool owners are being subjected to.

[Motoman]

Once I'm up and running, I will be happy to log some data and share it.

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Oh yeah, looking at the pump, one more protection that could be added is a heat shield to protect the module. Because of the module location they are prone to heat stress.