carolinephillips

This morning, my filter didn't come on. I went to the pool house and could hear a humming noise, but nothing else was happening. I've tried turning various things on and off but with no effect. As I don't know much about pools I was wondering if anyone had any advice? I have a feeling there might be a blockage.

jad n rich

Usually when its humming but nowt happening you need to clear the hose and suction pieces, and start it again. Often its just blocked. I just pull each bit apart, one at a time trying to see whats clogging it and hope its just leaves

Amazulu

The motor could have seized and might need replacing.

carolinephillips

I hope it is the former- I can't afford a new motor! The pool guys are coming out tomorrow.

datamile

Likely to be jammed pump, failed start capacitor.

Mine would get seeds stuck in the pump impeller, and would need pulling apart once a year to clean it out.

DadAgain

When mine did that it was a dead pump... oddly enough it was the BEST thing!

By forcing me to fork out $650 on a new 'eco-pump' I slashed my electricity bills!

carolinephillips

Have you slashed them by $650 dollars worth?

I'm hoping it is just seeds- there were a lot of them all over the patio last week, and although I empty the skimmer basket regularly and scoop stuff out of the water, they were small enough to get through the mesh.

pomE

Air lock?

eddie007

Swarm of bees?

Hornets nest?

Some annoyingly happy bugger who cant remember the words to the song they were singing?

EvannTel

To find out easily.....
Turn the pump off
No, I mean it, turn it off and unplug it....
Get yourself a pencil (I find standard HB is ok)
At the end of the pump, insert pencil between fabs cover slits and try to turn the pump by pushing on the fan blades. The pump should turn easily. If it does its blocked, if its doesn't its jammed.
If jammed, disconnect pump and remove impellor housing and clean out.
Mine used to stick like this quite often

Bernieboy

I'm having severe problems with my 'pool' ,cause it wasn't ******g there yesterday but appeared overnight

carolinephillips

Sadly, you are speaking a totally foreign language to me. And I've had to call the plumber out to fix my OH's attempts at plumbing, so he isn't going near it- nor does he have time to do it before the weekend anyway. The piping in the pool house is very complicated and it has lots of valve thingys. I can't even unscrew the filter basket as it is too stiff and you have to do things with valves. I'm not proud of the fact that I'm a stupid feeble woman in need of a nice strong knowledgeable bloke to help me out.

DadAgain

old pump drew about 1.5KW
new pump draws closer to 200W

1.3kw x 5 hours a day = 6.5kWh per day saved (@25c per kWh) = $1.63
$650 purchase price / $1.63 daily savings = 399 days to save purchase price.

So if you DO have to buy a new pump - don't despare, its probably not the worst news imaginable. 13 months ROI on any investment is pretty good!

steve`o

only if the new pump moves as much water as the old pump
and from the units i`ve looked at that`s not been the case
so if the new pump shifts less litres per hour you have to run it longer to achieve the same amount of pool turn overs to achieve the correct filtration negating the extra cost and supposed power saving

the same was true of energy saving lamps when they first hit the market the cost of the lamp negated the saving made by the more efficient usage


steve

DadAgain

but now with usable LEDs costing a pittance thats not the case is it? I recently replaced my 50W halogen downlights in the kitchen with 9W LEDs that cost me $6... easy no brainer - even if they burn up and die within 6 months I'll be ahead - and judging by how cool they run I dont see it happening any time soon.

Anyway - thats off-topic. Perhaps my pool pump isnt pushing as much water as the old one (could go towards a partial explanation of my perpetually green, algae infested pool over the last few months)! I'm sure I could double the length of time it runs though and still be ahead of where I was before.

(My bigger pool problem is I've identified a leak from my return pipe (losing about half an inch of depth per night. Its probably caused by tree roots - my guess is its gonna be a bitch to sort out! )