Identifying Spa Pump & Motor Replacements



www.RickRobinsonHomes.com

Identifying Spa Pump & Motor Replacements

Identifying a correct motor or pump replacement for a spa can be a tricky business: motors come in various sizes, pumps can have non-standard (up-rated/brake horsepower) ratings, sometimes the horsepower rating will be blank. Correct identification can make the difference between a profitable parts sale/service call and an expensive mess.

Let’s cover some of these terms:

• Up-rating – The practice of labeling a motor at higher than its traditional horsepower rating. For example changing a 2 HP pump into a 3 HP pump by only changing some of the ratings on the sticker.(See Brake/SPL ‘Special” Horsepower)
  
• Frame Size – Motors come in different sizes, we define these standard sizes by motor frame numbers. Unfortunately these motor manufactures do not agree on the terms they use for these frame sizes. For simplicity we refer to standard spa motors as 48Y and 56Y, but motor manufacturers call them all sorts of things. Some motor manufacturers even call the 48 frame motors 56 and vice versa.
  
• Brake/SPL “Special” Horsepower – These are commonly used for even bigger “up-ratings” a 2 HP pump can change to 4.5 HP or higher merely by changing the sticker on the motor. This rating is primarily based on the HP the motor attains less any load. True HP is the rating of the motor under load, this is the most important rating we as techs look for.
• 
  With horsepower ratings you cannot trust and frame sizes called all sorts of different things – what are you to do? The best weapon in our quest to identify a correct replacement is careful observation. We can identify frame size with a ruler and noting where the bolts are, we can get an idea for the horsepower by observing the amperage & voltage and find out one speed or two speed with the RPM rating. Everything we need to know is at hand you just need to know what to look for.
  
• Below is a checklist of things we use when identifying a pump. We don't always them all, but the more you know the more likely it is you will get it right.
  

• Pump ID checklist:

  • Amperage
  • Voltage
  • RPM rating
  • Pump brand
  • Pump model
  • Motor diameter
  • Impeller part number
  • Pump casing part numbers
  • Number of screws that hold the pump wet end together
  • Shape of the pump faceplate
  • Distance between motor thru-bolts and the head size.
  • Position of motor thru-bolts
  • Pump discharge location
  • Pump suction location
  • Outside thread diameter of suction and discharge

What do we do with all that?

Amperage and voltage – Normally the correct replacement will be the same voltage and near the same amperage.
RPM Rating – A 3450/1725 rating means you have a 2 speed motor, a single 3450 rating means you have a standard 1 speed motor, a single 1725 rating means you have circ pump motor, ratings of 2850 or 1425 mean you have a 50 hertz overseas motor.
Motor diameter – 48 frame motors are around 5-1/2” in diameter, 56 frame motors are around 6-3/8” diameter.
Distance between motor thru-bolts – 48 frame motors have thru-bolts about 3-5/8” apart, 56 frame motors have thru-bolts about 4-1/8” apart.
Thru-bolt head sizes – 48 frame motors usually have 1/4” heads on the thru-bolts, 56 frame motors usually have 5/16” heads.
Mounting Bolt Pattern – The distance between the bolts on the 48 frame bolt pattern = 3.65". The ditance between the bolts on the 56 frame = 4.1".
Pump brand/model – Replacing a pump with exactly the same pump will ensure a good fit. With most pump models only one motor size fits, eliminating a lot of the frame questions.
Pump case/impeller part numbers - These will usually lead to a particular pump model, and the impeller numbers to a model and horsepower. If there are no part numbers we can use basic shape and number of screws to try and narrow down to a pump model.
Outside thread diameters (where the plumbing hooks up) - The common thread sizes are 1.5” Buttress = 2-7/16” diameter, 2” Buttress = 3-1/16”diameter and 2.5” Buttress = 3-11/16” diameter.
Thru-bolt locations – most motor bolts that attach pump and motor are located at 11:00, 1:00, 5:00 and 7:00 O’clock. If yours are located elsewhere, ask before ordering a motor.
Pump discharge location – some pump discharges are located directly in-line with the motor shaft (they may be straight up or point left or right) we call these “center discharge” pumps, some pump discharges are set off to the right side of the wet end we call these “side discharge” pumps.
Pump suction location – most pumps have the suction is in the center of the wet end, 100% Drain pumps have them lowered to the bottom.
As you can see there are a number of things to consider when selecting spa pumps and their parts, if you follow the guidelines above you will find it is not hard to get it right.

This Article Supplied by Spa Parts Plus.

Until Next Time...

Spa Jets Explained

www.rickrobinsonhomes.com

SPA Jets Explained

Consider a simple spa jet. Spa Jets have 3 main connections – water in, air in, and a water and air mixture outlet. The water is pushed into the jet by pressure from the pump and flows through and comes out the front. This is how the air gets mixed into the pressurized water stream that we will be discussing.

How Spa Jets Work

The air gets mixed into the pressurized water by use of a venturi inside the jet. The venturi effect happens at the tip of the orifice which is a small hole inside the jet that all the incoming water gets pushed through.

To understand the venturi effect you have to first understand the way fluid acts inside a pipe. If we reduce the size of a pipe with fluid moving through it, the velocity (speed) of the water increases, but the pressure in the pipe decreases. So if we have spa water flowing through a 2” pipe and we reduce the size to 1.5” for part of the run, the water in the 1.5” section moves faster but at a lower pressure.

If you look inside a spa jet they all have a reduction in the internal plumbing size, we call this reduced size section the “orifice”. The most common size of the hole in the orifice is 5/16” of an inch. This means that we reduce the incoming water feed that was lets say 1” pipe, and we force all this water through a hole just over a 1/4” wide.

This causes a section of the water to travel at a higher velocity and at a much lower pressure. This low pressure at the tip of the jet orifice is lower than the pressure of the air in the atmosphere outside. Since the outside air is a higher pressure than the water at the tip of the orifice, air gets pushed into the water stream at the tip of the orifice and mixed into the water. This water and air mixture then flows out of the front giving us the jet action we are all familiar.

What goes wrong with Spa jets?

Most complaints about spa jets have to do with them no longer mixing air properly. Customers will report that the jets are “broken” or not working, they will also sometimes refer to the pump “not being as strong as it used to be”, or even talk about the air controls or the air blower being broken.
Jet malfunctions usually lead to weak jets or jets with no air in them at all, but they can also lead to water shooting out of the air controls or a the jet sucking water in instead of blowing water out.
Almost all jet problems are centered around the orifice. I will list some of these troubles below:


Insufficient water input – if the pump is not delivering enough water to the jets they may not develop a low enough pressure inside to suck air from the outside world effectively. This can cause jets to be weak or have no air at all. The diameter of the hole in the orifice determines how much water a jet needs to work properly. If you have insufficient water input it can mean that you have a dirty filter cartridge, an obstruction in the pump impeller, or even an undersized pump for the amount of jets you have.

Too much water input – if the pump is over sized it can cause back pressure inside the jet after the orifice, this can cause the jet to not draw air correctly by applying pressure inside the jet where the low pressure is supposed to be formed. This back pressure is between the orifice and the eyeball at the front of the jet where the water and air mixture come out. Sometimes this problem can be relieved by increasing the size of the eyeball in the front. I have seen this problem most often in gunite spas.
Another problem with the older style gunite spa jets is the length can be an issue. With the orifice tees set back inside the wall the length of the pipe between the orifice and the front eyeball can vary greatly. The length of the pipe run itself can cause back pressure with long piping runs through walls it is often necessary up size the eyeballs, or even reduce the size of the orifice opening in the back of the jet and reduce the water flow. Modern design gunite jets move the orifice to the front and eliminate this issue.

Gasket/O-ring Problems – many modern jets have the orifice inside a removable jet internal. On these jets there is often a gasket or o-ring that separates the water pressure area from the low pressure air suction area. When this separation breaks down the high water pressure can leak over to the low pressure air side making the jet not draw air correctly or at all. If this leakage gets severe enough it can also cause water to come out of the air controls.

Plugged Orifice – a small obstruction can get lodged it the orifice obstructing the water flow. Running a screwdriver or other long, thin object through the orifice will often knock it loose, this works best with the jet pump running to help push the object out. If the the object is too large, you will sometimes need to remove the orifice and manually pull the object out of the jet.
Note that other jets may be affected from a single obstruction. The air line on the plugged jet is usually hooked to the air lines from other spa jets. The neighboring jets will still be drawing a suction on those air lines. Sometimes this will cause the surrounding jets to suck water through the air line backwards through the plugged jet, causing the plugged jet to be pulling water into the eyeball instead of outward. This usually only happens on inground spas where the air intake is far away, or for any reason, easier for one jet to pull water from another jet than to pull air from the air intake.

This Article is courtesy of Spa Parts Plus

Until Next Time....

Bergen County Janurary Market Report

www.RickRobinsonHomes.com

Bergen County NJ January Market Report

One of the great things about being part of a Real Estate Board is that I get access to these great Market Reports that tell me how the market is doing at a particular time and I can then pass that information on to homeowners. This will give them a small glimpse of how the market is doing in Bergen County.

As Realtors we can tell potential clients what the housing market is doing in their area but the homeowners might not believe completely what we are telling them, and this report will validate what we say and help our potential clients get a feel for how long it might take to sell their home and if it is a Sellers or Buyers market as well as how much they might sell the home for.


Photo curtsey of photo bucket

We can also get a feel for how long a home is taking to sell. Right now it seems that the Inventory of Single Family homes for sale is LOW there is only a 4 month supply this means if no other homes were to be put up for sale and with the current amount of Buyers out there ALL the for sale homes would be sold in 4 months and there would be nothing available to buy. This makes NOW a great time to list your home. There are more Buyers than there are homes for sale. (Sellers Market)

A single family home days on the market average is 79 days in the last 12 month period, and they are selling for 96.3% of asking price.

Condos have a days on market average of 103 and they are selling for 95.5% of list price within the last 12 months. Now these numbers can change rather quickly so it is important to keep up to date on what is happening in the market trends and this is why you should always hire a Realtor to Buy or Sell a home.

I would like to apply for that job.....Go to my website to see what homes are for sale near you.

Until Next Time...




 

Time to start thinking about next years backyard makeover!

www.rickrobinsonhomes.com

Time to start thinking about next years backyard makeover!

I know it is winter time now but that means that while everyone in the cold climates are stuck indoors and getting cabin fever already, we can start to imagine our backyard makeover for next summer….

Maybe you have always wanted a pool or maybe a portable spa?

Some of you may already have these items but need to give your back yard a facelift, how about a new deck or patio?

One of the most common makeovers is the patio or deck; these can be made from all different kinds of material,

    ·       wood

          ·       treks decking

·        pavers

                                             ·       Concrete the options are plentiful.

First thing you need to do is decide how big or small of a deck or patio you need or want. When it comes to spas a good rule is to have the patio at least 3 feet larger than the spa itself to have some walking room around it.

Another great makeover idea is landscaping, I love to see backyard gardens around a pool or spa they just add some peacefulness to the area, I think so anyway.

·       When considering landscaping it is best to hire a professional to do the layout and install as most of the contractors have a detailed education and experience in these matters and can give you some great ideas.

Lighting is also a great mood enhancer. There are several lighting options as well.

                    ·       Spot lighting to highlight a beautiful tree or the house itself.

·       Low level garden lights to accent a walking path

               ·       Stick lights to go around the perimeter of the deck or spa

               ·       Paver lights. Designed to be flushed with the pavers but illuminate

                      ·       Step lighting for wood or treks decking, a lighted step area for safety when going up or down the steps.

Fire pit area is one of my favorite things to do as well. There are several types of these you can choose from.

          ·       Wood burning

·       Propane

     ·       Natural Gas

                                                ·       Outdoor fireplace (also wood burning)

No matter what your ideas are; start thinking now about what you would like to do so you will have plenty of time to design and re-design the plans (believe me you will be glad you started now).

Until Next Time….

www.rickrobinsonhomes.com

So you are thinking about buying a home that has a pool? What should you do?

I hear these questions often and here are some of my suggestions:

First thing you need to do is get a professional to do a complete pool inspection that includes a pressure test of all the plumbing lines. When they do a pressure test they will fill all the lines with water and get the pressure in the lines up to 10-15 lbs and they will watch to see if the pressure starts to drop this could indicate a leak in one of the plumbing lines.

An inspection will also give you an experts opinion on the condition of the pool equipment it's possible age and if there is any repairs they feel should be made right away, the biggest issues I have found is an older heater that leaks and or does not fire up. Repairs can be costly if you need to replace equipment. If you have a concrete pool then you may need to have the pool re plastered or tile and coping repairs these can be a costly repair that you should not have to be responsible for. Re plaster jobs could be in excess of $5000.00 tile and coping could be the same.

A vinyl liner pool is different as long as the vinyl liner is in tact and not leaking you should be OK a liner can fade, but this will not change the integrity of the pool itself. A new liner can run from $2000-$3000 for the liner and then another $1000 for the installation.

Once you determine that the pool is sound and you have a good report from the inspector you can go to the homeowner and ask for credit for any pool repairs needed before you close on the house.

Once you own the home take a water sample from the pool to your local pool supply center and have the water tested. They will tell you what you need to add to the water to keep it clean and safe for swimming, they can also guide you on proper maintenance and operation. A pool is a great feature to have in the backyard, it can be fun for the whole family and give your kids some great summer fun.

With a little knowledge and patience, a pool can be a great STAYCATION at home and save you a great deal of money on those costly trips to the beach.

So go ahead and buy that house and go swimming.....

Until Next Time....