Identifying Spa Pump & Motor Replacements



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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...

It's Snowing, Get out there and use that spa!

Rick the Spa Guy

It's Snowing, Get out there and use that spa! Well the NJ finally gets the first real snow of the season, it is cold out there but it is a great time to get out  and get in the spa and enjoy the snow piles and that hot 100 degree water while you relax and watch the stars.


I live in northern NJ and we received about 6 inches today, it looks nice out there with all the white stuff. Don't forget to shovel a path to your spa so you can get out there and enjoy it.


Since the air temp is still very cold there is a chance the the electric wires could freeze and cause power outages if this happens, DO NOT FORGET to go outside after you get power back and check to see that the spa has powered back up. This is when most people forget about their spa and when they do go outside to check, it is frozen already and too late this could be a very expensive mistake.


Check your chemicals as well, be sure the PH and Alkalinity are good, the PH should be between 7.2 and 7.6 ppm and the Alkalinity should be between 90-130 ppm, the Calcium Hardness should be 250 ppm and Chlorine or Bromine should be 2.0 - 3.0 ppm for regular users, if you use a mineral stick or other supplemental sanitation to assist in the disinfecting you will still want a 1.0 ppm level of Chlorine or Bromine.


Next week is supposed to warm up and it would be a great time to change the water in your spa if it is that time again, just make sure once you start you complete the task, never leave a drained spa overnight unless it has benn winterized because IT WILL FREEZE.


Until Next Time...

"MY SPA IS FROZEN" What do I do now?

Rick the Spa Guy

My spa is frozen, what do I do now? If this is what you are thinking now you are not alone.

With the brutally cold winters some areas of the country get it is bound to happen. If you are like me and always on the run and have no time to spare, you probably have neglected your spa as well. The rule of thumb is to check on your spa twice a week.

So now you go out and check on the spa and find that nothing is working and the water in the spa is frozen on the top of it, now what?

Well, the answer is DEFROST IT, LOL. Seriesly, you will need to warm up the area under the cabinet where the pumps and plumbing are. If you get a small SAFE portable heater then you can open the skirt of the spa and place the heater inside the cabinet behind the pumps and let the heater heat up the plumbing and the pumps for 24-36 hrs, be sure to check on the heater often so there are no accidents with the heater.



Space Heaters are available on Amazon.com


Most of the newer space heaters have safety features to auto shut off if the heater tips over or overheats. As the heater is heating up the compartment you can take a hair dryer and go under and start blow drying the plumbing in front of the pumps to try and speed up the process.

This is a slow process but very effective, I have had several spas freeze last year and all but one was thawed out with minimal damage to plumbing. the sooner you catch it the better off you will be. Make sure to turn off the breakers to the spa as soon as you realize it has frozen so you do not dso any further damage to the pumps etc.

Once the spa plumbing is thawed out then turn the breakers back on and go through the spa functions to be sure they all work, reset the tempreture of the spa and monitor it to make sure it will heat up on its own.

Until Next Time...

It's cold out there Don't forget to check on your spa

Rick the Spa Guy

It's cold out there so don't forget to check on your spa. When the weather gets very cold like this in the north east and all parts winter, we tend to neglect our outside spaces because it is just to cold to be outside but this could cost you some big money.


It is happening once again, I am getting many calls from people saying they just went outside and their spa is not running and the water in the spa is frozen.


The issue is they wait to long to check on the spa and by the time they realize something is wrong it is too late. A frozen spa can cost you a lot of money in repairs, one person I know had to spend over $1500.00 to get the spa repaired once they thawed it out and the spa was only 1 year old.


There is no warranty for a frozen spa. If your like most of us you get busy this time of year and the backyard takes a backseat to the holidays, and that is ok as long as you do your diligence and check in on your investment at least once a week.


If you keep your spa water tempreture at about 98 or 100 degrees and something happens to the spa it should take at least a week to drop the temp down to freezing temperatures where you have to worry. Some spas are more insulated than others so that estimate depends on your brand of spa.


It only takes a minute or two to go out and lift the cover and see if the spa is OK and check the chemical levels,and if you do find something wrong you should have plenty of time to call and get someone out to make the repairs it may need so you do not loose any great and relaxing time in your spa.


Happy Holidays


Until Next Time...