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...

I have a spa but no power. Now what do I do?

www.rickrobinsonhomes.com

Have spa but no power?  

Not to worry... most spas are very well insulated and can retain their heat fairly well for up to 2 weeks.

Not all spas are the same, some of your older spas or smaller ones may not have  full foam insulation within it.

 This could be an issue for you, if this true for your spa go out and get some household insulation and stuff this inside the spa cabinet like you would inside your attic this will give you a barrier from the extreme cold nights.

The biggest mistake people make when they have a spa and the power goes out is to drain it this is NOT a good idea.

If the spa was running and was heated to around 100 degrees just before the power went out then it will take a while for the spa water to cool down on it's own (up to two weeks), but if you drain the spa of water, that safeguard you may have had is gone. 

Now the surface of the spa will get cold and then transfer that coolness to the under side of the spa and the plumbing lines. Then the spa lines can FREEZE and crack. Now this doesn't mean that if you drained your spa it will automatically freeze. The outside temp needs to be below 40 degrees for several days for this to possibly happen. I have seen spas with ice inside them defrost in the spring and run fine with no issues.

Now getting back to my original statement LOL...

Most spas are fully insulated and as long as you do not keep going out there and lifting the cover up to check on it every hour  "you know who I am talking to" the water temp will remain high and you should be fine. I have seen a spa with a temp of 99 degrees when the customer lost power for 2 weeks and when the lights came back on the water temp was only down to 68 degrees.

Once the power comes back on you want to go out to the spa and be sure that the spa has power as well, if not check the breakers.

Run the pumps to be sure all is good then note the temperature on the topside display set it to 100 degrees and monitor it every hour to see that it will go back up to temperature without any problems. If you have made it this far you are golden check the spa chemicals to be sure that it has a good balanced level before going back into it.

I hope everyone is OK and has power back.

Until Next Time...

Need to know how to find a leak in your spa?

Rick the Spa Guy

Do you Need to know how to find a leak in your spa?


If you are losing water in your spa more than 1 inch per week then most likely you have a leak. Now in the winter months when the air is cold and the spa is hot you COULD lose more than this in evaporation if you leave the cover open too long so do not mistake this for a leak.




How do I know if my spa is leaking or not? You can do a bucket test. Get a small bucket and fill it with the spa water and place it on the highest seat so that the top of the bucket is above the water level but you need to be able to close the cover, so find whatever bucket fits your needs best.


Now place the bucket on the highest seat and mark the spa water level with some duct tape mark the water level in the bucket as well, so you know the exact level. Now close the cover and wait 24 hrs, after that open the cover and see if the spa water has dropped down from the tape mark, if so now look in the bucket and measure if the water in the bucket has lost the same amount of water if so then it is just evaporation and you have no leaks. If your spa water level is lower than the bucket then yes the spa is leaking, now what?


So now we know you have a leak now you need to find it. First I would open the spa cabinet below the control panel to see if any of the pumps are leaking or if there is an obvious leak in the equipment area.


If nothing is found there you need to take it to the next level. Get yourself a 2 foot long wooden dowel, you will need to remove all the skirting around the spa to expose the insulation. Now the fun part!!


Pick a starting point, stick the dowel into the foam and insert a foot or so then pull the dowel out, as you are pulling it out inspect it for wetness. Once you get in the area of the leak or leaks the dowel will become wet.


 It is easier to use the dowel than it is to start pulling all the insulation out little by little. Now once you find an area that the dowel comes out wet start digging inward towards the back of the spa shell, as you are removing the insulation note if the insulation is getting wetter or dryer, if getting dryer then start moving to the left or right. Remember this: the water can channel through the foam and be leaking out of the spa in a totally different area, this is why we use the dowel and take our time.


Another thing to keep in mind is this, as you get close to the actual leak the wet foam should get warmer, if the foam you are handling is wet but cold then you are not close to the leak and it may just be channeling out the spa. Once you find the leak you will have to asses the area and determine if this can be repaired with the water in the spa or if you will need to drain the spa to repair.


In a lot of cases it would just be a loose fitting or bad silicone around a jet fitting and you will just need to tighten the fitting or run a new bead of silicone around the outside of the jet fitting. If you find a crack in the plumbing or a bad glue joint then you will need to drain the spa and replace the broken fitting and let the new glue joint dry for 24 hours before refilling the spa.


So this is the basic 101 of spa leak repair, check back for further spa repair helpful hints.


Until Next Time...