Pool Pumps - Some Things Can’t be Fixed

by Felicia A. Williams

After purchasing the Hayward filter from my neighbor, I had to spend some time getting warm and fuzzy with the pump. ROAR Once I plugged it in and heard it roar (and I mean it really ROARED), I figured it was old and angry but it worked. I was wrong.

I was right about the old and angry part, but was incorrect about it working. Well, let me rephrase that. The motor worked in that it whirled around as a motor should, but it wouldn’t pump the water through the pool’s filtration system. In other words, there was no suction.

Repairing the Suctionless Pool Pump

Here’s what I was thinking. If the pool pump is moving as it should, that means there was still hope for the pump. Yeah, okay, it was leaking a bit of water right at the connection between the basket and the pump (I’ve later learned that’s where the impeller is housed), but I thought replacing a gasket would resolve the leaking issue.

Additionally, I thought the leaking area was introducing air to the filtration system, thus diminishing the suction power. If you are familiar with pool filtration systems, air in a filtration system pretty much shuts things down. It may not shut down totally, but the suction is severely reduced.

Pool Equipment Repair Shops

I called around and found that Leslie Pools repairs Hayward pool pumps so I packed the ugly old filter into the car and brought it over to Leslie Pools. The technician had pretty much the same thoughts as I had at first glance. The fact that the motor was whirring around was promising. He also said that replacing a gasket should repair the leak and he agreed about the air in the system theory.

He pulled the system apart, fitted the right gasket, but mentioned that the impeller looked a bit odd. For non-tech folks like me, the impeller is almost like a fan that spins around creating a type of vacuum to suck the water into the filtration system. The impeller should spin around and not wobble. A wobbling impeller means a loss in suction.

Oh the Stubborn Impeller

The technician tried to pull the impeller off in order to replace it, but the impeller said, “No!” Then, technician number 2 came by and pretty much read the pump its last rights. Just for grins, they replaced the gasket, put the pump back together, started it up but confirmed that there was little if any suction.

I said goodbye to the old pump assembly and purchased a new one to the tune of $230. It was the Hayward 1 hp Power Flo pump. After coming home I saw that Amazon had the pumps for close to $100 cheaper. I should have done my research before I left the house (another lesson learned).

My New Hayward 1-HP Pool Pump

After purchasing the pump, they had to modify it to fit my filtration system. The pump as it came out of the box had a top connection to the filter where I needed a side connector like the one shown below:

In addition. the Hayward pump electric cord was a standard three-pronged plug where I needed the odd-looking circular three-pronged plug like this one:

That wasn’t a problem. The same housing assembly that houses the impeller is removable. So, all they had to do was unscrew about 4 or so screws, adjust the connector to point towards the side instead of straight up and swap out the electronic power cord. They took the power cord from my old motor and installed it on the new and I was good to go.

I came home with a spiffy new functioning pool pump motor ready to connect to my old Hayward EC40 filter housing; one small step for me, a giant step in the pool restoration process.

(By the way, at a later date I went to Leslie Pools and ran into a customer who was a bit more determined than I was to repair his motor. He managed to remove his old impeller through brute force and replaced it with a new one. However, he needed a particular gasket that the store had to order. It was 3 weeks later and the gasket still hadn't come in. He made me feel just a bit better about spending money on a new motor.)

Now that I’ve got everything working, its time to change the water color from that funky murky brownish green to crystal clear.

Next: The clear water battle

About the Author: Felicia Williams is a wife, mother and grandmother who likes to write about a host of topics.

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: HouseholdTidbits.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Comments: If you wish to comment, leave a tip or have questions about an article, please email me at comments[@]householdtidbits[.]com. Understand, however, that if you do send a valid tip, comment or question, it may be added to the comment section. Don't fret if you don't see a comment section. I create them on an as-needed basis (spam is automatically deleted).

Last Modified: 24 March 2020