Whisperflo Wf-4 Pump

[EdS]

the WhisperFlo WF-4 pump on our community pool is getting a bit noisy. Don't know yet whether it's the pump or motor. Is there an easy way to tell?

Another question. The pump name plate gives a date 9/10/2009. However, I am the treasurer for our HOA and have no record of having replaced the pump that recently. Is it possible that the name plate date is the warranty expiration date rather thn the build date?

Thanks in advance.

[Pool Clown]

Can you post a pic, or link to a pic of this plate? If the pump seems to be pumping the normal amount of water (full pot and or normal pressure on the filter) it's probably the motor is going/gone out. Is it wet at all around the pump?

[EdS]

Can you post a pic, or link to a pic of this plate? If the pump seems to be pumping the normal amount of water (full pot and or normal pressure on the filter) it's probably the motor is going/gone out. Is it wet at all around the pump?

Here is the pump nameplate:

http://www.efsowell.us/ed/projects/PoolPump/PumpNameplate.JPG

and the motor:

http://www.efsowell.us/ed/projects/PoolPump/MotorNameplate.JPG

BTW, I now see we have a WFE-4 pump rather than WF-4. Don't know if it's properly controlled to use the dual speeds.

In a separate topic called Inlet Leaks I'll give some links to photos and video showing the symptoms of the problem I'm dealing with.

TIA

Ed

[AFiremanFirst]

"noisy pumps" are typically bad bearings. pool clown asked if there was water around the motor/pump. He's asking to determine if the pump seal has gone bad and destroyed the front bearing. In your pictures I did not notice any water... but it was a close up. The dates look to be manufacture dates. And the housing of the motor does not appear to be that old. I'm using the sunlight in the pictures to assume it's not covered and subject to the elements. bearing replacement is a lost art. I may be the only guy with in a 100 miles that does bearings with a 1 year warranty. I say that because none of the local wholesalers even carry bearings, and it's not like they take up a lot of space. Not to mention they are cheap.

Dual speed! Lots of dual speed timers available for that motor. One may look like a standard dial timer, that runs low speed, with the exception of the time frame that you set for full speed. This timer can be decieving. There are many more that are clearly more obvious dual speed timers.

If it is your front bearing. Your motor will get louder and louder over time (screaming) and you'll eventually have to replace it. Seldom do "pumps" make much noise. Either it's a noisy pump, or not, but seldom do they begin to increase in volume.

[EdS]

pool clown asked if there was water around the motor/pump. He's asking to determine if the pump seal has gone bad and destroyed the front bearing. In your pictures I did not notice any water... but it was a close up.

Pump seal was replaced a few months ago. No wetness around pump.

Doesn't cavitation (due to air) cause noise? Or something lodged in the impeller? I'm a novice, obviously, but I've been probing the Web on the subject and found that somewhere.

The dates look to be manufacture dates. And the housing of the motor does not appear to be that old. I'm using the sunlight in the pictures to assume it's not covered and subject to the elements. bearing replacement is a lost art. I may be the only guy with in a 100 miles that does bearings with a 1 year warranty. I say that because none of the local wholesalers even carry bearings, and it's not like they take up a lot of space. Not to mention they are cheap.

I just got an email from WisperFlo (to the question posed to them last week). They say if it doesn't say "Born on" by the date it's the end of warranty date.

Dual speed! Lots of dual speed timers available for that motor. One may look like a standard dial timer, that runs low speed, with the exception of the time frame that you set for full speed. This timer can be decieving. There are many more that are clearly more obvious dual speed timers.

I'll look into that. BTW, there's a solar panel in our system, and I understand some of the benefit of dual speeds is not realized when solar is used.

If it is your front bearing. Your motor will get louder and louder over time (screaming) and you'll eventually have to replace it. Seldom do "pumps" make much noise. Either it's a noisy pump, or not, but seldom do they begin to increase in volume.

Pool guy says same... says to take the watchful waiting approach. But we're just starting our prime swimming season, and don't want it to fail some friday afternoon!

Thanks for your help. At some point I'll probably have to call one of the bigger pool companies and have them diagnose the problem. Just trying to learn all I can before I do so I can deal with them better.

[Seahunt]

I have an 8 year old Whisperflo (1hp) that is making a little more noise then usual. I had a pool company (Leslie's) come out and look at it. He said if it is pumping fine (which it is) and is not leaking water (seal is bad) to let it go. He said the Whisperflo pump shaft often warps as they age. This is the reason for a little more noise. I'm just providing you the info I got for my $90 service call (new pump would have been $750 installed).

Good luck!

[EdS]

I have an 8 year old Whisperflo (1hp) that is making a little more noise then usual. I had a pool company (Leslie's) come out and look at it. He said if it is pumping fine (which it is) and is not leaking water (seal is bad) to let it go. He said the Whisperflo pump shaft often warps as they age. This is the reason for a little more noise. I'm just providing you the info I got for my $90 service call (new pump would have been $750 installed).

Good luck!

Thanks for the data point. Our regular pool man says it's the bearings but not urgent to fix. He quoted $495 for a new motor, including labor. I found another local guy with Google who will replace the motor bearings and go through the pump too, replacing what's needed. He extimates $300 tops.

The company that replaced the skimmers and did pressure tests in 2006 will come Friday to assess the situation, then I'll decide what to do.

[EdS]

The Pool Center came today and did some leak tests. Found a leak under the deck around the skimmer used by the pool guy for vacuum hookup. They said that was the most likely cause of the low vacuum suction and the air in pump inlet and bubbles in the return water.

They also look over the equipment room. They said the copper suction pipe (see earlier photos) on the right is from the bottom drain and is normally closed. It was. When we opend the gate valve in it and shut down the other gate valve (from skimmers) we still were getting air. He said that's probably due to the Band-aid at around the pipe near the concrete. Proved it was leaking there by shutting down the pump, causing a squirt from under the Band-aid.

So now I wait till they give me some estimates for repair. Will put off doing anything about the motor/pump noise till we decide what to do about the leaks. I'm thinking maybe a lot of the noise is due to all that air going through the impeller.

Ed