There are many things that could go wrong with your swimming pool equipment. One of these being the swimming pool pump. Your swimming pool pump is like the “heart” of your equipment set up. It pushes (AKA Pumps) the water that is collected from the main drain and/or skimmer of your swimming pool. The water is pushed through your entire system which includes a swimming pool filter and possibly a heater, salt cell system etc. Then the water is returned to the swimming pool through the return inlets. The bearings are an integral part of your pumps make up. When your motor makes an awful screeching or grinding sound, you most likely can expect it to be bad bearings.
Bearing replacement raises we are primarily focusing on the shaft of your pool pump, the ball bearings themselves, and the front and rear bells. These are also commonly known as “shaft ends”. If doing it yourself you will need a flathead screwdriver, a bearing puller, a hammer, and a 1 ½ metal piece of pipe section, a sharpie and some WD-40.. Sound like foreign objects? They may very well be to you. If you are not tech savvy, you may want to bring your pool pump into a repair shop (Good luck finding one that works on bearings) or hire a professional.
Bearing parts are around $30-$40. Add the additional cost of the tools and you are looking at a higher price. If you are tech savvy, this is an inexpensive way to DIY. Even if you are not savvy, it will be cheaper to hire someone versus replacing the pump. Keep in mind that replaced bearings typically last a year or less. Labor rates vary from region to region, but I would be shocked if you could find someone to do it for less than $100, plus parts (which will be marked up, of course.)
A lot of people opt to just replace the entire motor. If you have a single speed pump this may be difficult. That is because of the inefficiency of single speed pumps. I like to call them gas guzzlers when in actuality they are power guzzlers, sucking up a ton of energy and keeping your electric bill sky high. A swimming pool pump is the most expensive thing to operate behind your home’s air conditioning. If you can find a motor you are in a similar boat as with the bearings. Do it yourself or find a professional to do it. Motors are anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the brand and the horsepower. The labor rate will go up as well.
Variable speed swimming pool pumps are the way to go. If your old pool pump has gotten to the point of needing bearings, you may want to consider a new pump entirely. Why dump money into old technology? Variable speed pool pumps are energy efficient and utilize much less energy. They do this by not only pulling less power, but having the ability to operate on varying, lower speeds. This helps you save a ton of money on your electric bill. Depending on the city it could be around $70 per month!
Other tricks like reducing the number of hours you run your single speed pump or running it at night lead to bad looking water and expensive algae treatments. Why not put your money where the return on investment is there?
Variable speed pool pumps have a totally enclosed. fan-cooled motor which keeps heat from escaping. Running your pool at a lower speed for longer is the way to clear, beautiful water and beautiful money in your pocket. Why do we need to run it longer? Your single speed pump only moves the water on “high” which is 3,450 revolutions per minute. You don’t need this much power all the time, if ever. It depends on if you have water features or a spa. But even running a VSP on high, at the same RPM uses less energy. Since we are running our new VSP at lower speeds, we still need to accomplish what is known as a turnover. A turnover is when the amount of water (gallons) equal to the number of gallons in the swimming pool flows through the filter. Our pool hasn’t changed size, right? If you were running your old pool pump for a certain amount of hours, you would dial down your variable speed’s RPMs and run it longer to still guarantee a turnover. You determine your own turnover rate based on what speed(s) you run your new VSP at.
Think you cannot afford a variable speed pump? Well you haven’t been looking in the right place. You can get a brand name, American made, Energy Star rated BLACK + DECKER swimming pool pump for about half of what you would pay at your local swimming pool store. They also come with an unprecedented FIVE year warranty! I kid you not! Check them out here. See you poolside!
