Swimming Pool Owner's Blog

Preventative Pool Pump Maintenance

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Swimming Pool Pump Maintenance

We all know that feeling when Winter has come and gone and spring is starting to warm up and it is time to start the pool up for summer and daily swimming, changing the chlorinator to summer settings and the pool pump is making a loud grinding sound and won’t start.

Here are a few tips and warning signs that will save you money in preventative maintenance rather than paying largely for it in the long run.

Swimming Pool Pumps Maintenance

  • Know the sound the pump makes in normal operation, if the sound changes to a loud grinding sound when water is passing through it and the basket is emptied it needs to be serviced. Most of the time if the pump is older than four years it is a Mechanical Seal and bearings which is quite a cheap fix compared to a new pump if left unfixed.
  • Leaking water from under the pump is 90% of the time the Mechanical Seal or body O-ring that holds the wet end of the pump to the motor. If the pump is left in water the motor will corrode and damage the pump further.
  • Empty the baskets, by restricting water flow to the pump it can burn out and or extremely shorten the life of the pump and other filtration equipment. When a pump basket breaks the debris flows into the impeller clogging it which can cut a pumps water flow by two thirds or altogether.
  • Use a silicon grease to lubricate the O-rings in the unions that attached the pump to the pipe as well as the pump lid O-ring (do not use Vaseline or any petroleum based lubricates as this will perish the O-rings).