Q: I have an older Swimquip XL-VI series pump. The lid to the strainer basket (fiberglass?) appears to be warped and is pulling air. Per your site the part is obsolete. Is there a suitable replacement and if not, what are my options? Thanks
A: I am sorry but those are gone and there is not a suitable replacement. The only options I know of are to replace the wet end of the pump with a different wet end or replace the entire pump. There are reasons to go both ways.
The XL VI is an open face impeller pump and by design not a very energy efficient pump. We only use open faced pumps where there are a ton of organics (leaves, etc) that will repetitively clog the impeller. If you have that sort of situation then you can use one of the wet ends at the link below (use the same horsepower you need now):
http://www.aqua-man.com/itemMatrix_all.asp?GroupCode=M5110
Very few pools have this sort of trouble however, and most can benefit by replacing the pump with a much more efficient pump and save considerably on power use. To review your pool for a more efficient pump size I would need to know a few things.
How many gallons in your pool?
Where do you live in the country?
What horsepower is your XL VI?
Is it a one speed or 2 speed pump?
Do you have a spa or waterfall or pop-up heads in the pool or other special features?
Q: Tx for the reply. I live in northern CA and my pool is surrounded by cedar trees. I've never had a clogging prob but empty the hairpot frequently in season.
The pool is 22K gal. and has a spa attached but we don't use it though it has three inflow jets that work when the pump is on. I don't know the h-power of the pump and the specs are long faded. I assume its one speed since I've never heard it run at diff speeds.
What am I looking at to update the whole thing?
A: If the label is not intact, and we have no markings on the pump, then we will be having to do a little speculating.
In northern California we would normally set up your pool for a 6 hour turn over, meaning that all the water in the pool can pass through the filter in 6 hours. For you that would mean about 61 gallons per minute but your spa most likely requires more water than that to function. Most concrete spa jets from your era would normally be around 25 GPM each meaning we would want at about 75 gallons per minute or so with the spa operating. The spa jet flow is where we have to do the most speculating.
The last 2 things I would look at are the plumbing size and the filter type and size. If you have a sand filter the then diameter is significant. For a DE filter of a cartridge filter the square footage is significant.
Given all these factors I would have you look at a Whisper Flo 1 Hp Energy Efficient pump. You can see it at the link below:
http://www.aqua-man.com/row_num.asp?ic=1096
Reviewing the pump curve with the spa operating you should be around 75 GPM and with the pool operating a bit more. It is important to note that to support these sorts of flow you need a filter capable of handling the flow, and a 2" plumbing size or greater. For a sand filter you need about a 30" diameter tank and for a cartridge 100 ft2 and for a DE filter a 48 square foot minimum.
If any of the factors is smaller than it should be we might need to drop to a 3/4 Hp. Let me know as much as you can about the setup or give me a call.
