I knew that our pool pump was at least 10 years old and I noticed that the noise was getting louder in the last six month. It was clear to me that it would break down any day. And I was right, two weeks ago, the pump motor started, immediately made a really horrible buzzing sound and triggered the circuit breaker. The friction must have gotten too big for the motor and it was drawing too much current. My first thought was to just get a new energy efficient multiple speed pump. But once I added up the cost for the new pump, a new control and the labor to put it in, I switched to option 2: Low budget repair of the existing pump. In monetary terms it meant to spend only about $500 instead of $1200.
Figure 1: It’s time for a new pump motor
Safety First
Before I start going into details, here is a little disclaimer: Repairing pool pumps is dangerous.
 | Pool pumps use high voltage power. It can kill you! Have a pool professional do the work. You can take the pictures. Make sure your pool professional has disconnected the power to the pump at the circuit breaker and locks the circuit breaker box. |
Research
First do your homework. Google is your friend. I didn’t have any documentation about my pump and didn’t even know what year or model it was. I tried to read all the necessary information from the pump directly.
Figure 2: Pump model and serial number found on the pump
Get the pump model information
There is information about the pump on the impeller housing and on the motor of the pump. I also emailed the manufacturer to find out what year the pump was built. In my case the year was important because there were two options for replacing the motor shaft seal. There was an old style and a new style seal. Here is a table with all the data that I got from the pump and my research on the internet:
| Model | P4E6G-153L |
| Code | 1H93B |
| Motor | A.O. Smith Electrical Corp. CEI3 8ABM |
| Service Factor Max Amps< | 11.2 |
| Motor Model | K48N2PA105 (Replacement SQ1202) |
| Motor Serial | 1F93 |
| SF (Service Factor ) | 1.3 |
| HP (Horse Power) | 2 |
| Volts | 230 |
| KW | 1.9 |
| AMB | 50.0 |
| RPM | 3450 |
| PH1 | Code H |
| FR (Frames) | 48Y |
| HZ | 60 |
Find a pump manual online
I got lucky, I Googled for “P4E6G-153L “ and found a PDF file of my original pump manual. I zipped the file and attached it here: MaxEGlassII153.zip
Study the manual
Have your pool professional study the manual. There are many details that will help her/him to perform a decent job. I added screenshot of the pump drawing and the parts list right here:
Figure 3: Pump drawing screenshot from the manual
Figure 4: Pump Parts List
Tools
All my pool professional used was a screw driver, a 15 mm wrench and a gripping tool for holding the motor shaft while unscrewing the impeller.
Figure 5: Tools
Disassembly
Step 1 – Turn off the power
Step 2 – Drain water in the pump
Step 3 – Unscrew the clamp screw and remove the clamp
Step 4 – Pull the pump motor out
Step 5 – Remove the motor cap
Step 6 – Disconnect cables and conduit
Step 7 – Un-screw the five diffuser screws
Step 8 – Un-screw the impeller counter screw (loosens clockwise)
Step 9 – Un-screw the impeller (use gripping tool to hold the shaft)
Step 10 – Un-screw the seal plate
Step 11 – Done
Figure 6: Done with taking the pump apart
Parts that needed replacing
My pool professional first thought that we just needed to replace the motor, but I looked a little bit closer and found that the impeller had cracks and the diffuser was so worn out that it actually had holes. This might have been the reason for the noise and vibrations in the last few months. I decided to get the impeller, the shaft seal and the diffuser replaced as well. My pool professional is getting the new motor from a local whole seller and I opted to order the other parts online from PoolCenter.com.
Impeller and shaft seal
Figure 7: Impeller and shaft seal
The impeller was, in my opinion, not usable anymore. There was build up and one of the plates seemed to be splitting away.
The easy part was to figure out what the part number of new impeller was. I actually found it embossed on the part itself. More tricky was to decide whether the shaft seal was the new style or old style kind. I got this information from the pump manufacturer, after providing them with the model and serial number of the pump.
Diffuser
The diffuser was pretty worn out. There were even holes in it. To replace this part was a no-brainer. The part number was also embossed on the part itself.
Figure 8: Diffuser
Shopping for the parts
I looked around online and decided to submit my order to PoolCenter.com. It took about 10 days to get the parts, including ground shipping. The price was worth the wait. Here is my shopping list:
| Part Number | Description | Price |
| C1-271P | STA-RITE DIFFUSER, C1-271P | $17.16 |
| GO-KIT-38 | ALADDIN GO-KIT38 STA-RITE P4E & P4EA, MAXIGLAS / DURAGLAS II | $26.34 |
| C105-238PEBA | STA-RITE IMPELLER 2HP FULLRATE & 2-1/2HP UPRATE, C105-238PEB | $45.92 |
| PS100 | PUMP SEAL #100 5/8 SHAFT SIZE | $13.26 |
| PS201 | PUMP SEAL # 201, 3/4 SHAFT SIZE | $18.50 |
| C3-186 | STA-RITE COPPER INSERT, SEAL PLATE - C3-186 | $12.57 |
| O-83 | O-RING | $4.59 |
Note: I didn’t know exactly what to order, and ordered more than I needed. I just received the parts and now I know better. For example, GO-Kit-38 includes O-83 and PS201. Also PS100 is the wrong part, because it is being used for newer style pumps.
Also when you get the new motor make sure that it has an inside and outside threaded shaft.
Figure 9: Inside and outside threaded motor shaft
Ausblick
Watching my pool professional doing the disassembly of the pump I realized that this task is not rocket science. I also learned that you shouldn’t just trust a so called expert and rather have a closer look on what she/he does or doesn’t repair. As I mentioned before, I received the parts yesterday and I hope to learn something from our pool professional when he is putting the pump back together. Stay tuned.
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