Need help wiring new pump

[ReefJerk]

I got this new pump and would like to know if there is someone who could give me some pointers on getting it wired. When I spoke to the support people, the only advice they gave was to use heavy duty wire. It has three male spade connectors, I suppose. It is a 2-speed pump, so do I need to put a switch on the power cord, or what? Any help would be appreciated. If I can't get any resolution here(which I thoroughly doubt), I will call an electrician. Here are some pics of the connections.

Wiring diagram

And, off topic, but the nicest unions I've seen for a pump. This one reduces the 2" inch ports down to 1.5"

The groove, if you can see it, fits 1.5" PVC pipe.

 

[Deuce67]

Is that a 208-220V pump? Thats what it looks like to me anyways. Can you take a pic of the info left of the wiring diagram?

 

[murfman]

Russ is the Electrician but from what I can see from the schematic, you actually have 4 wires. A unit like that has a separate ground wire to ground the casing to ground. Make sure that is connected. If you wire the high and low together, that give you one speed. I don't see a need for a switch, unless you want to be able to select from low to high. Russ can give you the AMP rating on what wire to use.

 

[ReefJerk]

Thanks, guys. Here's the pic you requested, Russ

 

[reefkoi]

8 amps!!! thats going to cost you 2-3 times per year to run than a good reeflo pump
Just to make you aware thats a spa pump, they are a bit loud and really ineffiecient, hot running also. I have a few lying around from past mistakes, I wouldnt give them to somedoby running a reef, because they are so expensive to run. I figure in a year or 2 you will pay $500-$700 more in electrical costs than if you were to by a reeflo.
Sorry but just hate to see you run this guy.
Chris

As far as running it on 230 and using less amps it still costs the same as wiring one up to 110 I'm sure russ can confirm that one.

 

[ReefJerk]

As far as I've seen, the Reeflo's highest output is 5800gph. I wanted quite a bit more flow than that. My closed loop has 12 ports, so I'm shooting for about 800gph per port.

 

[Deuce67]

230V pump. Hmmm. I wonder if it will run on 208V? Some pumps will tell you the high and low side of voltage that it will run. This one just says 230V. It prolly will run at 208. Not sure what the phase to phase reading of your incoming voltage is but I never seen 230V on a residential here in the Springs. You prolly be alright though. Anyways, you need a new 2 pole circuit. Depending how far your panel is to the tank, its gonna be some $$$. Especially if you need to cut some drywall. A GFI 2 pole breaker isnt cheap either. Does your electrical panel have 2 empty spaces that is next to each other up and down? Yes the pump can be wired either on high flow or low flow. You can easily switch those over with a dual speed switch or even a 3 way switch. Man that spa pump is going to be loud. I dont even know if it will handle saltwater for a long time. Your call though. 8 amps on the high side. Wow! Thats almost as much as my entire 90g consumes. I have to agree with reefkoi on this. Get a pump that is designed for saltwater use. Anyways, a 2 pole 15A dedicated circuit will do it. Even a 20A will do too.

 

[reefkoi]

yikes i just saw the "1.5 h.p." sticker, I have a 1 hp sequence on my pond (along with a 1/2 h.p. and a 1/3 h.p.) the 1 h.p. is so loud in the garage you can hear it in the house and even outside!
Also they push so much water, personally I'd go with 2 hammerheads, they will be virtually silent and 1 hammer per 6 outlets is what I have and it will blow all kinds of sand at 30" so if you ever want to come by and see how that flows you are welcome, but I'd let this 1.5 h.p. bad boy of a pump go! Its not going to make you happy.
C

 

[ReefJerk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8570329#post8570329 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefkoi
...so if you ever want to come by and see how that flows you are welcome, but I'd let this 1.5 h.p. bad boy of a pump go! Its not going to make you happy.
C

I might just have to take you up on that offer. I want a lot of flow, but no sand storms, of course. And, having a dedicated crcuit for the pump is more than I bargained for.

 

[Crit21]

Why not set it up for the lower flow setting? It only uses 2.6 amps that way. Since it's a pool/spa motor, it'd probably blow your tank all to heck anyway at full RPMs.

 

[Deuce67]

It still going to need a 2 pole circuit on either hi or low flow.

 

[reefkoi]

yeah and 2.6 amps at 230 volt is equivelent to the cost of 5.2 amps with a pump wired at 110? 2.6 amps per leg? so thats like paying the bill on a couple hammerheads, and I think it will still be noisy, not as bad .
What do you think russ Is that correct about the amps?

 

[Crit21]

An amp is an amp. A lot of motors can be run on lower voltage if you tie wires together, but I don't think you can run that pump on 110 anyway. The question is does he want 230V hooked up to it.

 

[Deuce67]

Lets see, 2.6 amps X 230 volts equals 598 watts. At 110V, 598 watts divided by 110 volts equals 5.43 amps. But this particular pump will not run on 110 volts.

 

[Crit21]

Ahh, the old P=IE formula. Can't believe I forgot that one! That's what I get for splitting my attention between doing the books and RC. I'd better go back and check the books.

 

[reefkoi]

So my point is a hammerhead at 1.5 amps (110 v) puts out 5800 gph. that means you could run 3 hammers eating 4.5 amps total and still less than what the spa pump would draw @ 110v. thats 16,000 gph output on 3 hammers with less amp draw will the spa pump put out 16K per hour on low speed? Even if it did why would you want 16K per hour on a reef tank, that would be insane i think?

sorry if I'm beating you up here, I'm just trying to help and put some numbers together

BTW I need to come check out your 180, 12 outlets on a 180 sounds cool, I gotta see it! Are they 12 true outlets? or 6 locline Y's making it into 12?

 

[ReefJerk]

I'm nor feeling beat up at all. I have am NOT going to install a dedicated circuit just for this pump. I will return it and bite the bullet on the 10% restocking fee. Likely I will get a Hammerhead and see how the flow looks with the 5800gph. I also looked at the Dolphin AMP Master. Has anyone had any experience with those? They push 6500gph through 1.5" plumbing at 4.4 amps and claim to be efficient and quiet, but at 1.5 amps, the Hammerhead is still the most efficient. The increase in electricity is not my greatest concern (as long as the utility bill doen't go pass $600/month, my wife won't really notice/question the increase), but I still don't want to have a loud pump and spend the extra on utility\ies. I need a little give and take.

 

[ReefJerk]

And, yes, there are actually 12 outlets. Plumbed with two 1.5" intakes over-the-back to the pump(currently Gen-X 18000; 4750gph) to 1'5" outlet to twelve 3/4" locline outlets. I would have done 16-18 outlets, but I have a 2' glass center brace on the tank, so I settled for 12.

 

[ReefJerk]

I'll take some pics of the loop and post it. I'll have to wait til tomorrow when the lights are on.

 

[racer69]

Cliff, my advise is to not try and get too much flow. I am only getting around 3800 gph and I have a mixed tank. My corals are quite healthy and grow like gang busters. Others can attest to the growth in my tank. I know Chris is running a hammerhead and his tank is over 3x ours in volume. He also has problems occasionaly with sand storms if he gets too western with flow direction. Also remember that you want water turn-over, now velocity. Velocity will damage most corals and they will retract. I hope this helps.