Pool Pump Motors

211 products

Replacement motors for pool and spa pumps, mostly Century, with Pentair, Hayward, Emerson and Nidec alongside. Horsepower is the number people shop on and the frame is the number that decides whether it bolts on. Almost everything here is 48Y, 56Y or 56J, and those are not interchangeable: the frame sets the bolt pattern and the shaft, so a motor of exactly the right horsepower in the wrong frame will not mount to your wet end.

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About Pool Pump Motors

Single speed, two speed and variable speed motors in 48Y, 56Y and 56J frames, from 115V and 230V to dual voltage, mostly at 3450 rpm with two speed units running 3450 and 1725. Open drip proof for a covered pad and totally enclosed fan cooled where the weather gets at it. Service factors run from 1.0 up to 1.65.

Seals, impellers and the wet end itself are in pump parts, and whole pumps are in pool pumps.

Questions about Pool Pump Motors

What does the frame number mean, and why does it matter more than horsepower?

It is the mounting standard, and it decides whether the motor physically fits. A 48Y and a 56Y differ in body diameter and bolt circle; a 56J has a threaded C face that bolts to the pump housing rather than a square flange. Get the horsepower right and the frame wrong and nothing lines up. The frame is stamped on the old motor's data plate, which is the label to photograph before you remove anything, and it is on every motor here that publishes one.

What is the service factor for?

It is how much the motor can be pushed beyond its rated horsepower continuously, and it is why two motors badged the same are not the same. Multiply the rating by the service factor and you get the total, so a 1 HP motor at 1.65 does more work than a 1.5 HP at 1.1 despite the smaller number on the front. Factors here run from 1.0 to 1.65. When replacing, match the old motor's total rather than just its nameplate, or the pump will move a different amount of water than it used to.

Open drip proof or totally enclosed?

Where it lives decides it. An open drip proof motor is cooled by air drawn through the windings, which is efficient and quiet and fine under cover on a dry pad. A totally enclosed fan cooled motor seals the windings and blows air over the outside instead, so it survives weather, wind blown grit, insects and being hosed down. If the pad is exposed, coastal, or in a dusty spot, the enclosed one is worth the difference, because what kills motors outdoors is what gets inside them.

Which way should it turn?

Counterclockwise looking at the pump end, which is what almost every motor on this page states and what pool impellers are cut for. It matters because a motor running backwards still runs, quite happily, while moving far less water than it should, so the symptom is poor flow rather than an obvious fault. Rotation is fixed on most single phase motors and is only a question on three phase, where swapping two supply legs reverses it.