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Removing Desjoyaux Pump


raspierre
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We had at least three pumps in our Desjoyaux pool.

Not sure what model your pool is.

Our pump was in a box in the ground at one end of the pool.

We just unscrewed the pump, lifted it out and put in the new one. No problem and we're not great DIYers at all.

Maybe your setup is different.

Perhaps you could give us a picture of yours.
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Thanks for your reply! Unfortunately, I have removed the pump from the filtration unit, and the filtration unit from the pool, so I can't photograph it. It's the model from 8 years ago. The pump sits on the floor of the unit, in the part outside the pool, and below the water line. Normally, I lift out the whole lot, then disconnect the pump. I once tried to disconnect it without raising the unit, and the compartment flooded. There are two pipes screwed to the pump, one in and one out, and they screw off easily. There must be a sequence or procedure for unscrewing them without flooding. There is a picture on one of the Desjoyaux sites, but I can't find it!
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  • 4 months later...

My French pool pump motor bearings are packing up and Desjoyeux UK are quoting me an outrageous price for a DIY replacement motor. Were any of your pumps a Leroy Somer LS71P 0.37(0.5kW) motor?  If so were you able to buy an equivalent non-Leroy Somer motor?  Also the pump mounting screwheads are very strange and inaccessible box under the motor but you seem to have had no problems.  My pool is a standard 8 x 4m Desjoyeux pump-in-box installed in 2004. Any comments from you would be gratefully received.     

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Hi Graham,

Desjoyaux prices for replacement pumps are scandalous, along with most of the other items which are unique to their system. We inherited our JD pool when we purchased the house; it was already 10 years old and needed attention. I was astonished by the prices quoted when I first talked to our local Desjoyaux agent and I have spent the last 6 years sourcing cheaper replacement parts wherever possible.

As far as the pumps go, most, if not all of the JD motors, at least for pools of several years vintage are Leroy Somer LS71. It's essentially an OK motor, if somewhat underpowered for the job. The bearings are a common point of failure, especially the front one, due to (in my opinion) inadequate and badly designed sealing between the impeller section and the motor itself. However, these can be replaced easily by anyone with good DIY skills; I have changed the bearings on my own pump twice, along with 2 others belonging to friends. Both bearings are a standard item and cost only a couple of quid each, plus postage, on the internet.

There is a step by step guide to this procedure on the Desjoyaux USA site downloadable in PDF form. I used this the first time I did the job and it works!

There are a couple of caveats in the document to avoid destroying / damaging certain components during disassembly, which it is worth paying great heed to (bitter experience!) but otherwise it's pretty straightforward.

Steve

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If the design is floored, then maybe fitting a better pump is the best move, yes a higher capital outlay initially but with some of the latest Eco pumps you'll save the outlay in electricity over 12-18 months and of course the chance to replace an underpowered system which could only ever improve a Desy pool.

 

 

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Yes, the design is certainly flawed, but it's not just the underpowered pump causing the problems in a JD pool. A more powerful pump will improve the flow and rate of exchange to some extent, but because the JD system pushes water out from one end and collects it back at the same end, relying on water circulating right round the basin, it can never achieve the same efficiency as a conventional pool with end to end flow and/ or multiple skimmers. In my pool, algae always starts to appear first at the Roman end, the furthest point from the pump.

So the ultimate solution is to rip out the JD system, build a poolhouse, install conventional pipework and skimmers, new pump, sand filter etc etc. I've given that some consideration myself; but not everybody can afford, or wants to do this major work, so there are ways you can keep a Desy pool clean in its original form. This works for me: keep the chlorine levels up religiously; use good quality pure product to minimise the mineral deposits. Keep the skimmer basket and bag clean to maximise the water flow rate and make sure you have a 15 micron bag in for everyday use and not the 6 micron that JD are keen to sell you- (it just restricts the water flow even further). And in a JD pool - filter, filter, filter!

Steve

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It's so good to hear someone else say that, [:)] Both Poolguy and myself have said it on many occasions but frequently that leads to accusations of an agenda, vested interest etc when in reality it's just the truth. Desy pools are not very good on their hydraulics and for the money you can do so much better, it does make for quick installations so Desy get paid sooner and no pipe work skills required so even cheaper to install and after all it's only the customer who has to put up with it and the threat "if you don't use our branded chemicals"  "staff" etc we will invalidate your warranty.

The first Desy I worked on, same problem as yours Steve. I through dye into the water to see how far up the pool the circulation went, just passed halfway! we helped the situation by the addition of a pool cleaning robot, again that had to be branded Desy or risk the warranty (I kid you not!) as that's pump would mix and move the water around.

All this extra equipment cost money to purchase, money to run and turning up the output on the salt cell will shorten it's life so more money to replace. Then as you have done suffer poorer filtration (15 micron). On some models I saw at the Lyon Piscine Expo they now use two pumps to achieve a reasonable turnover so twice the electric bill!

 

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Théière,

Sadly I have to agree with everything you've said! I have seen poolguy's many comments on here and on other forums; when I first came across them my first impression was, yes, he does have an agenda, but living with the problems of a Desy pool has shown me that it's pretty much all true.

I'm no pool expert, but my background is in engineering, so I can at least understand why the problems exist and what needs to be done to resolve them. As long as I can service the pump I'll keep it going until the liner falls apart, (which probably won't be too long now)! At that point it'll be poolhouse and sand filter time...  I'm also lucky that my pool is not a salt pool, so I can just chuck in as many chlore tabs as it takes to keep the water clean!

A good idea to use a robot to help with the circulation; I hadn't thought of that but, I ain't gonna spend the best part of 1000 euros and certainly not down at the local JD magasin!!

Steve

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