We are not a pool store. Nothing here is sold over the counter. This is what we install on Los Angeles pool pads and then keep running afterwards — ten items from Jandy and Pentair, in the five categories that actually fail.
If something has already stopped, start with equipment repair — a diagnosis costs less than a replacement and often ends there. Otherwise, see how a replacement gets chosen.
Pumps
The pump runs every day, so it is the biggest line on your electricity bill and the first part to wear out. Both are variable speed — in California that is no longer a preference.
Jandy ePump 2.7 HP
Large-body variable-speed pump, 115/230 VAC, SpeedSet controller and two auxiliary relays built in. Suits bigger pools and pads with a spa or water features, and runs its own schedule where there is no automation panel.
Pump repair and replacementPentair IntelliFlo3 VSF
Variable speed and flow: it holds a flow rate rather than a fixed rpm, adjusting as the filter loads up. Suits in-floor cleaners, solar loops and spa jets, and pads already on Pentair automation.
Pump repair and replacementManufacturers put the saving at up to $1,100 a year against a single-speed pump — their figure, not one measured on your pool. What variable speed actually changes.
Heaters
Both are natural gas. A heater sits unused for months, then has to work on the first cold evening — which is why self-diagnostics matter more than the badge.
Jandy JXiQ
Copper heat exchanger, auto-sensing dual voltage, and a low gas pressure switch that refuses to ignite without enough pressure behind it. Extra sensors turn “it will not fire” into a code a technician can act on.
Heater repairPentair MasterTemp
Gas heater for pool and spa with smart controls, plus an optional Smart Bypass Valve Kit that routes water around the heater when it is not firing. Suits a straight swap for an ageing heater on a Pentair pad.
Heater repairSalt chlorine generators
A salt pool is still a chlorine pool; the cell just makes the chlorine on site. The cell is a wear part, so at replacement time the question is usually the cell, not the system.
Jandy AquaPure
Power pack with the PureLink 14-blade cell kit, sanitising at a rate set by the controller rather than by how much you last poured in. Suits Jandy pads, where one controller should run everything.
Salt system repairPentair IntelliChlor
Makes chlorine from ordinary table salt, with cell life and output readable off the unit instead of guessed at. Suits owners done with storing liquid chlorine, and Pentair pads running EasyTouch.
Salt system repairFilters
Both are cartridge filters, which is what most Los Angeles pools run: nothing to backwash, but cartridges that have to be pulled and washed several times a year.
Jandy CL Series, 340 sq. ft.
A large cartridge filter designed to use its whole surface area, which is what buys the long gap between cleans. Suits high flow rates and pools under heavy tree cover.
Filter cleaningPentair Clean & Clear Plus
Four polyester cartridges in a fibreglass-reinforced tank, no backwashing, load spread across four elements rather than one. Suits most standard pools, and any pad where the filter is undersized for the pump in front of it.
Filter cleaningPool and spa control systems
Fitted last, and then nobody goes back: valves, heater, lights and pump speeds on one schedule instead of four separate habits.
Jandy iAquaLink 3.0
Runs the pool, or pool and spa together, from a phone or any web-connected device. Suits Jandy pads, and anyone who would rather heat the spa on the drive home than on arrival.
Automation repairPentair EasyTouch
Circuitry and programmable controls in one load centre near the equipment, which keeps the wiring — and the cost of it — contained. Suits a first automation system on a pad still on time clocks.
Automation repairHow a replacement gets chosen
Nobody should be sold a pump from a photograph. What goes on your pad is decided by what is already there — and in one case by the state of California.
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Diagnosis before quotation
A pump that will not start is not automatically a pump that needs replacing, and a heater throwing a code is often one sensor. We find the failure first, then price repair against replacement.
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Fit to the plumbing and power already there
Pipe diameter, union spacing, footprint, 115 V or 230 V supply, breaker and bonding, gas line size for a heater. An oversized pump on undersized pipe is loud and no cheaper to run.
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The California variable-speed rule, on pumps
Replacement pool pump motors of 0.5 total horsepower or more, manufactured on or after 19 July 2021, must be variable speed — Title 20 CCR, section 1605.3(g)(6) of the Appliance Efficiency Regulations, administered by the California Energy Commission. The rule governs what may be sold in the state. It does not order you to tear out a single-speed pump that still works.
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Whether it has to talk to your controller
Different manufacturers share a pad happily. Automation is where that stops: a pump driven by an existing controller needs the right communication between the two, or it quietly runs its own schedule while the panel says it is off.
Equipment inspected weekly gets replaced on a schedule, not on the hottest weekend of the year. Every weekly visit covers the whole pad.
Questions about the equipment we install
Do you sell pool equipment on its own?
No. We install equipment and then service it; those are the same job as far as we are concerned. If you only want a box delivered, a pool supply shop is the better call.
Do I have to replace the whole pump if it fails?
Often not. Seals, capacitors, impellers, lids and unions are all replaceable, and a pump that is noisy or losing prime is usually one of those, not a dead motor. How pump repair works.
Can I mix Jandy and Pentair equipment on one pad?
Physically yes — plumbing and power do not care about badges. Automation is the complication: a controller from one manufacturer will not necessarily drive a pump or salt cell from another. Tell us what you have before anything is ordered.
Does California require me to replace my single-speed pump?
No. Title 20 sets what may be sold in the state, not what must be in your back garden. The practical effect is that when the pump or its motor does need replacing, the replacement will be variable speed. What that changes.