Pentair SuperMax VS

The SuperMax VS is the SuperFlo VST in black, sold under Pentair's Sta-Rite name. Pentair doesn't say it in those words, but its documents leave little doubt. One installation guide covers both pumps. The 2025-2026 catalog gives them one parts list and identical ratings. And ENERGY STAR's test results for the SuperMax's 343001 and the SuperFlo VST's 342002 match figure for figure.

Pentair sells it through dealers. It calls it a direct replacement for the single-speed SuperMax and a drop-in replacement for the Hayward Super Pump. The 2023 Sta-Rite brochure adds existing SuperFlo pumps, and describes the SuperMax VS as for smaller pools with few water features.

Check the port size first

The ports are 1½ inch. The Hayward Super Pump it's sold to replace runs 2-inch. The union kit that comes with it takes 1½-inch pipe inside or slips into a 2-inch fitting outside, which gets the pump connected. It doesn't make the pump's own ports any bigger. Replacing a pool pump covers the port size and height checks for any swap.

Three efficiency ratings

Pentair's product page, its catalog and the brochure give WEF 9.0. The installation guide gives 9.1. ENERGY STAR's listing for 343001 gives 8.6, with a hydraulic horsepower of 1.001 against Pentair's 1.08. None of Pentair's documents explain the gap. ENERGY STAR's figure is the one tied to the certification, and 343001 is on its list if a rebate needs that.

Voltage matters too. The SuperMax VS page gives no figure for 115 V, but the SuperFlo VST page, for the same pump, gives WEF 7.3 on 115 V against 9.0 on 230.

The brochure's curves show what 115 V does to the water. The three preset speeds are the same on either supply. Only full speed loses ground, and only above about 70 gallons a minute. The manual explains why: on the lower voltage, the drive slows the pump to keep its current under 13.2 amps. At the preset speeds, 115 V moves the same water. It just does it less efficiently.

Pentair's documents don't agree on the current either. The product page gives 13.2 amps at 115 V and 12.0 to 11.5 at 208-230 V. The 2025-2026 catalog gives 13.6 and 8.0 to 7.1.

What the test shows about speed

ENERGY STAR publishes the two points it tested the pump at, and they make the case for slow running better than any brochure:

• 1,386 RPM: 31 gallons a minute for 115 watts
• 2,771 RPM: 63 gallons a minute for 795 watts

Twice the speed moved twice the water for almost seven times the power. Per thousand gallons, the fast point used about 211 watt-hours and the slow one about 61. That's about three and a half times the electricity for the same water.

The factory schedule doesn't lean on that as hard as it could. Out of the box the pump runs:

• Speed 1: 3000 RPM for 2 hours, from 8:00am
• Speed 2: 1400 RPM for 10 hours
• Speed 3: 2200 RPM for 2 hours
• Then it stops for 10 hours

That's 14 hours a day, 4 of them at 2200 RPM or faster. Pentair's "up to 80%" savings claim is measured against a single-speed pump running 12 hours. Set Speed 2 as low as keeps the water clean, give it the hours, and cut the other two back to what your cleaner actually needs. How long to run the pump and the running cost calculator take it from there.

The drive keeps its clock through a 24-hour outage. After a longer one, the clock blinks and the pump restarts its schedule from the Speed 1 start time, so check it after a storm.

Priming runs at full speed every start

The pump ships with priming turned on. Every time it starts from a stop, it runs at 3450 RPM for 5 minutes before settling to the scheduled speed.

Pentair tells installers to set it lower. Priming speed can be anywhere from 1700 to 3450 RPM, and the manual says most pumps won't need 3450. Pentair wants it just fast enough to prime from a fresh install, tested more than once, with the water drained between tests. Setting it below 1700 turns priming off. On the default schedule the pump starts once a day. Pentair's steps for automation, by RS-485 or digital inputs, turn priming off at the pump and leave it to the controller.

Automation depends on the build date

A pump built after 15 October 2020 can talk to a control system over RS-485 with the 356324Z wiring kit, sold separately. Whether Pentair's own IntelliConnect can control it that way depends on which Pentair guide you read. This pump's guide, revised in July 2023, says it can't, and has to use the digital inputs instead. The IntelliConnect's guide, revised three weeks later, gives the steps for RS-485 and asks for current IntelliConnect firmware. Older controller firmware may need the pump set up as an "IntelliFlo VS." With RS-485, Pentair's steps set Speed 1 to 0 RPM for 24 hours and turn off priming at the pump, so the controller runs everything.

A pump built before that date takes digital inputs only, through the 353129Z kit. The inputs take 5 to 30 volts AC or DC. When more than one is on, Quick Clean wins, then Speed 3, then 2, then 1.

When it stops with a code

The drive shows a fault code and stops. Pentair's first step for any of them is to cut the power, wait for the keypad lights to go out, and power it back up. Three codes have their own advice in the manual:

• 21: the keypad has lost its link to the motor control. Pentair says to take off the drive's top cover and check the five-pin connector and its cable. Wait at least 5 minutes after cutting the power, because the drive holds a charge.
• 02: power module over current. If it keeps coming back, inspect the impeller and the shaft seal.
• 0F: the supply has dropped below 99 volts. Normal voltage swings can cause it, and then it clears itself. If it doesn't, look for voltage drop in the wiring or the supply.

A pump that runs and then stops is either overheating, so clean the motor's fan cover with compressed air, or tripping on over current, in which case it restarts after a minute. A pump that won't turn on covers the power side.

Winter

There's no freeze protection. The manual doesn't describe one, and ENERGY STAR's listing records none. Freeze damage isn't covered by the warranty. When freezing weather is coming, Pentair's steps are to stop the pump, cut the power and let the pressure off at the filter's air relief valve. Then pull both drain plugs, keep them in the basket, and cover the motor without wrapping it in plastic. In mild climates, where a freeze is brief, the manual says to run the equipment all night. This pump won't do that on its own, so it's a schedule change you make. Protecting a pool in a hard freeze has the rest.

Ordering parts

Pentair's parts lists cover the SuperMax VS and the SuperFlo together, with nothing listed for one and not the other. Most of the housing comes in almond or black, so order by the color on your pump. The SuperFlo page explains the two build-date splits, 17 June 2019 for the wet end and 15 October 2020 for the drive end. The June date is the one in this pump's guide and the 2025-2026 catalog. The SuperFlo VS manual gives 10 June, so on a pump built that month, read the number off the part. Neither manual nor catalog says where on the pump to read the build date, so read the number off the old part or give a dealer the serial number.

The 2025-2026 catalog changes the drive end again. For pumps built after October 2020 it lists new drive kits, 358211 in almond and 358212 in black. For earlier pumps it lists no drive cover, drive kit or motor at all, only the complete motor and drive assembly. It also says the drive cover changed for pumps built from May 2025. The two rows it prints for that contradict each other, though. One sends you to 358211, the drive kit's number. Ask a dealer before you order a drive cover.

On a salt or ozone pool, ask for the chemical, salt and ozone resistant seal kit when the shaft seal is due: 356958 for pumps built after June 2019 and 356197 before.