Pump "Down" How to proceed?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
les_garten

les_garten

0
May 3, 2011
220
PSL, FL
Looked out on the deck today and the pump was not running this morning.

****TASTIC!!!

OK, checked breaker and voltages, they are fine.

Put the breaker back inline and switched the timer on...

I hear a "buzz" from the pump for like 15 seconds and it quits.

What's the most likely culprit in the pump?

Could a run capacitor do this?

Or is the PUMP burnt and needs rebuild?

The skimmer basket is clean.

Only issues with the system are that I've had some air in the skimmer for a while and I have not tracked it down yet. It has always pulled prime well. Was pumping fine yesterday. The pump basket was full of water when I looked at it. The pool level is fine. The pump has not been making any funny noises.

I just bought the Pool/House 2 months ago.

That makes it a Double ****TASTIC!

I'm going to try and locate a pump repair place today.

Is the big bulge on the side a CAP?

Could that cause it just to go buzz and shut down?
 
Did you bump the centrifugal switch in there while you were at it? just to make sure it wasn't stuck.

If you could come up with a safe way to spin the shaft while you turned the pump on, that'd tell you if it was the start cap or switch or the motor.
 
The cap is probably under the bump. There or under the cap. I'd go ahead and get one just in case since it's a holiday weekend.

My pumped died on me the Wednesday before Memorial Day last year. :x It was the Tuesday after before I could get parts even though I paid $46 for next day shipping.
 
It could also be dirty contacts on the centrifugal switch ... they need to be polished as opposed to filed. You can use an automotive ignition points file if you can find one these days or striker strip on a pack of paper matches is ideal for that ..get two of them and put them together with the rough side out of course and slip it between the contacts and clean them.
 
Hmmm,
I noticed the CAP was made in '09 so these things fail like most AC caps do, which is often apparantly. I'll grab a few of those I guess. Trying to track them down now.

Where are these contact points at? Are they on the end of the motor as well?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Bama Rambler said:
Is it a dual voltage motor?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Pentair WF-24


But it is wired 220v currently.


Here's an update:

I let it sit a while today.

I pulled the back off of it. I got a Contact burnisher and cleaned the contacts, and hooked everything back up and it lit off. I just dumped some CL in the pool and am going to circulate it so that I have some in there. I'm going to get a few caps and just change that CAP out. The contacts looked fine, but I cleaned them up anyhow.

My understanding is that there were some GOVERNMENT regulations that came out and changed the chemistry in these caps and they don't hardly last any time at all now. The cap did not seem to be leaking or bulging. though.

I may see if my meter will test it when I change it.

If I get a cap. it seems like it should be a 220v cap, correct? Even though this one is 110v.
 
I have this Pentair Motor and a well pump. Neither of them has a "cover" over it.

Do you guys have covers over your motors?

I'm reading the Pentair manual and it says it needs a cover, but I've never seen one on a pool pump.
 
Well, I ran it about 6 hours yesterday, so no overheating and shutdown issue

Started it up this morning, fired right off and no issues.

I suppose the cap could be "going bad" and has not failed yet.

I'm getting a couple caps tomorrow and I'll change it out just in case.

So to recap and make an addition.

I cleaned the contacts
Let it cool off for a number of hours
I also pulled on of the legs loose on the motor and the ground and put them back. They looked kinda sloppily done.

Will replace the cap tomorrow.

Anybody have a feeling about what happened?
 
I just bought a cover for my pump for $16 from Leslies. I did it because my motor looked ancient and it's only 5 years old, and has had several problems since I got this house 3 years ago. The previous owners stored it outside in plastic which the manual says NOT to do. Also, the pump is located right next to the filter and just under the pool deck, as well as close to the garden, all of which make it quite wet there. So hopefully that and inside storage will help the new pump.

this is from my recent research on the capacitor:

http://wetheadmedia.com/hayward-super-p ... /#comments
A simple check is to charge the capacitor then put your 20 dollar voltmeter across the terminals. This will tell you if the cap is open or shorted inside as there will be no voltage reading. Discharge the cap and put ohm setting of meter across terminals. no deflection, open, deflection but does not drop off, shorted. deflection and then slow drop to zero it is good.

CAPACITOR: The Capacitor is the "battery" for your pool motor. It provides the energy needed while starting, to reach 3450 rpm quickly. Replace your capacitor when the shaft can be spun freely with a wrench or by hand, and when powering the motor, you hear a 'buzz' or a 'hum' from the motor, but no impeller movement. Replace your old capacitor with an exact match to the 'MFD' number on the new capacitor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-cVgpz7GYQ&NR=1
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply