Is my pump dead? help

[esim13]

Hello all! Everything has been running fine up until yesterday. We had a bad storm come through early in the morning. The power flickered on and off a few times before I left for work. When I left it was back on but it was raining so hard that when I did my usual pool lookout I couldn't even tell if the water water circulating. No biggie, I thought and headed to work. When I came home from work it was still raining hard. After the rain stopped I noticed the pool was not circulating. I went out to the pump area and immediately turned off the timer switch. The pump plugs into an outlet which leads to the timer. I turned the switch back on and nothing. So I checked the outlet, pushed the test button - nothing, pushed the reset button - nothing. Neither clicked in and neither clicked out. So first thought was outlet is bad. I dragged an extension cord out to the pump, plugged it in and then plugged the extension cord to a working outdoor outlet. This outlet tripped. I reset it, saw the glow light on extension cord so I plugged the pump back in, light went out again so I new outlet had tripped again. SO, do you think my pump is dead? What steps can I take from here to determine if it is infact dead? I changed the capacitor a while back, even then it hummed but didn't turn. Now it makes no sound at all.
THANKS!!
~Erin

 

[esim13]

If it is dead, is this a suitible replacement...
http://www.amazon.com/Pentair-340203-St ... ed+pentair

 

[scooperhsd]

If the old pump is dead - the 3/4 Hp version of that pentair Dynamo 2 speed in your link should be fine.

 

[esim13]

So this morning I turned on the timer and now the pump is just humming, nothing is turning. I'm thinking it had stopped during the storm and probably overheated, causing it to trip the outlet. So what do I check now? Could it be the capacitor again?

 

[Durk]

Overheating and high current draw won't pop your outlet GFCI, you will pop your branch circuit breaker. GFCI's pop when there is a leakage to ground--although nearby lightning can freak them out, I have found. If cap has been changed, humming while stopped suggests a broken start/run switch (this is a centrifugal switch that acts when the motor spins up to speed).

Is this motor exposed to the weather? I'm thinking corrosion has gotten to the works of this motor and causing a current leak when it rains, popping the GFCI. At the same time, corrosion may have gotten to the start/run switch, too, causing the problems on restart. Or, your cap may have fried again. Lightning is also not good to motor caps.

There is no real substitute for opening it up and checking the state of the internal workings.

 

[esim13]

Thanks Durk! Last Monday, I tapped it with a hammer and it started turning. It's been working ever since. I know I'm coming due for a new one. I'm hoping this one will last me until after my Disney trip next week.

 

[duraleigh]

I'm gonna hijack this thread just a bit and comment on what an excellent post durk made above.

It is great to have folks like him on the forum who not only have the background and knowledge needed, but can express it in a way that even us electrically-challenged folks can understand perfectly.