Filter Pump is tripping breaker

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G

gmessier

0
Aug 12, 2008
5
Western Connecticut
The filter has been working fine for years. Today I go out to turn it on and it instantly trips the breaker. I reset and it does it again. I checked everything visible and no sign of damage, etc. I am fairly talented electrically and I have a pretty good electrical tester. Anyone have any ideas how to diagnose this problem? FYI: It rained pretty good last night.

Also, it was very difficult to figure out how to post. Was there a better category to post this? Couldn't find any electrical/pump troubleshooting category.

Thanks,

George

Moved to Swimming pool Equipment - Molson
 
It sounds like you have electricity going to ground. You need to disconnect the wires from the circuit breaker and check for continuity to ground. This can happen from a damaged wire or water in the conduit. With the wires disconnected from the circuit breaker, see if the switch will stay on. You can also disconnect the wires from just the pump and see if the switch still trips. If the circuit breaker stays on with just the pump disconnected, the problem may be related to the pump.
 
Thank you for all these thoughtful replies but they are too general for me. "Check for continuity to ground"? Can you please tell me specifically how to do that with my multi tester?

"Check the connection to nuetral/ground in the box"? How specifically, do I do this?

Thank you both for the effort, but I still do not have an actionable game plan ... and the water is getting ugly.

George
 
gmessier said:
Thank you for all these thoughtful replies but they are too general for me. "Check for continuity to ground"? Can you please tell me specifically how to do that with my multi tester?

"Check the connection to nuetral/ground in the box"? How specifically, do I do this?

Thank you both for the effort, but I still do not have an actionable game plan ... and the water is getting ugly.

George
Click to expand...

George,

Get an electrician to check this for you. I don't mean to sound ugly, but if you don't know how to check for continuity to ground or to check a connection to the neutral bar in the breaker box, you really don't need to be trying to troubleshoot this problem. I would really hate to try to give you instructions on how to do this, only to find out you electrocuted yourself in the process (and poking around in a breaker box is a good way to do it).
 
gmessier said:
Thank you for all these thoughtful replies but they are too general for me. "Check for continuity to ground"? Can you please tell me specifically how to do that with my multi tester?

"Check the connection to nuetral/ground in the box"? How specifically, do I do this?

Thank you both for the effort, but I still do not have an actionable game plan ... and the water is getting ugly.

George
Click to expand...

As far as the connection to ground/neutral, there is a white wire that should come from the breaker to the neutral bar. This is the wire that is used by the GFCI to test and route the ground fault should one occur. If the wire is loose, it might present enough resistance for the GFCI to pop. Also, it could be sensing a leaky ground somewhere else, and the breaker is throwing. But, I would also like to restate this - a breaker is not a switch, and when they are used as one, they will eventually go bad........

Good luck,
TJ. :blah:
 

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