Pump acts like its not getting power

[Splashleigh]

Complete novices at all things pool, it came with the house...

Finally figured out all the hoses and connections and so on, only to have the pump act like it is not getting power. No noise at all.

Pump is a Hayward Power Flo Matrix 1.5 HP with a twist lock plug. Switch on the pump is on.

The outlet it connects to doesn't have any sort of GFCI reset buttons on it. Switch on the receptacle is on.

Timer is making its normal noise and is set to manual, but even if it were on the timer, it should be running the pump right now.

The single unlabeled set of switches in the electrical box we flipped on and off, (former owners were pretty meticulous about labels)... the timer continued to make noise regardless of its position but it may be wired on its own.

Only thing we haven't done at the time of posting this is drag a old pump in the basement (no idea if it works) out to the pool to plug in. I wanted to see if there were any other suggestions that we aren't aware of (eg, can twist lock plugs be finicky if not twisted just right, or is that design only to ensure it doesn't accidentally unplug)?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

I would use a multimeter to verify if there is power at the twist lock outlet or not.

 

[mas985]

No noise at all.

Not even a faint hum?

 

[ethany]

Also make sure that twist lock is fully twisted til it WONT turn any further. Might have to buy a cheap voltmeter or you can buy a non-contact Tic Tracer. The later detects emf created by the voltage when held on the exterior of the cable from pump. Cost about $15-$20

 

[Splashleigh]

Total silence.

At least it's still been going into the 40s at night and it's relatively cool during the day, so we aren't exactly missing prime swim weather

 

[Splashleigh]

Resolved! My husband tried an old pump on the outlet, same result. When we got the multimeter (I'll take any excuse I can to buy a new tool for the house, haha), husband tested the outlet but wasn't getting anything. He thought maybe he wasn't getting into the twist lock right, so he took the cover off and tried again, 120v! Put the cover back on and plugged in the pump and suddenly it works! Maybe something was loose or off centered or dirty inside the twist lock.

In summary, we have no idea how he fixed it, but he did.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'd suggest taking that twistlock back apart and checking all the connections. If it's a loose connection it can cause problems down the road and not pretty ones!

I'd also want to know where the breaker is for that circuit.

 

[ethany]

I agree with you......loose is not a good thing. Twist locks are tricky sometimes they need to be all the way seated.

 

[danpik]

I'd suggest taking that twistlock back apart and checking all the connections. If it's a loose connection it can cause problems down the road and not pretty ones!

I'd also want to know where the GFCI breaker is for that circuit.

fixed it for you

 

[Splashleigh]

I wanted to know where it was myself, because there's no test/reset button on the outlet. There is a test/reset button on the switch for the pool in the breaker box in the basement, but nowhere else.