Booster Pump not working! HELP!

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cheapjack

Member
May 2, 2019
11
Houston, TX
So the new (to me) pool had it's first mechanical issue last week. The booster pump for the pool vacuum quit on me. I don't know if running it for 24 hrs had anything to do with it but it's no longer working. When I turn it on, it makes a humming noise for 5 seconds before turning off. It tries again after a few minutes, humms and then turns off again. I opened the back cover and tried to manually rotate the shaft. After putting in a lot of elbow grease, I was able to rotate it half way before it got stuck again. It does not want to move anymore. I believe I now have the following choices to make:

1. Try replacing the capacitor ($10). Is there any point to this or does it sound like it's definitely a bad motor?
2. Replacing just the AO Smith B675 motor ($150).
3. Replacing the entire Polaris PB4-60 motor+pump combo ($250). It's a 10 yr old pool. If the motor has gone bad now, how long before the pump side (impeller etc.) goes bad? Should I just go ahead and replace the entire unit?
4. Getting the motor rebuilt from a local electrician ($???). How much would that cost? Life of repair? Is it worth it?

Here is a video of what's going on:

Please advise the best course of action.
 
If you can’t rotate the pump freely by hand I don't think a capacitor will fix it.

I would just buy a new pump for $250 and drop it in.
 
cheapjack said:
There is a 5th option... replacing it with a new robotic cleaner. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Personally, I like my ancient cleaning technology. Simple to repair and inexpensive to fix. Parts are readily available.

Browse the pool cleaner section and read about the robots that suddenly die. Most of the time they are not repairable and if not under warranty you buy a new one. Plus you need to haul the thing in and out of the water. My Polaris 380 just does its daily cleaning of the pool. When I cannot no longer repair the 380 I will get the Polaris Quattro cleaner.
 
Get a robot.....no doubt. All the R&D money for cleaners is on robots. There may have been a new pressure side cleaner introduced over the last two years but I haven't seen it.

I am not often so absolute, but hands down robots are dominating the market......simply because they work better.
 
I love my Polaris 380 but hated the PB4-60 pump - noisy as heck (as was everyone else's that I know with this pump). I replaced it when it died after 10 years with a Hayward 6060 and........ silence! Love it - and it's still going strong 10 years later.
 
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