Pool Pump Wont Turn On. Brand new motor.

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W

wingnut4life

Member
Jan 2, 2021
5
Austin Texas
Hello all. I am new to the forum but have used it in the past for advice. Thanks for all to previous unknown help you all provided.

So here is my issue. I have a motor that was starting to go out on my hayward pool pump. We just had a bad storm, and the pump tripped the breaker. Day after the storm I turn on the breaker, then the pump at the timer. Sparks and smoke briefly come out of motor by electrical connections. Knowing the motor needed replacing anyways, I bought a new motor and replaced the motor rather easily. New shaft spins and it in not stuck. Everything looked great. Connected it back up to the power and ground per code. Connected L1, L2 and the greed lead. 3 wires pretty straight forward. Put the cover back on it was time to turn on the breaker. The breaker can on just fine. Before it would immediately trip. Went to pump and timer. Tried to turn pump on with timer and nothing. I was worried that maybe my breaker went bad from the issues. I pulled out the multimeter and checked the voltage at both L1 and L2 on the pump(120 to 122V on each lead). Seems like all is fine and I have the right power but pump is not coming on. Here are my questions.

1. Obvious question, what else could it be stopping it from turning on. Its the almost exact same motor. Only different is my last motor was 115/230 and this one is 208-230. Pool repair store said it should be fine based on my setup. I should also note that I have a new capacitor with the new motor.

2. Could it be my timer causing issue and it shorted with the motor sparked?

3. This one baffles me a bit. No matter whether I switch the pump on or off at the timer I am still getting Lead L1 and L2 120V readings. Should I still get power at the pool motor with the timer in the on or off position. I was thinking I would not but never really tested it before.
 
wingnut4life said:
checked the voltage at both L1 and L2 on the pump(120 to 122V on each lead)
Click to expand...

W,

You can't check 240 volts AC by testing each lead separately when the motor is connected.. You MUST test between L1 and L2.. and measure 240 VAC..

Even if you are missing L1 or L2, you will still read about 120 VAC on each lead when the motor is connected.

Not saying that is your problem, but the very first step is to ensure that you have 240 VAC between L1 and L2.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Jim,

Thanks for information. I will double check that and make sure. Have not messed a lot with 240 volts so I will validate what I see. When you say "Even if you are missing L1 or L2, you will still read about 120 VAC on each lead when the motor is connected." Is that true with the timer on or off? If I am not getting ~240 across L1 and L2 what would that potentially mean? Here is a picture of the back for reference. Just reconnected everything the same on the new motor.

Edit: Just tested across L1 and L2. I get 120 on each individually but when I test across L1 and L2 I get no reading at all. I tried to switch the timer on as well and that did not help.
 

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Take the wires off of the pump terminals and check the voltage line to line and each line to ground.

Then, check the voltage at the timer line in terminals line to line and each line to ground.
 
W,

Depending on what timer you have, you should not have any voltage at the motor if the timer is off?? The correct timer for your motor should turn off both L1 and L2 at the timer..

When you measure L1 to ground and L2 to ground with the motor connected, if say L2 is missing, you will still see 120 volts at L2 because the voltage travels from L1 through the motor and shows up at L2.. Basically your are just measuring L1 twice.. once before the motor windings and again after the motor windings..

I suspect that either you timer or circuit breaker has lost either L1 or L2..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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wingnut4life said:
No matter whether I switch the pump on or off at the timer I am still getting Lead L1 and L2 120V readings.
Click to expand...
Most likely, the timer contacts are spot welded together for one leg due to the current surge.

You probably have a dead leg from the timer or the breaker.

Check the voltage at the timer terminals.

Do you have a picture of the timer wiring?
 
Jim & James,

That's what I was kind of expecting myself. Just looking for some feedback before shelling out for the new timer or breaker. I am going to go back and fully test tomorrow morning with the wires off the pump to test each individually as well as test everything at the timer like James mentioned as well. Try to narrow down were the potential issue is. Ran out of light today.

Thank you to both you and James for the help so far.
 
With the wires off of the pump, you should get 240 volts line-to-line at the timer terminals where the incoming power connects and at the circuit breaker.

I think that your timer has freeze protection, which might explain why the power gets to the pump with the timer off.

If the freeze set point is higher than the actual air temperature, the freeze protection switch is in parallel to the timer and the power will bypass the timer.

The freeze protection switch might be defective or the contacts on the timer might be stuck together.

If you have 240 volts at the output of the breaker, the breaker is good and the problems are probably in the timer.

If the voltage at the breaker is zero line to line, the breaker is probably bad and the timer is probably also bad.
 
Thank you Jim and James. Its my timer. The L1 feed was dead at the pump. I tested each feed at the input into timer and both feeds were fine from breaker. Out of the Timer to the motor the L1 feed was dead as could be. Luckily its only the timer and not the breaker. Have a replacement one on order and will swap it out when it arrives Wed. No on local has one that I wanted.

Thanks again for all your help and advice to figure out where the issue resided exactly. Love the input and help on this site. Everyone is so helpful. Thank you very much and Happy New Years!

-Ryan
 
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