Hayward booster pump stopped working

[sushi-eater]

Could someone help troubleshoot this problem? My Polaris sweeper stopped working the other day. The booster pump Hayward 6060 didn't start, even if I tried to start it on the main panel of the controller (mine is Hayward OmniLogic.).

My booster pump is 5 years old and I jumped to a conclusion quickly that the motor's life came to an end early because I've been running 7 hours each day. I replaced the pump to Hayward W36060, which seems to be the successor of 6060. They are identical in terms of spec (3/4HP) and dimensions and it was easy to swap them.

However, W36060 wouldn't start, either, just as 6060 didn't. When I try to turn it on or off, the relay clicks. I tried shutting down the system completely with all the circuit breakers off, and then restarting afresh, but that made no difference. I located the relay to drive the booster pump and measured the voltage at one of the terminals connected to the controller's panel to be 53.7 V when booster pump is turned on, and between 54.2 and 54.4 when turned off, as I marked in the picture in green. The other terminal was steadily between 54.2 and 54.4 V no matter if it's on or off. I don't know if this behavior is correct or not, so I tried swapping the relay with the unused one right next to it (also pictured), but this didn't make any difference, either.

May I ask if someone could comment what could be going wrong or provide a suggestion? I suspect it's not the old booster pump motor 6060 that failed, because the new one (W36060) doesn't start, either. Thank you for taking the time to look at this post.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

The relay coils are energized with 24V DC. Are you doing a DC or AC setting on your multimeter when you got 54V?

Measure the voltage across the two blue wires. It should be around 240V AC.

Measure the voltage across the black wires. It should be 0 with the relay off and the same as the blue wire voltage with the relay on.

Report what you find.

 

[sushi-eater]

Thank you Allen for the quick response and fantastic clues! My multimeter is auto sensing and when I read 53.7V, it's detecting AC, with the red probe on the terminal and the black one on the ground.

If I measure across the 2 blue wires, my meter detects no power, no continuity. This is the case no matter if I turn on or off on the controller, and now I see this is why my booster pump is not starting. My meter beeps when I put probes across black wires and I believe this means the wires are continuous.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[1poolman1]

Could someone help troubleshoot this problem? My Polaris sweeper stopped working the other day. The booster pump Hayward 6060 didn't start, even if I tried to start it on the main panel of the controller (mine is Hayward OmniLogic.).

My booster pump is 5 years old and I jumped to a conclusion quickly that the motor's life came to an end early because I've been running 7 hours each day. I replaced the pump to Hayward W36060, which seems to be the successor of 6060. They are identical in terms of spec (3/4HP) and dimensions and it was easy to swap them.

However, W36060 wouldn't start, either, just as 6060 didn't. When I try to turn it on or off, the relay clicks. I tried shutting down the system completely with all the circuit breakers off, and then restarting afresh, but that made no difference. I located the relay to drive the booster pump and measured the voltage at one of the terminals connected to the controller's panel to be 53.7 V when booster pump is turned on, and between 54.2 and 54.4 when turned off, as I marked in the picture in green. The other terminal was steadily between 54.2 and 54.4 V no matter if it's on or off. I don't know if this behavior is correct or not, so I tried swapping the relay with the unused one right next to it (also pictured), but this didn't make any difference, either.

May I ask if someone could comment what could be going wrong or provide a suggestion? I suspect it's not the old booster pump motor 6060 that failed, because the new one (W36060) doesn't start, either. Thank you for taking the time to look at this post.

Has one of the wires at the breaker come out of its terminal? The top one?

 

[1poolman1]

Thank you Allen for the quick response and fantastic clues! My multimeter is auto sensing and when I read 53.7V, it's detecting AC, with the red probe on the terminal and the black one on the ground.

If I measure across the 2 blue wires, my meter detects no power, no continuity. This is the case no matter if I turn on or off on the controller, and now I see this is why my booster pump is not starting. My meter beeps when I put probes across black wires and I believe this means the wires are continuous.

Thanks,
Dan

You should read 120V when testing from either of the light blue wires to ground and the same from either of the black wires to ground with the relay energized. Not sure where 53.7V would come from unless the breaker is bad. Test from each terminal of the breaker to ground. Should be 120V. Test across the breaker terminals. Should be 240V.

 

[ajw22]

Thank you Allen for the quick response and fantastic clues! My multimeter is auto sensing and when I read 53.7V, it's detecting AC, with the red probe on the terminal and the black one on the ground.

You don’t test voltage between the terminal and ground. You test across the two screws the relay control wires are connected to.

If I measure across the 2 blue wires, my meter detects no power, no continuity. This is the case no matter if I turn on or off on the controller, and now I see this is why my booster pump is not starting.

Sounds like you have no power from the controlling circuit breaker. You need to trace the wiring back and check for voltage at the CB.

 

[sushi-eater]

Has one of the wires at the breaker come out of its terminal? The top one?

Both of the blue wires are connected to the breaker. Black wires go to the booster pump. Uploading a new picture to show this better. They used to be on the top left relay, but I haven't changed the way the wires are connected.

 

[sushi-eater]

You should read 120V when testing from either of the light blue wires to ground and the same from either of the black wires to ground with the relay energized. Not sure where 53.7V would come from unless the breaker is bad. Test from each terminal of the breaker to ground. Should be 120V. Test across the breaker terminals. Should be 240V.

I don't. My reading is ----, which means 0V/no power, even though it's ON. In contrast, the breaker for filter pump has 243V. If I do the tests for the filter pump, I get the correct voltage 120/240V. But for booster pump I get nothing. I tried pushing the TEST button on the breaker and found nothing happens.

You don’t test voltage between the terminal and ground. You test across the two screws the relay control wires are connected to.



Sounds like you have no power from the controlling circuit breaker. You need to trace the wiring back and check for voltage at the CB.

Right, I have no power to booster pump beyond the breaker. In this case, I think the problem I am facing is a faulty breaker (attaching a picture) and I should look for the same double pole breaker for 15A to replace it (after shutting off power at the breaker box). Does this sound like a good plan?

 

[ajw22]

A replacement CB should also be GFCI.

 

[sushi-eater]

A replacement CB should also be GFCI.

Yes, I'll make sure it's GFCI enabled. Many thanks Allen, and 1poolman1, for the fantastic help. I couldn't have spotted the problem without your assistance and I really appreciate it. Let me report how this goes, when I install the new circuit breaker.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[sushi-eater]

I am happy to report that, yes! my Polaris sweeper is working again.

I shut down OmniLogic, shut off power to the whole equipment at the breaker box, verified that it's not energized, replace the bad breaker with a new, 15 amp double pole GFCI circuit breaker (Pictured. Siemens QF215A, a sibling model with my other breaker for the filter pump), turn on power, verify wiring, turn on the new breaker, test, reset and turn it back on, start up the system and turn on sweeper from the Hayward OmniLogic app on my phone, and it's now back into action (also pictured).

So the reason my sweeper stopped working was a breaker failure. Nothing was wrong with my 5 year old booster pump Hayward 6060 or OmniLogic. Now I am planning to put it back in service and keep the new pump W36060 as a spare, so I'll be able to swap them right away when 6060 fails.

Thank you Allen, 1poolman1 for the insights you kindly shared with me. This was really an educational experience, as well as being fun and rewarding to learn how this thing works.