My spillover spa has a dedicated Hayward pump with a Century motor. The pump badge is too faded to get any information from, but I'm pretty sure it's an old Super. The motor is about ten years old judging from the previous owner's notation with a paint pen on the motor.
Lately when I turn it on, it's not starting up on the first attempt. It can take as many as four or five tries before it starts moving water. I can hear a "thwack" in the motor when it gets power, and then a pronounced hum, but no circulation. After a few attempts, it's been kicking on after a pause and running fine until I turn it off.
Before I start posting pictures and checking voltages, centrifugal weights, v-switch contacts, etc., does anyone care to venture a guess as to what symptoms like this usually indicate? A failing bearing maybe? I know just enough about pumps to be dangerous, so before I crack into the thing, I'd be grateful, as always, to get some input from the TFP hive mind... and maybe a save me a few back-and-forth trips to the tool chest and laptop while I'm trying to figure out what's going on.
Lately when I turn it on, it's not starting up on the first attempt. It can take as many as four or five tries before it starts moving water. I can hear a "thwack" in the motor when it gets power, and then a pronounced hum, but no circulation. After a few attempts, it's been kicking on after a pause and running fine until I turn it off.
Before I start posting pictures and checking voltages, centrifugal weights, v-switch contacts, etc., does anyone care to venture a guess as to what symptoms like this usually indicate? A failing bearing maybe? I know just enough about pumps to be dangerous, so before I crack into the thing, I'd be grateful, as always, to get some input from the TFP hive mind... and maybe a save me a few back-and-forth trips to the tool chest and laptop while I'm trying to figure out what's going on.
