Jandy e pump not working

[Jackiesorenson]

I have a 6 year old Jandy Stealth e Pump Variable speed pump (2 HP). Model # is JEP 2.0. I think it lost prime this past Monday, but I'm not sure since I leave for work before it comes on and am back home by the time it cycles off. I have it programmed through the remote. I was off on Wednesday and noticed that at 7:05 am my pool was not running and it is supposed to come on at 7 am. I turned everything off because it was raining. Went out yesterday morning to try to regain prime which I do by forcing water uphill to the pump. Noticed I had no suction at the skimmer, and that skimmer was closed. Opened it up. Still no prime. So I went up to my equipment and my pump was not running at all. It is not making any noise at all, not even a hum. Switched it off and on at the box==nothing. Then, my breaker tripped. Switched those back and still nothing. There is power because I can get my waterfall pump to come on by using the remote and pushing the button at the box. My remote reads, " Jandy e pump offline."
Any ideas anyone? My pool guy is out of town, and he says I need to replace the entire pump which will be around $1200. I'm thinking something has shorted out and I would certainly like to save some money and not replace the entire pump.
Thanks!

 

[Agent99]

A couple things to try are:

(1) Make sure the electricity (240 V likely) is actually getting to the pump. Remove the piece covering the wiring hook-up to the pump and verify with a meter the voltage there. If there are any switches or relays or whatnot inline, those all need to be checked to ensure current is flowing like it should. It is possible something within the programming is amiss as well. Perhaps redoing it might help.

(2) Make sure there is nothing obstructing the pump that would prevent the impeller from turning. With everything off, you ought to be able to turn the motor shaft by hand. Make sure everything is off before doing this.

 

[Jackiesorenson]

We unscrewed the yellow wire caps (see picture) and tested the voltage with a meter and the pump is getting power. And, when we removed the cover, everything was dry and pristine (see picture).
I already tried reprogramming the remote and I've pressed the reset button on my box.
I also checked the impeller and was able to turn it freely with my hand (with everything turned off at the breaker box).
Any other ideas? I tried to remove what I thought were the capacitors (the cylindrical things in the picture), but when they wouldn't give freely, I quit. Those things can be dangerous, so I thought I better leave well enough alone.
Could it be the capacitors or maybe the circuit board?
I hope I have someone coming out in the morning.
Thank you for your reply, Agent 99.

 

[Agent99]

Can you turn the motor shaft by hand SAFELY with power on? Keep in mind that if you do this, the motor could start up and spin so any BODY PARTS in the way could be damaged. If there is no safe way to do this, skip it...not worth it.

Usually if the start capacitor is bad, the motor will have some sign it is on but won't turn...but not necessarily. So if you try spinning the shaft while powered, just be real careful.

If you can do this and still nothing happens, then there is something wrong in the signalling from the programming to the motor (something on the circuit board) as the motor is getting zero current.

On the right (looking at the posted pic above), we see the power IN. That is fine. I'm GUESSING that the black & red & blue on the left that disappear into the motor connect to the motor windings. If you were to disconnect those wires at those clear-ish connectors, and with power on, you probably wouldn't measure anything there. If you can figure out FOR SURE that those wires do go to the motor windings, you might be able to apply power to those wires and get the motor to start. However, I wouldn't do this since I'm not sure what you would do with the extra (blue) wire. You really need a wiring diagram of your pump and the circuitry on it and you probably have no such thing. If it is the circuit board there, you would need to trace the power as it goes along measuring the voltage until you find the spot where the voltage suddenly disappears and then you've likely found the bad electronic component.

I'm an electrical engineer so I'd be comfortable digging further into the pump's wiring, taking things apart and tracing and following the voltage around but it isn't for everyone. Likely, buying a new circuit board (depending upon how it is sold) might cost just a bit less than a brand new pump.

Good luck getting help and do report back if anything is found. I'm always eager to learn more and further my education.

 

[Jackiesorenson]

Agent 99, I'm not going to try turning the motor shaft since my husband accidentally slammed my finger in his truck door last year and I ended up having 2 surgeries! I really can't see how to do this anyway or I would volunteer my husband! When he gets home, we will try testing the other wires for power, but I don't know if he knows how to test the rest. I am a DIY kind of person and like learning these things. I could tell you true stories that would curl your toes about the so called "experts" who built our pool and you would quickly understand why I prefer to work on my own pool and almost everything else.
I sure wish you were here for us to hire. I have a feeling any pool guy I get out here won't have that kind of expertise and I'll be stuck buying a new pump. It's too bad that everything is disposable nowadays.
Thank you for your advice!

 

[ping]

Have you followed the manuals troubleshooting section? It says to check the low-voltage wiring between the pump and controller. The other cause is the dip switches are not set properly which should not be the case unless someone changed them somehow.

Are there any other errors on the controller?

 

[Jackiesorenson]

We did the best we could with the limited knowledge we had, but my husband and I gave up and called a pro and we got an entire new pump. We got 2 estimates and both companies said our pump was a goner. Not cheap, but it has a 3 year warranty and we should get a $400 rebate from the electric company. Thanks for all of the input.

 

[Agent99]

Sometimes just biting the bullet and going for full replacement is the fastest and easiest thing to do once the basic troubleshooting is complete.

Only a good motor shop might know how to fix it but they aren't always easy to find. Pool companies, like car companies, just replace parts because it is faster and easier than troubleshooting too deeply.