Pump problems - running for a few seconds than stopping

[Cioffi]

Hi,

I'm having some issues my pump. It was purchased new last season and worked fine all season. This year it started up fine and ran for a couple of days to start the cleaning process. When I shut it off to clean out the strainer basket it came on for a less than a minute, did not seem to pull any water into it and shut off. I did put the strained in backwards.

After a day I went out to poke around and see if there was anything I could figure out. I switched it on and it started right away and worked for 24 hours, as near as I can tell it did not shut down at all and restart. I cleaned out the strainer basket and put it back CORRECTLY and it reverted to the same behavior of turning off after less than a minute or so. I do not think it is electrical, which is what most often gets referenced. Any suggestions on troubleshooting steps?

Thanks.

 

[Richard320]

Maybe the lid isn't sealing tight and every time you disturb it, it has a 50-50 chance of sealing. Running it dry will get it hot and trip the thermal overload. Clean the sealing area good, inspect the gasket for even a hairline crack, and grease it up good if it looks okay.

 

[MitchRyan912]

I had to replace a motor last year, and the replacement did something very similar to what you're describing. If turn the pump (two speed) and it'd almost get the pump primed, and then it would go into some sort of thermal overload mode (while sounding horrible!). I could switch it to low speed and it would run fine for a minute or two, then completely shut down.

I still have no idea what happened or why that was occurring.