Pump trips the breaker after 15-20 minutes running

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denisbaldwin

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LifeTime Supporter
Mar 23, 2010
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A new mystery as my pool starts to clear up.

My pump has taken on a new trait. Every 15-20 minutes or so, it trips the 110V/20AMP breaker and shuts itself off. This just started happening in the last few days.

It's not the timer, as the time pins have been removed. It's definitely the breaker, as I have to reset it.

Pump seems to pump great in filtered, bypass or waste mode for those 15-20 minutes. I put my hand on the motor and everything seems only moderately warm. There's no big spark or pop or anything when it shuts down.. it just powers off with the breaker.

Skimmer and main drains are both on. Both the pump catch can and skimmer are free of debris. There's plenty of water getting into the pump, as I can see by it splashing around violently inside when the pump is on.

So... what could be causing my pump to trip the breaker?

Denis
 
That could be a faulty breaker or a faulty pump, and it isn't always very easy to figure out which one it is without replacing one or the other. Breakers do go bad, especially GFI breakers. Pump motors can also go bad, developing intermittent shorts and other related problems. Once in a while, getting the pump wet can cause this, and drying the pump out can solve it, but usually one or the other is broken. If it is a GFI breaker, I would replace that first before trying anything else, since GFI breakers are especially prone to failure.
 
Jason - I switched out the breaker after seeing your reply. It tripped within 20 minutes of switching out.

Then I tried something I haven't tried before. I turned the main drain completely off, the skimmer on full and let it run. It ran for an hour plus with no problems. I turned it off for the night to let the floc do it's job, but it seems that I may be onto something with the skimmer on full and main drain off.
 
There's plenty of water getting into the pump, as I can see by it splashing around violently inside when the pump is on.
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No, that indicates your pump is sucking air....not a good thing. If you find that air leak and fix it, you should not be able to see any splashing whatsoever in your pump basket.

I'm doubtful that was the cause of the breaker tripping but you should fix that air leak.
 
bk406 said:
You have a 2 HP pump on 110v/20 amp? Seems like a very small circuit for a pump that size.
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You may be right. The manual says 15/30 AMP, so I think it may very well mean 30AMP@110V and 15AMP@220V. Seems weird that it has worked this well for this long without enough power going to it.
 
bk406 said:
I dont think its getting enough power. Also, 2 hp is awfully big for a 12,000 gallon pool. How many feet of head do you have? 3/4 HP would be plenty, I would think.
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Feet of head? Do you mean how far it is from the skimmer and main drain to the pump? Around 20-25 feet each. The tubes used in both are 1 1/4", that go to a combined 2" pipe that feeds the pump. The rest of the piping to the filter and bypass are both 2" and they go down to 1.5" pipe that returns the water to the pool.

2HP is the only decent deal I found on a used pump when I was scrambling to put this into action. The more I read, the more I'm considering a 3/4 horse 2-speed pump.
 
The operating point of the pump is probably close to 96 GPM @ 65' of head and 2400 watts. So if the voltage is below 120v, it will likely trip the breaker. Given the current draw, the voltage probably is below 120v. Also, IMHO any pump over 1 HP (full rated) should be run on 220v.
 
It's possible the pump is just getting old. You said the pump is used, do you know how old it is? As a motor gets older, it develops more resistance in the windings (this also happens as the motor heats up, to a lesser extent). As the resistance increases, so does the current draw. Coupled with an undersized breaker, it could result in the breaker tripping on a fairly regular basis.

If this is a GFI breaker, it's sort of the same situation. A lot of motors have a very tiny current leakage (what the GFI detects), and as they age, they leak more and more current to ground, to the point where it will trip the breaker.

Both situations require replacing the pump, however for now, you can (and should) replace the breaker with one of the proper size. Make sure the wiring is the proper size for the current draw too!

One question: When you reset the breaker, does it run for another 15-20 minutes before shutting off again, or is the time shorter or longer than that?

EDIT(forgot one thing): If you have a multimeter, check for voltage while the pump is running. Across the hot and ground, it should be 120v or within +/- 10% (132-108). If too low, the pump is drawing excess current and tripping the breaker. If that's the case, check that your wiring is sufficient. IIRC, for 30 amps of current, the wire needs to be at least 10AWG. Across hot and neutral, it should be the same. Across ground and neutral, there should be no voltage detected.
 

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