2-speed STS1152R only runs at high speed

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borjis

borjis

LifeTime Supporter
Aug 19, 2014
3,659
Pacific NW
Just finished installing a new 2-speed motor. Century STS1152R
I wired up an appropriately rated (20A/330v) SPDT wall switch (researched on the forum & posted to confirm:

Proposed 2-speed wall switch wiring...good to go?

The existing single speed 1.5 hp pump motor is now starting to make bearing noise. I was waiting for it to happen as an excuse to replace it with a 2-speed and the day has arrived. I have an ao smith/century STS1152R 2-speed motor arriving monday. I've researched various threads focusing on a...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

It works on high speed...no issue there.
When i flick the wall switch to low speed the motor turns off. no hum...nothing.
If I flip it back to high it starts running again.

I've confirmed 120 volts on the A-Leg (low-speed) wire connector to the motor with the switch on low speed.
The spade to the terminal was a little loose but I pinched it tight and secure.

Anyone else ever had an issue? It's like there is a broken connection from the motor terminal to the low
speed winding. Boggles my mind a brand new motor would just not work
on low speed at all. I expected a hum at the least.

Hoping I don't have to go through all the taking apart and shipping back for a replacement,
but if I do, I do.

Any tips, tricks or suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:
Swap the high speed and low speed connections. Will it only run on low speed then? That will confirm if both pump speeds work.

Post pics of your wiring and let us see what you did.
 
The schematic shows what you planned, not necessarily what you did. We need to see the actual, not the plan.
 
ok understood, however it was wired EXACTLY as the plans show (and heavily researched beforehand). Deviation could be dangerous.
and everything and I mean everything I touched was tested end to end with a multimeter before power was restored.

One thing I had not yet tested:
I saw that one (rare but can happen) issue that can cause this is a bad run capacitor.
I tested it and it's dead. Got a correctly rated replacement, tested it working/good.

Put it in the motor and again, hi-speed only....so I took the new tested working capacitor out and re-tested it.
now it's dead. There's something obviously very wrong with the motor, it's going back for a replacement.
 
A lesson has been learned. I tried to save 20 bucks buying this motor from a company I have not seen listed
here, instead of inyopools. That was a mistake I won't make again. The motor was returned and they
are claiming they hooked it up and ran it on low and high for 30 minutes each. Said capacitor was fine.
I confirmed it blew capacitors so enough with this company. Issued a refund and buying one from inyo,
where I know honesty and customer satisfaction are a thing.
 
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ok wrapping this story up....
Got the same motor from inyopools installed and hooked up just now and it works on both speeds just fine.

So, this other company sold me a bad one. I looked at their better business bureau ratings and they
had 3 complaints this year about selling used items / customer returns as new.

They also have not yet refunded my credit card. It's now been 3 weeks since they
got it back and I requested a refund. I sent two more messages to the support ticket
and they ignored them. So Visa fraud prevention was called and I was told they
will reverse the charges in full. The nightmare is over. :)
 
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