Motor short, options

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kevreh

kevreh

Bronze Supporter
Jun 2, 2007
530
Annandale, VA
Hi;


Had my pool/pump off for about a couple weeks. Went to turn it back on so I could close it for the season and now the pump is tripping the circuit breaker when it comes on. Using an ohm meter I was able to find that the motor is shorting (touching the hot and ground shows continuity). This is the second time I had this pump serviced, the first time for some seals or something. Its only about 5 years old.

When pumps short out, does that mean their done? Would it be worth having this one repaired again?

EDIT: Just talked to a motor repair place and apparently there's SUPPOSED to be continuity between hot and neutral, like a light bulb.


TIA,
Kevin
 
Between hot and neutral (white wire) there should be 1-2 ohms of resistance. However, between hot and ground (green wire), there should be infinite resistance.

You mentioned both but which did you actually measure?
 
Between hot and neutral (white wire) there should be 1-2 ohms of resistance. However, between hot and ground (green wire), there should be infinite resistance.
Click to expand...

If it is a 110v motor with a hot and neutral, and the neutral is still hooked up to the panel, wouldn't you have a measurable resistance between the hot and ground, since the ground and neutral are bonded together at the panel?


What voltage is this motor?
If it is a 220v then none of this matters.

Best to disconnect or isolate all feeds when testing a motor.
 
mas985 said:
Between hot and neutral (white wire) there should be 1-2 ohms of resistance. However, between hot and ground (green wire), there should be infinite resistance.

You mentioned both but which did you actually measure?
Click to expand...


Between hot and neutral on the pump contacts (with wiring back to panel disconnected) I get continuity. Between hot and ground there's no continuity.

BTW, what I call continuity means a connect circuit, ie. not open. When you say infinite resistance does that mean there's a connection or its open? :roll:
 
Continuity is nearly zero resistance. On some motors and bulbs, 1-2 Ohms is normal. You are mesasuring the resistance of the wire in the motor which is generally very low. So the difference between what you read with the meter leads touching and what you read measuring across the motor is important.

Infinite resistance is what you see with the meter leads not touching anything.

Since you aren't seeing any continuity to ground, it doesn't really sound like the breaker is tripping from overcurrent, but rather the GFCI. Is this a GFCI breaker?

If this is an outdoor pump and you've been having cold nights, you may have some condensation inside the pump causing your issue.
 
Yep, its a GFCI breaker. And we have had weather thats gone from 60's and wet to 30's overnight. So, would the condensation be inside the pump, where the motor windings (?) are? That would explain this happening all the sudden. All wiring connections look good, no signs of shorts or anything.

I can see where the GFCI would be more sensitive to any moisture and trip.

I'm tempted to just use a different pump to lower the water level then worry about it in the spring.
 
Well it definitely something with the pump. When I disconnect the hot in the pump and turn it on the circuit doesn't trip. When I connect the hot then it trips. So, in theory I ruled out everything leading right up to the pump connections.
 

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I had similar symptoms last week.

Does the motor hum before tripping the breaker?

If so, check the starting capacitor. That's the big hump on top of the motor near the rear. They have a tendency to short out when they fail - tripping breakers.
 
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