trying to check impeller and capacitor

[rhythm]

I have a 6 year old Jandy Stealth pump, and as of today it won't start anymore when power is applied. It will hum for a while, then it shuts down. I can't really reach the impeller by sticking my hand and arm in the pipe, so I'm thinking I may need to take the pump cover off to see whether or not the impeller will turn freely. The manual says I should first drain the pump by loosening the unions, but I wanted to ask if I really need to do that. I don't really want to loosen connections that are currently good; I can just see myself dealing with slight leaks later when tightening things back up. Can I just take the cover off and deal with water spilling out as I check out the parts?

If I want to check or replace the start capacitor, I have questions about that also. The start capacitor is in its own housing on top of the motor housing. When I remove the cap housing, it appears that the cap is mounted inside this housing with a thin foam gasket underneath that is not supposed to be removed. Without removing it, however, I can't get to the cap. The gasket just has a small opening so that the wires can get through to the motor area. It looks like if I attempt to remove the gasket it will just tear apart and I won't have a good watertight seal anymore. Anybody know how I should deal with this? The manual seems to treat the start cap as just part of the whole motor assembly, rather than anything that would be replaced separately.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Bama Rambler]

You can take the back cover off without loosening anything else. You can even take the pump apart at the housing without affecting the plumbing.

 

[cvaparo]

There should be a slot in the motor shaft at the rear that could be used to check to see if it rotates freely,( or to unscrew the impellar without taking the motor apart. There may also be a rotating switch mounted on the rear shaft, then there would be a screw there that you would turn clockwise to check free movement of the rotor.
If the foam gasket on the cap cover is shot, just scrape all off and put a bead of silicone to seal it.
The cap itself will have a weep hole on the terminal end. If that is bulged or leaking oil in any way , replace it. the biggest problem with cap failure is the slide on terminals get loose therefore hot from vibration and causes a bad connection there. clean and solder the terminals to a new capacitor.

 

[rhythm]

Bama Rambler, when you say back cover, are you talking about the cover that goes over and around the motor housing, or are you talking about the cover on the back end?

cvaparo, regarding the slot in the motor shaft, is this something that I can access without taking anything apart, or is this something I would see after taking a cover off or removing the motor housing from the pump body?

On the very end, there is a motor shaft cover labeled "shaft access" with an arrow pointing counterclockwise. If I remove this little cover, would I have access to a shaft that I should be able to turn by hand or by wrench to see if everything is turning freely and properly? Perhaps this is what you have already mentioned!

Thanks,
Greg

 

[cvaparo]

Yes there should be a screwdriver slot to turn the shaft. Don't take apart the motor unless you have to change the bearings and seal

 

[rhythm]

Thank you for the help. I removed the plastic 'shaft access' cap and could see that there was about 1/2" to 3/4" of a shaft sticking out. There wasn't any place to put a screwdriver that I could see, but I could put a wrench around the shaft. I couldn't turn it by hand, but it turned pretty easily with the wrench, so I turned it back and forth a few times, just a quarter turn or so each way. After doing that, I tried running the pump again and it worked just fine! Hopefully I 'unstuck' whatever was needed and this is done. We shall see...

Thanks again!
Greg

 

[Bama Rambler]

You did good. You usually can't turn the shaft by hand but it should turn smoothly with a wrench. Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't hang up again.