Pump Intermittently Won't Turn On

spqr

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jul 14, 2013
1
Hi all - first I wanted to say thank you for helping me last year with my algae problem. Turned out my CYA level was ridiculously high and I was making it continuously worse by adding more pool-store chlorine. Fixed for good by following your advice over a year ago.

Background: pool is about 28,000 gallon in-ground with a DE filter. Pump is a Jandy Centurion Model #JHPU2.5. Pool was installed about 9 or 10 years ago by previous homeowner.

For my current issue, for the past week my pool pump has failed to turn on automatically. We have two mechanical switches that turn everything on/off:

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The one on the left turns the main pump on and the one on the right turns the booster pump for the vacuum on. What I've been seeing is that in the morning when it is scheduled to turn the main pump on, the red switch moves to the ON position but the pump is not on. If I went out there and turned it off then back on again, it would instantly come on. Until yesterday...

Yesterday the switch was in the on position but the pump was not on. Turning it off and on again did nothing. Pool lights worked. Hot tub air compressor worked. I checked all the inside and outside breakers, ended up taking the outside breaker box apart and testing all the voltages with a meter - everything seemed fine. Put it all back together and just started turning it off and on again. After about the 4th time the pump started making a little noise when I would turn it on - it was very subtle. On the 7th time it turned on. I quickly put bleach into the pool and let it circulate and it worked fine all day (about 11 hours).

This morning - same thing. First three tries, the pump made literally no noise when turning it on. Fourth and fifth try - a little "swish" noise and sixth try it turned on.

It doesn't seem like I have an electrical problem to me. Does this sound like my whole pump is going bad or maybe just the motor? Does it just need to be taken apart / cleaned / otherwise serviced possibly?

P.S. I just did a donation to the board - thanks for helping me out so much last year... I should've done it sooner!
 
Could be the motor bearings going bad but because the timer uses relays with contacts, that too can cause issues. You might try cleaning the contacts of the timer to see if that helps (power off of course).
 
When you turn it on and the pump doesn't start have you checked the voltage at the motor?

If you have good voltage three and no motor movement or noise there is something amiss with the pump or motor.

If you have no voltage or fluctuation of the readings it is likely a contact issue or other electro mechanical issue at the timer.


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