Pump wires and capacitor burn out every few weeks

[jlippiner]

I have a Hayward 2.5HP pool pump that had a bad capacitor after 5 years of running. A service guy came and found the capacitor connectors burnt out, so he replaced the capacity with a 55.0 +/6% 370 VAC/B capacitor. After a few weeks, it burnt out the wire and the plastic connector was melted. I rewired it and added electrical tape and a week later it burnt out.

I had a second pump and decided to use the capacitor from that. That's when I found out that the pump needed a 50.0uF +/6% 370VAC/B NOT a 55uF capacitor. I've just ordered a new one for the pump but I wanted to check to see if using a 55 instead of a 50 uF capacitor would lead to the wires at the capacitor connection constantly burning out or if there is something wrong that's causing this issue and changing the capacitor to a 50uF won't help.

Thanks.

 

[mas985]

Which pump line for the Hayward? Does the motor have a centrifugal switch?

Using a larger start capacitor on the motor can increase the starter current but only by about 10% so it shouldn't have burned out the capacitor.

However, if the motor is a PSC (permanent split capacitor), bad bearings could account for the higher than normal current draw although the thermal limiter should shut of the motor before that happens.

 

[dschlic1]

More than likely the connectors on the ends of the wires that connect to the capacitor have over heated and have been damaged. Commonly these are called flag terminals. You should probably replace them.

 

[jlippiner]

More than likely the connectors on the ends of the wires that connect to the capacitor have over heated and have been damaged. Commonly these are called flag terminals. You should probably replace them.

The black wire was definitely fried. I clipped it and wired up a new marine connector. Not sure if that will work but if the capacitor I have on there now burns out Im going to assume something is wrong with the pump.