Electrical problem with pump

[kalislife]

I have a pool with two motors; 1) controls the skimmer 2) controls the waterfall feature.

I replaced the waterfall pump, and now it won't work. I had someone take a quick peek at it when they were installing my ceiling fan. He did a quick test and bypassed the waterfall motor to the skimmer and it worked. The electrician mentioned that the red wire (hooked up to the waterfall pump) was bad and a new red wire would have to be installed (underground). I didn't see what he did to bypass it to have the waterfall at the same time as the skimmer, but for a temporary fix I would like to do this (until I can afford to have new wire ran).

Right to left photos:

Far right controls the skimmer
Middle is the waterfall
Far left is the timer box??


I did notice inside the box on the left there are two red wires that are capped off (nothing attached). I am not sure if this is extra wiring the electrician added to test, or ???


Any help would be extremely appreciated!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

Looking at the bottom picture. Left to right.
Mostly square box is not a timer. It's most likely lights.
Middle box is a timer. You said was the waterfall pump? Is that correct?
Right box is a timer. You said was the main pump. Is that correct?

What's the switch below the middle box for?

 

[kalislife]

Yes, the middle is the timer to the waterfall and the right box controls the skimmer. The switch below can turn off main power to the waterfall timer. I don't remember what wires he moved from the waterfall to have it turn on the same time the skimmer worked. I would like to have them turn on the same time so I can have the water circulate. Thank you for your quick response. I appreciate any help you can offer.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's hard to tell exactly how it's wired, but it looks like the power for both pumps comes into the middle box in the conduit with the switch in it. It looks like the red wires power the waterfall pump and the black ones power the main pump.

The way to get the waterfall pump to run when the main pump runs is to hook the wires going to the waterfall pump to the timer for the pool pump.

Having said that, the wiring doesn't look right in the middle timer.

 

[kalislife]

I am not sure if the electrician moved things around.

Would I just need to hook all the red wires (from the middle timer) up to the timer on the right (with the black wires), or move all of the wires from the middle box to the timer on the right?

Or... Even better, is there something that I can move around in the middle part to make the waterfall pump work separately? I just don't understand why the middle one isn't working, or what I need to do to fix it.


** Also, I should note that in the middle box, the screw where the black and white wires are, was loose. I am not sure if the electrician moved things around so I would have no choice but to call him back out.



Again, I really, really appreciate you helping!! Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Bama Rambler]

You don't want to move them all, just the ones going from the timer to the pump.

 

[kalislife]

So in the middle box, move the first red (on the right), and the third red (and attach them to the 1st & 3rd black wires).. Leave the middle red where it is at? Is the middle red wire the one that is causing the problems?

Sorry for sounding so inept, I am not too familiar with electrical work (as I am sure you've already guessed)!

Kali

 

[Bama Rambler]

Well, we're both working with a handicap. :-(

You with your lack of electrical experience and me, working from pictures and descriptions.

It's impossible for me to tell which wire may be bad, or even if it's really bad. Your description sounds right though.

 

[JamesW]

What horsepower is the waterfall pump? If it's 3 HP, then I'm thinking that the left square box is a contactor that is used to turn the pump on and off. What does the white paddle switch go to?

 

[CUTiger78]

IMHO, there's a lot going on in those 3 boxes - an indoor-rated light switch in the left box, lots more connections than appear necessary for a single pump on a timer in the middle box, and the right box isn't properly controlling it's pump now.

Might be time to call in an electrician to explain what's going on and fix what needs to be fixed.

Good luck!

 

[kalislife]

Bama Rambler - thanks a million, it worked!! I appreciate your patience and help immensely! Is there a way for me to test the remaining red wire (middle box) to determine if it's bad and the reason the timer wasn't working?

Again, thank you so much for helping me get my waterfall feature operational again, having it broke was driving me crazy, it's nice to see it working again!

 

[Bama Rambler]

The easiest way to test it is with a voltage tester (multimeter).