Foolish mistake

Jump to latest Follow Reply
iam4iam

iam4iam

LifeTime Supporter
May 5, 2012
257
Johnson City, TN
Last night in the middle of the night I heard my pump running, which is a bad thing, considering I drained it about a week ago (can't remember the exact day). I had stopped running it over a month ago, which I did by just switching off the power at the breaker box, but I flipped the breaker back on so I could use the pump to flush out the pipes before draining it. (I put a cover on my skimmer, redirect the returns above the pool surface with pvc, and turn the pump on until most of the water is out of the pipes.) When I had finished draining the pump and filter I went back inside thinking I was pretty much done for the winter. But I forgot to turn of the pump switch at the breaker box, so it came back on (DRY!!) because of the automated timer. I never noticed (until last night) because rather than running during the day, like it normally would, it was cutting on in wee hours of the morning, because the time of day of the timer was off. The automated timer schedules 4 run times of one hour each per day, so it could be worse, I suppose, but I know the pump should never be run dry at all. To make matters worse, the pump was brand new this summer!

Anyway, how likely is it that the pump has been seriously damaged, considering it has probably run 25-30 times for an hour each time, and how will I know if it is damaged other than if it fails to work in the spring? I'm guessing that at the very least, I have decreased the pump's life. In the future I will take the extra precaution of removing the "on" clips from the timer!
 
iam,

When a pump runs dry it can get very hot. Hot enough to expand the threaded fitting and cause leaks and some times it can warp the wet end so that the lid will no longer seal.

Not sure you can tell by looking. You will just have to wait until you fire everything back up next year and see what happens.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
3 years ago i did that at customers pool. I replaced the pump for him because I did make a mistake, the pump was surprising fine.. I do a ton of business with the owner & he said if it's fine not to worry about it.after I provided the replacement, I took his & it's been running my pool for 2 years.. I put about 30 bucks my cost of "wet side" parts in it. I expected it to be fried.

I can tell the motor did suffer a bit & isnt 100%, but it looks good from my house[emoji106]
 
If the pump is drained, the main risk is to the seal, seal plate and impeller. Other than that, the rest should be fine.

When you start it up, check for leaking under the pump. If it leaks, plan to replace the seal and maybe the seal plate and impeller.

If a pump runs with water in the strainer, but no flow, the water can get hot enough to warp the inlet and outlet of the pump. Typically, the pump basket will also be warped, which is a good indicator that the fittings are bad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply