Help! We had high winds and a power outage last night. Pump is out.

[plays10s]

We had high winds in our area and the power went out early this morning. Pump is supposed to come on at 9:00 a.m. When I went out there, the spa jets are on (which they never are unless we are in the hot tub). The bubblers are not on, the waterfall is not on, and the Pentair Panel is not illuminated. It's dark. What steps do I need to take now? Do I turn all the breakers off and then turn them back on? Are they supposed to have a surge protection on anything? Should I put one; how? Also, for the future, if we hear there is a storm coming, should I turn all my breakers off? What is the proper way to do this? I was also thinking about a winter storm - if it gets below freezing and the power goes out, what do people do so things don't freeze and get costly?

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help!
LaDonna

 

[Orion7319]

I would start by checking the breakers.

 

[mas985]

You can try cycling the breakers to see if that resets everything. But with a VS pump, you should always have surge protection to protect the drive. They are very vulnerable to power surges.

Also, I would not rely upon "freeze protection" to protect the plumbing. As you have seen first hand, it is not always reliable. If the forecast calls for freezing temps for more than 8 hours, I would drain the pad equipment (i.e. open filter air purge valve and pump lid).

The Physics of Freezing and Freeze Protection

Recently, there have been a lot of questions from those living in moderate climates about using automatic freeze protection or running pumps to prevent freezing and what a pool owner should do when temperatures drop so I thought it might be useful to have a thread which dealt with the issue from...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[guinness]

Also check the low voltage breakers at the upper right in the photo below.

 

[plays10s]

I would start by checking the breakers.

Thank you. We did, and everything is working.

 

[plays10s]

You can try cycling the breakers to see if that resets everything. But with a VS pump, you should always have surge protection to protect the drive. They are very vulnerable to power surges.

Also, I would not rely upon "freeze protection" to protect the plumbing. As you have seen first hand, it is not always reliable. If the forecast calls for freezing temps for more than 8 hours, I would drain the pad equipment (i.e. open filter air purge valve and pump lid).

The Physics of Freezing and Freeze Protection

Recently, there have been a lot of questions from those living in moderate climates about using automatic freeze protection or running pumps to prevent freezing and what a pool owner should do when temperatures drop so I thought it might be useful to have a thread which dealt with the issue from...

www.troublefreepool.com

Thank you. We are back running now with just a flip of the breakers; however, I called the pool service guy this morning who works for the pool company who just put in our pool. He said no one has surge protectors on their pumps and he didn't know if it were available. How would I get this done? Plumber? Electrician? Anything you can tell me about this would help. I'll have to call the pool company to teach me how to do the draining. Thanks, LaDonna

 

[guinness]

Take a look at the following wiki for some information. Typically you would put one inside your load center if you have available breaker space.

Electrical Surge Protection - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mas985]

Thank you. We are back running now with just a flip of the breakers; however, I called the pool service guy this morning who works for the pool company who just put in our pool. He said no one has surge protectors on their pumps and he didn't know if it were available. How would I get this done? Plumber? Electrician? Anything you can tell me about this would help. I'll have to call the pool company to teach me how to do the draining. Thanks, LaDonna

Sounds like you might need a new pool service person. Pretty much everyone on this forum that has a VS pump has a surge protector. Whole house surge protectors can easily be found at any home store.

 

[1poolman1]

Thank you. We are back running now with just a flip of the breakers; however, I called the pool service guy this morning who works for the pool company who just put in our pool. He said no one has surge protectors on their pumps and he didn't know if it were available. How would I get this done? Plumber? Electrician? Anything you can tell me about this would help. I'll have to call the pool company to teach me how to do the draining. Thanks, LaDonna

Surge protectors are relatively inexpensive. The Intermatic PS3000, designed for pool applications, is available through Home Depot and Amazon for about $85.00 and easily installed to your Pentair panel.
If you can't drain your pool equipment, just keep it running all night, easiest way to prevent freeze damage without relying on freeze protection in your automation. I've been doing that for 30+ years with no damage. We do get Winter temperatures in the very-low 30s here, sometimes even lower. Tomorrow and Friday the lows are expected to be 29 and 28.

 

[plays10s]

Sounds like you might need a new pool service person. Pretty much everyone on this forum that has a VS pump has a surge protector. Whole house surge protectors can easily be found at any home store.

But, where would I plug it into? There's nothing to plug into. All wires (cables) go directly into the pump and other equipment. Thanks for your help!

 

[guinness]

Into the EasyTouch panel at the bottom of the breaker bus bar, see details below.

Surge Protector (HEPD80) in Easy Touch Panel Box

Hi guys, I read it was good idea to protect pool equipment by installing surge protector at panel box and I picked one up and ready to install. Just yesterday I had lightning strike near my home and we lost a Wireless Router and the Screen Logic that were hooked up in bedroom closet so I'm...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mas985]

But, where would I plug it into? There's nothing to plug into. All wires (cables) go directly into the pump and other equipment. Thanks for your help!

You are thinking of a power strip. What you want is a whole house/breaker panel version:

Amazon.com : whole house surge protector

Electrical Surge Protection - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com