I think the pump died - Sparks out of the Aqualink Panel

[dfwnoob]

Not the best introduction thread, I'm aware. However, I'm a bit on the "about to freak out" side of things at the moment. Just bought a house last month with a pool, something I was already a bit apprehensive about since the last experience I had with a pool was when I was a child - we had a decent size in-ground pool that was constantly nickel and diming my dad, and it kind of put me off to the whole idea of ever owning one. Well, turns out our otherwise total dream home came with one and I decided to just suck it up and go for it.

Some details:
Jandy Stealth 2 HP pump, I would wager it's at least 10-15 years old
Jandy DEL48 DE filter
Boost pump for Polaris cleaner
Gas heater was removed (which sucks for me)
Aqualink RS panel

We had a pool inspection done before we bought the house which advised that the pump was making some noises and probably should be replaced due to age, but otherwise was working. It did have an issue with priming - it would immediately leak down after you shut the pump off and would take time to re-prime. I replaced the pump lid and o-ring which seemed to have solved the draining down issue, but it still had some trouble priming.

Today, while messing with the Polaris (another source of much frustration), I turned the filter pump off. Spent about 15 minutes with it off before I went to turn it back on. When I pressed the pump button on the Aqualink, sparks shot out of the bottom of it. I don't even recall if the pump turned on at all, I was in too much a frenzy to run over to the panel and kill the breaker. After verifying the breaker was off, I pulled the front cover off the panel and found this:




I'm no electrical engineer. I do low voltage IT work, and I've replaced a few outlets, switches, and lights here and there, but never messed with something like this. However, it looks to me like the pump motor had probably been failing for some time and it was getting that wire hot enough to melt the wire nut. When I kicked the pump back on, it finally had melted enough that it arced against the box.

So my primary question is this: Does my hypothesis make sense? Would a failing/failed pump motor cause this if it shorted out? We just spent an enormous amount of money on the down payment here and I'm in a bit of a panic thinking that I'm about to have to pay someone $10,000 to fix all this.. I feel I would be competent enough to replace the pump is that's the likely culprit, I've done basic electrical and plumbing, and it looks like the Aqualink is really nothing more than a basic controller and some relays.

I'm in North Texas, and it's only supposed to dip below freezing for a short time tonight, so I'm hoping everything will be okay. We threw the solar cover on to try and get the water as warm as possible before the cold temps hit.

I was hoping I'd be able to get a heater re-installed this spring so we could enjoy the spa but I'm worried this may have just derailed all of those plans.

Some additional pictures of the equipment:

 

[ajw22]

The filter/pump relay is usually the upper left relay. Although installations have been known to mix that up.

It does not look like the two pigtails out of the burnt wire nut go to the upper left relay. Where do the connect to?

That said there is some sloppy wiring with the upper left relay. The red stranded wires are not well connected to screws 2 & 4.

Lets start with finding out where the wires from the burnt wire nut go to.

Ultimately you should understand what each wire is for and what devices the relays control.

 

[Jimrahbe]

DFW,

I would suggest that you follow the cable back from the main pump and see where it is connected inside the automation.

Then disconnect the two hot wires coming from the pump and going to the Pump/Filter relay. Then turn the automation back on and make sure you are getting 240 volts AC between the two Line side pins (input side) of your pump/filter relay. I'd also want to make sure that you have zero volts between the two Load side (Output) pins with the relay off.

I would have thought that your arc would have popped the circuit breaker either in your automation or at your main panel.

I really doubt anything shorted to the case of the automation. I suspect that is just smoke damage.

Assuming you have 240 on the line side of the relay (with the pump still disconnected) I'd want to push the button that turns on the pump and ensure you then had 240 volts between the two Load side pins.

Assuming that you have 240 VAC between the load pins with the pump disconnected then it would be safe to assume the automation is ok and the problem is with your pump. Could be a totally bad pump, or it could be as simple as just a bad starter cap.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[dfwnoob]

Thanks for the reply, guys. As they say, cooler heads prevail.. I had a lot to do yesterday at the old house, so I took a look at things with a set of fresh eyes this morning.

To confirm, that top left relay is indeed for the main Jandy pump. I took that stranded wire out of the mix and cleaned up the wire that burnt. Confirmed that when it is off, there is no voltage between load output pins. After inspecting it again, it looks like it was a high impedance connection due to the prior installer/whoever trying to put stranded wire and solid wire together in the same wire nut. Replaced the stranded with solid and put it into a Wago, and kicked the power back on, and after a few seconds, the automation kicked in and turned the pump on. Turned on like nothing was wrong. Put a clamp meter on the load wires and amperage looks good, so I'm thinking the motor is fine. The pump even held it's prime perfectly from the last time it was on. Can't detect any heat on the new Wago connection with an IR thermometer.

I think we're okay here now! I'll put additional work into cleaning up this box. I do have a question, though - My Aqualink does not have any circuit breakers in the automation panel itself. It just has a subpanel on the wall. Is that normal? I see pictures of Aqualinks online and it has it's own integrated circuit breaker panel. I just want to make sure there weren't any other creative "shortcuts" taken with this setup. I went ahead and ordered a couple of new relays to have on hand in the event I have a failure.

On another side note - our dog decided she was able to walk on water last night, and attempted to walk across the solar cover. She is indeed not Jesus, and was not successful. Guess she got the first swim of the season, albeit a very cold one!

 

[ajw22]

I was going to comment about the mix of solid and stranded wire.

FYI, it looks to me like your relays starting at the upper left are for filter/pump, booster pump, light. I am not sure what the lower left relay powers. The other lower relay may be for another light.

Aqualink cabinets come with a Load Center for CBs and without CBs. Nothing wrong with what you have. Just makes the wiring more complicated.