Is my pump completely dead, half dead, or...?

[Flowerman]

I have a Sta-Rite SuperMax VS pump that has been great for about 8-9 years until about a month ago ( mid-late August ). After a very hot summer our pump started tripping the main panel breaker. It would trip a few hours into the daily cycle and as long as I reset the tripped breaker in the morning, it worked enough for a few hours every day to allow me to keep the pool clean. With all the info on the site I figured I had a dying electric motor so started to research the possibilities of having the motor rewound ( prob. not), buying a new pump or just swapping out the motor and redoing the seals. I also know a guy that works in small electric motors and have changed out my heat pump fan motor for cheap but unsure about the case used on a pool pump and how that would work so decided to wait till the end of season and see my options over the winter.

Then jut a few weeks later, as the cooler weather approached, the breaker stopped tripping and it runs 8-12hrs without issue.

I think I should follow my initial plan, unhook it and get it check over the winter in case it lets go again MID next season.
Are there other things I should be looking at or is my thinking on this sound?
And if the motor is dying a slow death, what path do you suggest I take in this possibly expensive pool repair?
Are pumps worth repairing at all?

Prices are all over the place with a new one around $1450 CAD and motors with and without casing, etc running 6-1100 CAD not including seals ( just looked at online retailers so far )

Thanks all.
G

 

[willygee]

How is the wet end of your pump?...if in good shape just a motor might be the call. My pump is 11 years old (impeller and diffuser renewed) and still going strong but i do have a VS V Green and or a 2 speed hayward motor on standby.

 

[1Sammy]

Can be a number of things, even a bad breaker pushing near the break amperage. It is a heat issue you have and proven when temps dropped, time got extended. Bad bearings to a defective thermal if that motor has one. Also a good blow / cleaning may be all it needs. ( needs to be taken apart ). Rewind is not an option these days until you get up into the 50 /100 hp motors. Good luck.

 

[mas985]

Is it really the breaker tripping or the GFIC tripping?

A breaker should not trip on a VS motor unless the wiring is crossed somewhere. If there was a problem with the motor and/or drive such as drawing excess current, the drive should give a alarm on the display and shut down on it's own well before reaching the breaker limit. So I suspect it might be a problem in the breaker and/or wiring.

The first thing I would try is another set of breakers.

 

[Flowerman]

Well the wet ens seems in perfect shape, I've never noticed a drop around the pad. I'll definitely get on a good cleaning of it to see if there may some built up pollen, etc..

As for the breaker, I think it's of the gfci type, it has a yellow push to test button on it. If it's at the main panel how does it differ in the way it trips from a standard type? My first pump died not long after buying the home and this one hasn't had any issues in 8-9ish years. When I clean it soon, I'll shut the breaker and inspect the wiring connections, they may have corroded over the years.

BTW, 2 warm ( for us ) days in a row and it's tripping again 82F humid 93. back to mid 70's tomorrow

 

[mas985]

As for the breaker, I think it's of the gfci type, it has a yellow push to test button on it. If it's at the main panel how does it differ in the way it trips from a standard type?

GFCI breakers tend to fail more often than standard breakers. But does the breaker toggle switch move, or only the GFCI button pop out? Can you post a picture of what it looks like when tripped?

 

[Flowerman]

The breaker switch toggles like a standard breaker would.

 

[mas985]

Can you post a picture of what the breaker looks like after it trips?

You might try swapping out the breaker(s).