My pump made a buzzing sound....found out it has a colony of ants in it.

[sccm_sysadmin]

TL;DR: Likely bad capacitor, found a colony of ants inside my pump, and I'd like to get suggestions regarding the best way to protect this pump from the elements if possible.

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Hayward super pump, about 10 years old. 100% exposed to the elements and has likely had the filter leaking onto it for awhile now (years?). Pool and all parts are original from 2007 to the best of my knowledge (we purchased the house and pool in February of this year and I've been using TFPC since Day 1 with great success).

I went to add some chlorine to the pool today and turn on the pump to distribute it, and all I got was a buuuuuuuuuuzzzzzz for about 5 seconds and then a *click* as it turned off. Lovely, less than 1-week before my daughter's 4th birthday party, which we have planned as a pool party.

After some quick googling this is likely a bad capacitor, so I disconnect the pump to bring it inside for disassembly and get the capacitor specs.

First I turn it over and find out the bottom is severely corroded due to basically sitting on a pile of wet leaves and organic material, and the pool filter leaks a decent amount onto the pump, which isn't helping things. I tried to fix that leak in this thread with zero luck.

So I get it inside and set it down and start taking it apart to inspect things, and...ANTS. Ants everywhere. Thankfully not fire ants, but ants nonetheless.

A variable-speed pump is out of my price-range right now so I'm trying to figure out if I want to try to replace the capacitor for $5 or the motor for $200.

 

[Zrock]

I would replace the motor... it's near the end of its life. You could replace the capacitor and another pc may fail.. new motor money well spent

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

I would replace the motor... it's near the end of its life. You could replace the capacitor and another pc may fail.. new motor money well spent

That's what I decided to do. $135 on Amazon + $17 for overnight shipping. Here's to hoping my FC stays up enough to keep the green monster away in the meantime.

If it works and keeps the pool crystal clear for my daughter's birthday party on Saturday I'll be happy. Anything after that is gravy. This will be the first time my family and my wife's family will be visiting since I opened the pool a few weeks ago and keeping it clear and sparkling has become a point of pride for me, so I'd be mad and a bit embarrassed if we had a swamp on a day when we planned a pool party.

We recently had a big storm with a lightning strike close by that took out our cable modem and wireless router, and tripped the breaker on the pool light. I'm wondering if this is a residual issue from that.

 

[Zrock]

gotta love amazon i ordered my sand filter off their for 1/2 the price i could find locally. Your pool should be fine my pool only gets used on weekends and some weeks i will forget to check or even turn on the pump all week. Their is usually very little change and a little vacuuming and let the pump run and any junk from the trees is gone and its crystal clear again not that it was dirty before starting.
I would recommend a whole hose surge protector or a good surge protector on your sensitive products. Every time the hydro went out here my cable modem would fry and our debit machine would get scrambled and take out the rest of the network. I put a APC battery back up on and have not had a single issue in 2 years was money well spent

 

[zea3]

You can add the liquid chlorine you need daily by hand, then brush the pool to mix it in.

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

gotta love amazon i ordered my sand filter off their for 1/2 the price i could find locally. Your pool should be fine my pool only gets used on weekends and some weeks i will forget to check or even turn on the pump all week. Their is usually very little change and a little vacuuming and let the pump run and any junk from the trees is gone and its crystal clear again not that it was dirty before starting.
I would recommend a whole hose surge protector or a good surge protector on your sensitive products. Every time the hydro went out here my cable modem would fry and our debit machine would get scrambled and take out the rest of the network. I put a APC battery back up on and have not had a single issue in 2 years was money well spent

Yep, replaced the cable modem and wifi router and added a surge protector there and for a few other devices too. I'm definitely kicking myself for not doing it sooner.

You can add the liquid chlorine you need daily by hand, then brush the pool to mix it in.

I'll do this tonight. Thanks!
Might even have to do it tomorrow night too even if the pump comes in tomorrow. I also ordered a seals kit and new impeller (just in case) and the seals kit won't be here until Wednesday; no option for overnight shipping. Oh well.

 

[cfherrman]

Can buy a sump pump and drop in pool to circulate

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

You can add the liquid chlorine you need daily by hand, then brush the pool to mix it in.

FC was 7.5 tonight when I got home from work, which is about perfect. I had actually bumped up my FC a bit the night before due to finding an entire bird's nest in a skimmer. Lucky timing.

Nothing growing yet. I walked the perimeter of the pool with a gallon of 10% chlorine and slowly dumped it in as I walked, and then brushed to mix. Hopefully this will keep things good until I can get the new pump and seals all put together.

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

Replaced pump motor two nights ago and it's been working well ever since. Thanks for all the info guy. Pool didn't turn green in the meantime!