Pentair boost rite booster pump not working

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Slm3rob

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Mar 16, 2016
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Conroe, TX
About 6 weeks ago the booster pump didn’t come on. I was able to get it to come on by turning it off and on a few times. After a few days it quit coming on at all. Was not making any weird noises. About a week ago, We changed the capacitor out and it started right up. Has been running fine. Today, it didn’t come on. I flipped the switch a couple of times and it came back on. I just went and checked it again…and it is off. Flipped the switch and nothing.

Went back out and flipped the switch and it came right on and did the same thing. Stayed on for a bit then turned itself off.

Any help would be appreciated.
Linda
 
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Slm3rob said:
About 6 weeks ago the booster pump didn’t come on. I was able to get it to come on by turning it off and on a few times. After a few days it quit coming on at all. Was not making any weird noises. About a week ago, We changed the capacitor out and it started right up. Has been running fine. Today, it didn’t come on. I flipped the switch a couple of times and it came back on. I just went and checked it again…and it is off. Flipped the switch and nothing.

Went back out and flipped the switch and it came right on and did the same thing. Stayed on for a bit then turned itself off.

Any help would be appreciated.
Linda
Click to expand...
You're dealing with a variable-speed motor without a variable-speed drive, one speed only. The drive may have failed and they are not available separately. You can get a new motor assembly for about $300.00, but also need a $30.00 shaft seal (its a special seal made for that motor/pump), a $20-$25 O ring kit, and then a lot of patience to take that complicated pump apart and reassemble it correctly. Or, a new one is just over $400.00 online.
 
Linda,

Most likely the pump is bad, but how do you know it is not an intermittent switch?

If this were my pool, the first thing I would do is check the voltage that is going to the pump when it's switch is on, but the pump is not running.

Do you know if your pump is set up to run from 120 volts or 240 volts?

What "switch" is turning it on or off? Is it a manual switch or part of an automation system or timer?

Post some pics.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Linda,

Most likely the pump is bad, but how do you know it is not an intermittent switch?

If this were my pool, the first thing I would do is check the voltage that is going to the pump when it's switch is on, but the pump is not running.

Do you know if your pump is set up to run from 120 volts or 240 volts?

What "switch" is turning it on or off? Is it a manual switch or part of an automation system or timer?

Post some pics.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Jim,

Since replacing the capacitor a week ago the booster pump has been running fine. Until today.
Explain what you mean by intermittent switch.

We will check the voltage. How do I check if it’s running 120 or 240?

The switch is the timer. Pic attached. (Terrible pictures)

I just now went and turned it on again. It came on. I stood there to see what would happen. After about 3-4 minutes I heard a “click” which sounded like it came from the timer, and the pump stopped. (The sound may not have come from the timer, it just sounded like it did)

The pump is a Pentair Boost-Rite Universal booster pump.

Thanks for your help,
Linda


3D615C32-6406-4BBC-B04B-4D2204B3B467.jpegC9B4883F-1034-459B-9F9A-3FF88DEDE8C9.jpeg0A154FE1-3D2F-47C5-AA52-1D2F988C5434.jpeg
 
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1poolman1 said:
You're dealing with a variable-speed motor without a variable-speed drive, one speed only. The drive may have failed and they are not available separately. You can get a new motor assembly for about $300.00, but also need a $30.00 shaft seal (its a special seal made for that motor/pump), a $20-$25 O ring kit, and then a lot of patience to take that complicated pump apart and reassemble it correctly. Or, a new one is just over $400.00 online.
Click to expand...
Poolman,

Is there a way to tell if the drive has failed?

I don’t think I want to rebuild it. :)
The pump is a Pentair Boost-Rite Universal booster pump

Thanks for your help,
Linda
 
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Linda,

I assume you are turning the red handle on the "Cleaner" timer to manually turn on the booster pump. Normally when you have two timers, one for the pool pump and one for the booster or cleaner pump, the cleaner pump does not get power unless the pool pump is on. Not sure that is how yours is set up or not. But something worth checking.

Inside the timer is a mechanical switch that has two sets of contacts. Over time these contacts get pitted and dirty so that they no longer allow electricity to pass through them. Often when this happens, they become intermittent as in they will work sometimes and not at other times.

What you need to do is check the voltage coming into the cleaner timer and the voltage coming out of the cleaner timer.

To do that you will need to take the cover off the bottom half of the timer enclosure and then take the black shield off the cleaner timer.

If this is not something you are comfortable doing, you should find a friend who has a voltmeter and a little electrical background. Better safe than sorry.

Once the covers are removed, show us some more pics and we can tell you what pins to test and what the voltages should be.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Linda,

I assume you are turning the red handle on the "Cleaner" timer to manually turn on the booster pump. Normally when you have two timers, one for the pool pump and one for the booster or cleaner pump, the cleaner pump does not get power unless the pool pump is on. Not sure that is how yours is set up or not. But something worth checking.

Inside the timer is a mechanical switch that has two sets of contacts. Over time these contacts get pitted and dirty so that they no longer allow electricity to pass through them. Often when this happens, they become intermittent as in they will work sometimes and not at other times.

What you need to do is check the voltage coming into the cleaner timer and the voltage coming out of the cleaner timer.

To do that you will need to take the cover off the bottom half of the timer enclosure and then take the black shield off the cleaner timer.

If this is not something you are comfortable doing, you should find a friend who has a voltmeter and a little electrical background. Better safe than sorry.

Once the covers are removed, show us some more pics and we can tell you what pins to test and what the voltages should be.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim,

Yes, , it’s the pool cleaner on the right that I am switching on. Ours is set up for the left to come on and start the salt cell, the right (cleaner) will only come on when the left is on. Regular variable pool pump is not attached to this set up as it is scheduled to come on before the timer does.

I am comfortable with a lot of mechanical things. I draw the line at electricity - an electric fence and I had a meeting one day while my feet were in water at the age of 5. It was not pretty. So I will get my husband to do this. It will be a few days as his work schedule is crazy right now.

The sound I heard seemed like it was coming from the timer box.

I will post pics when I get to that point. Thank you for the detailed instructions.
Linda
 
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Slm3rob said:
Jim,

Since replacing the capacitor a week ago the booster pump has been running fine. Until today.
Explain what you mean by intermittent switch.

We will check the voltage. How do I check if it’s running 120 or 240?

The switch is the timer. Pic attached. (Terrible pictures)

I just now went and turned it on again. It came on. I stood there to see what would happen. After about 3-4 minutes I heard a “click” which sounded like it came from the timer, and the pump stopped. (The sound may not have come from the timer, it just sounded like it did)

The pump is a Pentair Boost-Rite Universal booster pump.

Thanks for your help,
Linda


View attachment 454596View attachment 454597View attachment 454598
Click to expand...
You need a true voltage meter set for 300v AC. With the switch/timer "on" (you may need to have both timers "on," try it both ways) test the voltage at the two wires that are not green entering the pump. Your meter should indicate the voltage (most likely 230-240v). If so, the motor has quit, if not, you have to look elsewhere in the system.
 
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Slm3rob said:
Poolman,

Is there a way to tell if the drive has failed?

I don’t think I want to rebuild it. :)
The pump is a Pentair Boost-Rite Universal booster pump

Thanks for your help,
Linda
Click to expand...
Pentair publishes no info on troubleshooting the drive and it is not available separately. The motors are made in Italy. The cost to get just the drive, if it were replaceable, would probably be more that the cost of a new pump.
 
Hi Jim,

Here are the pictures. I have a friend coming over this evening to test for me. Let me know what to do. And thanks.
Linda
 

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Linda,

Looking at the timer on the right, it has 4 wires. From left to right they are Blk pin 1, Red pin 2, Red pin 3 and Blue pin 4

When you test between Pins 1 and 3 you should get 240 Volts AC (This power is provided by the timer on the left)

With the switch on the right timer ON, you should have 240 volts AC between Pins 2 and 4

With the switch on the right timer OFF, you should have zero volts between pins 2 and 4

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Linda,

I assume that the booster pump is connected.

If it is, and it is not running, then the problem has to be the booster pump or the wiring from the timer to the booster (Which I doubt is bad).

The whole point of this exercise was to see of the timer was bad or the pump was bad.

If the timer was bad, you would not have had any AC voltage between pins 2 and 4.

Note that the pump has to be connected to make this test as you want a 'load' on the voltage you are testing.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jim,

Everything is connected. We even tested at the capacitor on top of the pump To make sure everything was working at the pump. We also tested the old capacitor and it looks like it wasn’t bad. There was correct power at every test. We tested with the pump running also.

So I should assume the pump is going bad, correct? It does come on. Today it came on for about ten minutes then shut off. We again turned it on about 20 minutes later and it came on for about 8-10 min then shut itself off. It seemed a little on the hot side after the second turn on.

I just want to make sure there’s isn’t any other possible problem that could be repairable before I purchase a new pump. Like an internal relay or something similar that is overheating. This is what it seems like is happening as the pump will come on for a brief period.

Thanks for all the help,
Linda
 
Linda,

Sorry I was not clear.

You want to test between pins 2 and 4 when the booster pump should be running, and it is not.

If the pump has voltage and it is not running the problem is the pump.

If the pump is not running and you have no AC voltage between pins 2 and 4, it means that the timer is bad.

Since the pump seems to run sometimes and not at other times, test when it is running and then test again when it is not running.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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