Pentair Intelliflo VSF Breaker Tripping Upon Turning On

grove-buffer-borax

New member
Nov 4, 2024
3
Houston, TX
I have a Pentair Intelliflo VSF 3HP pump that trips my GFCI breaker upon turning on. It's controlled by Pentair's Intellicenter. I had an Eaton GFCI and upgraded to a Siemens per suggestions on this forum but the breaker continues to trip. I'm getting around 230-240(I can't remember the exact readings right now) when checking L1 and L2. My Drive screen is getting power and is lit up (although the screen is blank). How can I determine if the Motor is bad, if the drive is bad, or if there's some other wiring issue? Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
 
Welcome to TFP.

Take us through the sequence of events.

You say the Drive screen is getting power and is lit up (although the screen is blank). That points to a pump drive problem. Motor or wiring does not cause a screen to be blank.

Is this with your IntelliCenter in AUTO or SERVICE mode?

So the screen is lit up and blank. When does the CB trip?

Show us pictures of the pump wiring and the IntelliCenter with the front panel open showing the relay wiring.
 
Welcome to TFP.

Take us through the sequence of events. Every time I try to manually turn on the pump or if it's scheduled to run, it trips immediately when the Intellicenter sends the signal for the motor to fire up.

You say the Drive screen is getting power and is lit up (although the screen is blank). That points to a pump drive problem. Motor or wiring does not cause a screen to be blank.

Is this with your IntelliCenter in AUTO or SERVICE mode? It's in Auto

So the screen is lit up and blank. When does the CB trip? It is lit up and blank (I attached a photo of prior to trying to turn the pump on and after when the breaker trips. It trips when either I manually turn on the pump via the Intellicenter or when it's scheduled to run.

Show us pictures of the pump wiring and the IntelliCenter with the front panel open showing the relay wiring.
Hi there!

Thanks for taking the time to offer guidance. Please see my answers above and pictures attached and note that the Intelliflo VSF pump is attached to the top breaker.

Thanks again!
 

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  • Drive Screen after Tripping.jpeg
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Update 1: I pulled the drive off, looked at the circuit board for burning, and it looked fine. I noticed that the ground screw was a touch loose when I took it apart. When I reassembled it, I tightened everything well. I flipped the breaker and turned on the pump and it fired right up. I don't know if I fixed the issue but the pump is running now. I'll see what happens tomorrow.

Update 2: @ajw22 - The breaker is still tripping. Today, I have been able to power on the pump by turning it on via the Intellicenter when the breaker is tripped, resetting the breaker, and turning the breaker back on. I am sure that's probably not good practice. It was turning on and off via the Intellicenter last night.
 
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