Pool Cover Malfunction

[sberggren]

Hi my pool cover stopped working over the weekend one day before my big pool party on the 4th of July. I had noticed that the cover seemed to struggle and pause a bit at times when opening and closing and it failed altogether and stayed stuck in the closed position. I was able to crank it open with a pipe wrench on the shaft after seeing that it had been opened this way at least once before by the prior owner, so I salvaged my pool party but it is currently stuck in the open position.
After inspecting the system, I can see that the motor runs but it is slipping at the point of the torque limiter. I attempted to tighten the system in one half turn increments but I was not able to get it to work. It looks like the torque limiter plates are too worn and cannot be tightened further.
So some questions:
After looking for parts in appears I have to buy more than is really needed: bolts, metal plates, plus the two plastic plates for about $105. Is it possible to just buy the plastic plates? I can't find a part option for this, only the "torque limiter assembly - no housing" option. Anyone know where I can order just the plastic parts? The rest of it appears fine.
Second question, how can I determine if the torque limiter is the cause itself or a symptom and the cause is something else in the pool cover system? Ropes and materials appear in good condition. I don't want to buy a new part only to have it go bad again due to other issues.
Thanks in advance for the support and advice! Steve

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

It looks like you can get all the parts here I am not sure if the 3000 and 5000 are different parts...

https://coverstarcentral.com/pdf/CS3000_catalog.pdf

 

[Honey Badger]

You will know for sure that the problem is with the torque limiter if you run the system and can see the motor turning the square part of the torque limiter but the round cylinder on the end of the square piece is not.

Do you have an pictures of your system. If it is an aluminium system then it will have a different torque limiter than a stainless system. The CS 3000 (aluminium) has a toque limiter that is held in place by 4 large bolts. These can shear off. I have never been able to get these out but if you could then you could probably source 4 new bolts from a hardware store.

There is also a shear key that I have seen shear in half. If this is all that has happened then I know you could order that. Pictures of the damage would help in diagnosing your problem. If the problem is in the torque limiter then it is normally in the housing and not the torque limiter (middle piece).

If you are located in Idaho then I would call Intermountain Pool Covers. They should be able to ship you a part from Utah if you wanted and I know they spend time in Idaho and could send a tech.

 

[Honey Badger]

 

[sberggren]

Hi. Since the motor seems to be running fine and turning but the torque limiter seemed separated from the shaft and would not tightened, I went ahead and ordered a new torque limiter. However, in pulling the motor to replace the torque limiter I am realizing it may be a different problem: I could turn the square part - the torque limiter housing - without any real resistance as if the shaft wasn't attached to the rest of the system. I was able to pull the shaft out and look at it and it looks like it may have a pin or bolt that is sheared off. I took pictures of the system.
Is this the shear key that you (Honey Badger) are referring to?
If not does anyone know what this is?
How to replace it? I've looked on the parts list from Coverstar and I am not finding this part of the system.