Seems reasonable - that is what caps do - store potential! That's why the totally fried gasket and black drool! Glad the cap cover held, otherwise, might've been a trip to the ER or worse!
Pool Pump blew up in my face - lucky I'm tall!
- Thread starter viking68
- Start date
blakeusa
In The Industry
Capacitors store power. Your pump has a Start Capacitor. Most likely it became overloaded/ shorted out and exploded.
They explode from "An Overvoltage Condition" - meaning either a short or mis wired. you can google search this and see videos of exploding capacitors if your bored or want to see it.
I actually had a pump do this to me once right near my face... it was loud and luckily I had just turned my head. Wired were touching inside and shorted out...
Go with a variable speed pump.
They explode from "An Overvoltage Condition" - meaning either a short or mis wired. you can google search this and see videos of exploding capacitors if your bored or want to see it.
I actually had a pump do this to me once right near my face... it was loud and luckily I had just turned my head. Wired were touching inside and shorted out...
Go with a variable speed pump.
I have the exact same pump, and mine blew the original cap after about 18 months. It wasn't nearly as catastrophic of a failure as yours. I would certainly follow the earlier advice to hit up pentair for a replacement pump. Good thing nobody was injured.
Electrical explosions are no joke, 7 times faster than dynamite. Looking right at it when it blew could cause serious eye problems. The flash you saw was only a tiny amount of the light energy that the arc created. Just for kicks, go see an eye doctor.
Pentair replaced - blew Sunday Morning; back up and running Tuesday afternoon. Kudos to them.
Didn't know that and I used to do blasting in KY back in the late 70's - but with boosters and NH4/NO3 topped off with a few gals. of diesel. Eye Doctor. Hmm....let's see:
- LEFT:
- Cataract/implant (2002)
- YAG for sub capsular cataract - successful (2003)
- Retinal detachment - successful Vitrectomy (2004)
- RIGHT:
- Retinal detachment - failed cryopexy (2007)
- Retinal detachment - failed vitrectomy (2007)
- Retinal detachment - successfull vitrectomy w/ scleral buckle (remains in place 10 years later) (2007)
- Cataract (due to all the trauma above/ successful implant) (2008)
Let me tell you, that was an interesting 6 years; and 9 years later, 20/20 - but I do need readers! (Implant mono-vision is a wonderful thing)
When all that happened, I had NO other health issues - just the luck of the genetic draw, I suppose.
Go every 6 months for a comprehensive exam, which, happened to be Monday! OCT scan unchanged since last exam.
Thanks for the concern - but serendipity was in my favor - this time.
Thought I'd go a little off topic for and interesting read - unless you're not!
Just those pics is enough to make me wanna put steel plate between the pump and the house. You got lucky in more ways than one with that "incident".
You are so right! What would've happened if I wasn't here? It infuriates me no end that pool builders back in the day and even today feel the need to put the equipment as close as possible to an outside wall! Then, they leave everything open to the weather!
I know some high-end homes have dedicated pump/equipment room, especially with all the features available today. Me - I got 3 jets and a skimmer!
I sincerely appreciate the dialogue everyone!