pump and heater both not working

Jump to latest Follow Reply
S

Spiny Norman

0
Sep 8, 2013
60
San Diego, California
I'm hoping someone can give me a bit of advice. This morning I noticed the pool pump didn't come on. I had a look at the control panel. It has power but switching but the pump isn't working. The motorized valves are operating ok and I noticed that there seems no power to the heater. I can't see any breakers tripped and the pool was fine over the weekend. Anyone have any troubleshooting suggestions?

Many thanks
 
Do you have automation with the control panel or are you talking about the panel you may have inside your home?
Please update your signature with mfg. and model of pump, mfg and model of automation system, mfg and model of heater.
Normally your pump and heater get power from the same breaker or relay switch depending on how your system is set up. We need more info to help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: guinness
It could be a stuck relay or a low voltage breaker has tripped. Can you hear a click when you press "P" button?

CompoolControlPanel.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: HermanTX
Hi guiness, that's exactly my control panel and when I switch to service, I was previously always able to operate the pump. Now however when I press P nothing happens except as you have suggested, there is a loud click which I thought was perhaps a relay operating and trying to send power to the pump. But would that be trying to send power to the heater also?
 
If you hear a click that means both the relay is working and the low voltage breaker hasn't tripped. You may have a bad breaker, do you have a multimeter to test? Some photos of the inside of the panel and breakers might help. Also if a breaker trips it's not visually obvious sometimes, turn all breakers off and back on again to be sure.
 
Last edited:
guinness said:
If you hear a click that means both the relay is working and the low voltage breaker hasn't tripped. You may have a bad breaker, do you have a multimeter to test? Some photos of the inside of the panel and breakers might help. Also if a breaker trips it's not visually obvious sometimes, turn all breakers off and back on again to be sure.
Click to expand...
I've turned all the breakers off several times over the past days including all the other breakers and turned off the main power switch to the house for 10 minutes. When you say photo's of the panel you mean unscrew the inside?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Yes, to access the breakers and see how everything is wired. Someone will have to check voltages with a multimeter. First at the breaker, then relay and finally at the pump (or in reverse order). If you don't feel comfortable doing this you should get an electrician or pool service company in.
 
guinness said:
Good catch. Maybe the OP can explain what they mean, is the auto or service light on?
Click to expand...
ok I'll try to explain.
In normal operation, for the past years I've always operated everything in auto. Occasionally though I've needed to drain the spa. So to do that I put the panel on Service mode and select "Spa-drain", when i do that the valves move and then I press the Pump button. The pump operated and drained the spa. I would then turn the pump off and select spa-fill, operate the pump until the spa was full. Then I'd switch it back from service to auto. I did this on Sunday, I was out Monday but on Tuesday I noticed the pump wasn't working at it's regular time. I had a look and saw the pump wasn't working nor was the heater front panel lit up like normal.

Right now the auto light is on.

Does that clarify anything?
 
Hi guys, thanks so much for the help.

I now know what happened. You are correct that the breaker was tripped. Apparently I wasn't squeezing the breaker far enough to the right :(. However when I did, and operated the pump I realize that the breaker tripped because the pump motor is locked up. It's lasted almost 20 years so I suppose I'm due a new pump. I'm in California and I think we're required to get variable speed pumps. More than I hoped to spend but I guess that's life when you want a pool :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: guinness
Spiny Norman said:
I realize that the breaker tripped because the pump motor is locked up. It's lasted almost 20 years so I suppose I'm due a new pump. I'm in California and I think we're required to get variable speed pumps.
Click to expand...

You might have issues getting a variable speed to work with your older panel. You could look at the Compool to EasyTouch Upgrade Kit that is compatible with Pentair VS pumps.

Another option is a replacement dual speed motor coupled with a dual speed pump relay for Compool. That way it would run at 1725 RPM for pool filtration and 3450 RPM for spa.

Pump DOE Regulations - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply