Pump breaker randomly trips

[EquestrianNancy]

Our Hayward pump has randomly turned off due to the breaker tripping. We currently have a leak from the effluent on the pump and will be replacing the influent and effluent pvc fittings with cmp. In the meantime, I have had several suggestions on the breaker. One is to replace the capacitor. Another recommended a thermal protection on the motor may be malfunctioning and causing the breaker to trip. The recommendation was to replace the entire motor because the replacement device is half the price of the motor itself. Any other reasons that the breaker may trip? It is very random and has been working fine for the past 2 weeks. I'm just now sure how to troubleshoot it before spending money replacing parts that may or may not need replacing.

Thanks!

 

[ajw22]

Those type of intermittent failures are tough to pin down. t could be any number of things in addition to what you listed.

- The capacitor helps the motor start. If your motor starts and runs then it is unlikely to be the capacitor causing the breaker to open some time later.
- thermal protection on the motor has its own breaker internally to stop the motor and will not trip the breaker
- if the breaker is a GFCI then it could be some moisture in or around the motor or connections causing the GFCI to trip. When the moisture evaporates the GFCI does not trip. So see if you can associate when the breaker trips with weather conditions.
- How old is the breaker? Breakers get weaker as they age and will become more sensitive to tripping. If you have multiple breakers of the same type then you can swap them and see if the problem stays or moves with the breaker
- Post a pic of the data plate of the pump motor and of the breaker
- Is anything other then the pump motor on that breaker?

 

[tstex]

how old is your pump and how old is the breaker? can you also state what is the make and model of the breaker?

When you state the breaker was working fine for 2 weeks then started tripping, 2 weeks is not too long of an intermittent time. How long have you owned the pump and what's been the history since ownership?

 

[EquestrianNancy]

Those type of intermittent failures are tough to pin down. t could be any number of things in addition to what you listed.

- The capacitor helps the motor start. If your motor starts and runs then it is unlikely to be the capacitor causing the breaker to open some time later.
- thermal protection on the motor has its own breaker internally to stop the motor and will not trip the breaker
- if the breaker is a GFCI then it could be some moisture in or around the motor or connections causing the GFCI to trip. When the moisture evaporates the GFCI does not trip. So see if you can associate when the breaker trips with weather conditions.
- How old is the breaker? Breakers get weaker as they age and will become more sensitive to tripping. If you have multiple breakers of the same type then you can swap them and see if the problem stays or moves with the breaker
- Post a pic of the data plate of the pump motor and of the breaker
- Is anything other then the pump motor on that breaker?

Thanks for this information. I got delayed getting back to the replies.
- Breaker, the electrical was installed in early 2013. I'm attaching photos of the breaker. I don't see a date on the breaker itself, we just know when it was installed
- The Pump was replaced in June of 2017. The original started leaking and our pool company said the entire pump needed to be replaced even though it was installed in 2013. I suspect that a Skim-A-Round malfunction caused the pump to suck in too much air and I didn't catch it in time. I have since trashed that item!
I'm attaching photos of the electrical box with the breakers. It is tied into our main house box. The pump with the AutoPilot are the only items on that breaker.
Thank you for any advice or recommendations!!

 

[EquestrianNancy]

how old is your pump and how old is the breaker? can you also state what is the make and model of the breaker?

When you state the breaker was working fine for 2 weeks then started tripping, 2 weeks is not too long of an intermittent time. How long have you owned the pump and what's been the history since ownership?

The pump is only two years old (installed June 2017). I'm attaching photos of the breaker, I can not read the make/model on the breaker.
I noticed earlier this year that the pump was off. I had to reset the breaker to get it going. Then it was off again the next day. Sometimes I had to reset it several times to get it back on. Based on the other reply, I can say that we had had rain during that time. Now that it is hot and dry, we have not had to reset it. This has been an intermittent issue over the past month or so. Currently, it seems to work fine.
We originally installed the pool in 2013. A malfunction with a Skim-a-round caused the pump to strain over several hours. It was then replaced and I trashed the skim-a-round. We do not have a cover over the pool so occasionally we do get lots of leaves in the system. The basket in the pump had a blockage at one point during the spring. I don't think there was permanent damage to the pump, but we are replacing the influent and outfluent fittings to CMP instead of PVC due to a minor leak at the effluent to the filter.