Pump Hums but Doesn't Start

[Jbone12]

My pool pump failed to start the other day. I have it on a timer and woke up to the circuit being tripped. After flipping the breaker and trying to start the pump, the pump would just hum for 10-15 seconds then trip the breaker. I took off the back cover to try to work the shaft to see if it was stuck again (had trouble with the pump when I opened the pool but was able to get it going after working the shaft back and forth). It moved fairly easily back and forth. I tried starting the pump with the cover off to see if I could notice anything wrong. When I did that the governor was spinning slowly and the shaft appeared to be spinning with it (maybe a quarter turn every couple seconds). After doing some research I thought maybe the capacitor was gone so I ordered a new one. When I hooked up the new one, the problem persisted. I used a multimeter to test both capacitors and when I set it to 2k on resistance, both read .001L and then 0 after a second. So maybe the replacement capacitor is also bad? I'm not sure and any help is appreciated.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! The cap would've been my first check as well. Not sure about the readings though. How old is this motor? @JamesW any thoughts?

 

[JamesW]

Check the centrifugal switch contacts at the vertex of the copper V.

 

[Jbone12]

I'm not sure how old the pump is. I bought this house last year and the pump was there. Cant say that it looks like it's in the best shape. As for the centrifugal switch, it took it off and cleaned the crimp contacts as well as between the copper where the switch weight is. The contact do appear to have what looks like a burn where they contact each other. Tried to start it again after that and I get the same problem.

 

[JamesW]

Introduction of a new standard date code was implemented in August of 2006 that will eventually be used on all A. O. Smith products. The first three characters represent the day of the year, the next two the year, and the last two the plant code. For example, 12306M, would mean the 123rd day of 2006 (12306) manufactured in A. O. Smith’s plant (4M).

05313 was made on the 53rd day of 2013. So, about 7 years old.

Measure the voltage line to line to see what it is.

 

[JamesW]

Try this:

1) Turn off the circuit breaker.

2) Disconnect the capacitor.

3) Disconnect the power supply wires from the pump terminals.

4) Change the voltage selector to 230 volts,

5) Measure the resistance from L1 to L2.

6) Check for continuity from L1 to ground and L2 to ground.

Are you sure that you wired the new capacitor correctly?

 

[Jbone12]

Voltage coming from the outlet was around 120V. I tried the steps you mentioned but did not measure any resistance between L2 and L1 nor was I able to get anything between either of them and the ground. As for the capacitor, I wired it yellow across from yellow and then stripped red by itself. I attached photos of how I had it wired and the pump was wired when I was checking L1 and L2

 

[JamesW]

OK, I would say that the motor is dead.

 

[JamesW]

I tried the steps you mentioned but did not measure any resistance between L2 and L1

What reading did you get?