Pump making loud noise

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I'm not too electrically savvy, so I'm holding off on measuring voltage until my friend can help me.

Replacing the capacitor appears pretty simple, but I'm not sure how to determine which one my pump requires. Are capacitors pretty standard, or do I need to take off the capacitor cover? I'm not finding much on the web with that.

There appears to be some rubbing in the attached photo. Notice how it goes from brownish to a clayish red. Although I don't think it's the source of the sound. I forgot to mention the motor still makes noise when completely disconnected from everything.
 

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... not sure how to determine which one my pump requires
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Make sure the pump is off. Take off the cover for the capacitor. Take a picture of the information written on the capacitor - hopefully you won't have to turn it to see the info. Be careful, even though the pump is off the capacitor may still have a charge.

TFP Wiki: Pump Capacitors - Further Reading
 
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With a PSC motor, the capacitor should discharge through the starter and main winding but it is always wise to be careful and short the capacitor terminals with a screw driver before removing.

Also, there is a simple test to determine if the capacitor is at fault if your friend is willing to do it. With the power removed, short the capacitor terminals first, then you can remove the capacitor terminal wires and place tape over them. When you turn the motor back on, it will probably not start because the capacitor is removed but if you turn the motor shaft it should start up and you can then hear if the motor sounds better. But only do this if one of you is comfortable working around electricity and machinery.
 
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That looks like a pretty deep gouge, which indicates that the impeller is not rotating correctly.

Due to the bad bolt, the motor pulls back and causes the impeller to rub on the seal plate and the diffuser.

The sound sounds like low voltage causing the motor to rotate too slow.

Can you show the wiring compartment?

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That last picture is the nosie you hear. Wear just on one side means the impeller is wobbling and rubbing on the defuser, as in hitting it. Like others have said the seal plate needs to be fixed or replaced. Once you do that the defuser will quit hitting the impellar. Your nosie should go away then.
 
Maybe the bearings were damaged by the impeller rubbing causing an out of balance force on the shaft?

Can the OP show the entire impeller and the front of the seal plate?

Can you show a video of the motor running by itself?

Did the voltage check out ok?
 
It doesn't sound like bearings to me. Not the normal screeching/grinding sounds I usually hear.

I have heard this sound a couple of times before and it is a very unique sound. There is a beat frequency which indicates that something is changing during each rotation of the motor. If the main and secondary windings are not 90 degrees out of phase, the motor will not have a smooth rotation and a beat frequency will ensue. Basically, the windings are fighting each other instead of helping each other.

If it is the capacitor, more than likely, it is swollen so even a visual should tell you something is wrong. When the capacitor swells, capacitance goes down and the phase shift goes more negative (1/jwc).

But if the capacitor looks ok, it is pretty easy to confirm (without purchase) by disconnecting the capacitor and spinning up the shaft by hand. If the sound goes away, it is the capacitor. If not, move on.
 
To me, it sounds like the voltage is low and the motor is right on the edge of attaining sufficient RPM to fully open a centrifugal switch.

If the motor is a Capacitor Start/Capacitor Run motor rather than a Permanent split capacitor motor, then it will have a centrifugal switch.
 
Whisperflos are PSC motors. The two speed does have a centrifugal switch but I think this is a single speed.
 

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Maybe the capacitor.

I would like to see the wiring setup and the voltage check.

Is the pump wired for 120 or 240 volts?

At 120 volts, the current is listed as 21 amps, which is a lot.

It's only 4 years old.


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I've attached the wiring compartment. Friend said the voltage was good whatever that means. We removed the capacitor and it appears to be working when testing with a multimeter, but I decided to buy another one as a fairly cheap test. We are not super comfortable trying to rotate the shaft when the wires are live, so I spent $14 on a capacitor instead.

My wife reminded me that we have a home warranty that covers pool equipment. Unfortunately home warranty companies are mostly useless and they are "stuck" on finding a pool tech. I don't blame any tech for not wanting to involve themselves with a warranty company. I'm considering just buying an Intelliflo asap and hoping the warranty company will at least reimburse me for the cost of a 2HP Whisperflo. I really don't want to keep the pump off for another week or two and have to deal with issues in the pool itself.
 

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randdusing said:
We removed the capacitor and it appears to be working when testing with a multimeter,
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Exactly how was it tested? A capacitance meter or using just continuity?

If you measured capacitance directly, did the measured capacitance match the label?
 
New capacitor should arrive today. We tested measuring ohms. It slowly goes up and creates a small voltage when switching back over to measuring voltage. Since the tool doesn't measure capacitance, there's still a small chance at the capacitor still being bad, right?

I can freely spin the shaft both ways with my fingers.

I will double check the voltage when I replace the capacitor.
 
randdusing said:
New capacitor should arrive today. We tested measuring ohms. It slowly goes up and creates a small voltage when switching back over to measuring voltage. Since the tool doesn't measure capacitance, there's still a small chance at the capacitor still being bad, right?
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Right
 
Plugged in the new capacitor and the pump turned right on. I switched in back off to tighten the covers up, tried to turn the pump back in, and it once again stopped working. I rotated the shaft back and forth, played with the breakers, and it's back to running. Maybe a fresh capacitor helped a bit, but it seems like something internal to the motor is messed up. While the pump was running, each line measured 110v.
 

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