Pump Motor Problems

[SCon36]

I was in the middle of backwashing and rinsing my filter tonight when I encountered a problem with my pump motor. I switched from BW to rinse and the motor didn't sound quite right (I do turn the pump off when switching my valve). I immediately hit the breaker but as I did, I heard a pop from the motor. I swapped back to BW and flipped the breaker back on. The pump started, but was slow. It came up and ran fine. I swapped back to rinse and got it came up and did fine again. I now have it on filter and the pump is doing fine with typical discharge pressure and the motor sounds fine. I have limited eletrical knowledge, but I believe I blew the start capacitor on the top of the motor. Does this sound right? Is it ok to let the motor/pump run? Everything seems ok. Will I be able to replace the start capacitor and could this have been caused by me stopping and starting too fast? Sorry for the many questions.

 

[zea3]

Start capacitors can and do go out at any time and its not necessarily because of anything you did, however when a start capacitor goes out the pump usually will not start. Can you post the brand and model pump you have?

 

[SCon36]

Century UCT1102. I did see a puff of smoke come from start capacitor area when I heard the pop.

 

[zea3]

If you have not pulled a start capacitor before, it is not difficult to do, but you do need to be sure to discharge it first or you could get a nasty shock.

Here is a good video tutorial: How To: Replace Your Pool Pumps Capacitor - YouTube

 

[SCon36]

Do you think it is ok to leave it running? It seems fine. It was slow to start but is good now.

 

[zea3]

It should be fine. You may have a start and a run capacitor, which may be why you were able to get yours running even after the magic smoke left the capacitor. When you turn off the pump again you may or may not be able to get it to start until the capacitor is replaced. I would go ahead and get a new capacitor in case you are unable to start the pump again next time you turn it off.

If you do need to turn off the pump before you get a new capacitor, bump the FC up to shock level first just in case it takes a couple of days to get the pump going.

 

[SCon36]

Thanks for the advice! I'll update as we go along.