Pump motor troubles. It acts like a bad capacitor, but that isn't it.

[SwimAustin]

Speck 433, dual speed.

My motor makes a loud 'N' noise and runs slower than normal. On high it shuts off automatically in seconds and on low it keeps running poorly. I assumed it was the capacitor, but the old one tests out good and a new one didn't change anything. My wife thought it was funny the old one tested higher than the new one, but both are within 6%.

This all started when the air release plug at the top of my sand filter broke and sprayed water everywhere. I don't know if the pump ran extra fast or if water got inside the motor, but the motor failed pretty quickly after water hit it, because the pool didn't drain noticeable. The motor is exposed to rain (not recently), so that seems odd. I should add, I'm in Texas and the heat has been insane and the motor gets a lot of sun.

I took the pump apart and everything looks fine. The impeller turns easily. I ran it dry with the cover off and it does the same thing, so I don't think this is a mechanical issue. The impeller doesn't seem to wiggle while spinning.

The motor and pump are about two years old. The motor's wiring and terminals, etc all look nice and new. The wiring from the house is old and looks old. I've read that resistance on the input wiring can cause problems like this, but I wouldn't expect that to also effect the low setting.

I found a shop that repairs small electric motors, so I'll probably bring it there Monday, but is there anything I can try tomorrow, Sunday? I replaced this pump/motor myself, after three days without power destroyed it, but I spent a lot of time fixing the same model. I've gone as far as replacing the mechanical seal on my previous one, but I've never done much on the motor side.

I don't know about this place, but if I bring it to a shop, I know I won't see it for weeks. I don't want to do a green to clean.

 

[JamesW]

Check the voltage and current at the motor under load.

Can you show pictures of everything?

 

[Mayorb]

Sounds like it may be overheating, activating thermal shut off.
While pool is down, dust surface with shock every few days. That will at least keep the green away.

 

[SwimAustin]

Check the voltage and current at the motor under load.

Can you show pictures of everything?

Thanks for your help. It got me to do more testing.

Long story short it is mechanical, just in the motor not the pump. The axle rotates very stiffly. I realized this when it couldn't start spinning on low. I'm not doing bearings, so off to the shop.

Voltage checked out fine 245 at the panel and 245 clipped onto the lugs going into the motor under load. So my old wiring is fine.

On low, amperage was 8.6 amps not spinning and 3.5 spinning.

On high it was insane. My new clip-on meter had trouble keeping up, but it was around 50 amps. The breaker is 15 amps, but it never stay on long enough to trip it.

As far as keeping the pool chlorinated, I'll probably pour in bleach, brush the pool a bit and then jump in and swim with my leaves.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[SwimAustin]

Okay, so the shop no longer fixes motors. They say no one does, because they are too cheap "on Amazon". They said I could get a new motor and pump for ~$300. Not for my size pool! It is more like $1200.

I ordered a new motor for ~$500. I know getting the impeller off and dealing with the mechanical seal is a pain, because I've done it before. I'll do that for $700. I still have a spare seal.

The motor and pump were just a few months past a two year warranty! The first Texas freeze and power outage killed my rusty old motor.

Now the crazy question for later is, do I fix my very new looking motor so I have a spare. I've never pulled bearings and would need to buy the tools. No time for extra projects now.