Pump randomly came on a month after close

[SiliKate]

I have an inground pool in northwest Ohio and had it professionally closed for the winter a month ago. This morning, I found the pump running. The timer buttons are all in the off position and the switch is off. I had to shut the pump off using the breaker. Maybe somehow the timer was bypassed? It has not been on since the close.

My question is, what does that mean for the pump? Will I likely need to replace it in spring? Any other issues I should look out for?

Thanks for the help. This past summer was my first season with the pool and I had zero pool experience in the past.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to the forum! We'll need more info. First, please update yoru signature with all of your pool and equipment info. See mine below as an example. Make sure to specify what type/model pump you have, and if you use any automation. I'm assuming the pump ran dry for quite some time correct? Any idea how long?

 

[JamesW]

Do you have freeze protection?

 

[SUNOFTHEBEACH]

Not sure why your pump would come on, but 1 year I forgot to turn off the breaker or remove the ON pin on the timer and my pump would come on every day at 8 like the timmer was set for. I was at work and didn't know the pump was coming on. This was happening for 2 weeks.

I believe the pump would run (dry) would overheat and the overheat protection would kick in and turn off the pump.

There was no ill effect on my pump. It lasted 10 years after that.

 

[jeffchap]

Freeze protection turns my pump on any time the air temp falls below 35 deg to keep the pipes from freezing. My guess is that you have something similar to this.

 

[Dirk]

Did the pump coming on coincide with the air temp getting to about 35° for the first time? If so, that sounds like freeze protection. My pump has built-in freeze protection (Pentair calls that thermal mode), and unless I changed the factory default setting, I expect it would start itself whether there was water in it or not. As Pat suggests, fill in your signature and tell us which pump you have, and we can better answer your question.

I don't close my pool, but I thought those that do remove the pump and store it indoors. Maybe not. Anyway, I'm not sure why you'd leave the pump breaker on when there was no water for the pump to draw from... Hopefully no harm came to the pump. If it did, I'd be inclined to hold liable the company that did the close. I would report the incident to them (in writing somehow), so that there is a record of the incident. Come pool opening time (or whenever you next turn on the pump), if there is a problem, then there will be a record of the cause.