Pump rebuild or buy new?

[jcostantino]

I just ordered a new motor for my pump. I bought one september 2019, and another in 2015. The 2015 motor lost the bearings because I didn't replace the seals, I replaced the bearings. The 2019 pump melted the fan, I replaced the fan, it melted another fan. The back bearings were singing for the past two months and it finally packed up Friday.

Is it my pump? It's a pre 1997 sta-rite p2ra5e-124l. It came with the house, it probably was put in with the pool. I've replaced the diffuser because the brass (or whatever) ring around it has corroded. I've replaced o-rings, the ceramic seal, some bits and pieces.

I don't think the pump is leaking but it seems to just destroy motors. Should I keep throwing motors at this? It seems to work when it works and then the motor just dies. I realized when I was looking at the exploded view that I may not have a "water slinger" so I ordered one with the copper cone, and ceramic seal, and of course the latest motor.

Pool is a pretty boring roughly 15000 gallon chlorine pool with diamond brite or something, a suction side cleaner that is always attached (zodiac mx6), some kind of pleated filter in a hayward housing, and some terrible old timer that somehow still works.

I don't know exactly what I'm asking but I feel like I should get more than a few years out of a motor and I'm not and maybe it's me not doing something right or maybe it's the pump being Crud.

Update:

I received all of my stuff throughout the week and put it in. New motor, whip, ceramic seal, copper cone, slinger washer. Upon removing the old motor, the housing was rusted, I just couldn't see it from the angle it was mounted. I didn't have a slinger on the motor so it's possible it was getting wet this whole time. So far, the motor is measuring 8.3 amps, 150F housing. I'm hoping the missing washer is the solution.

 

[willygee]

Buy new. Melting fans..getting hot, bearing failures...to many negatives. You could take amperage reads with an amp clamp and compare to your placard motor specs or use a thermo gun at your motor housing to confirm. Many motors have thermal shutdowns only to keep recycling until things burn up. I would size a new one...this forum will make recommendations but will need description of your pool and equipment.

 

[jcostantino]

Buy new. Melting fans..getting hot, bearing failures...to many negatives. You could take amperage reads with an amp clamp and compare to your placard motor specs or use a thermo gun at your motor housing to confirm. Many motors have thermal shutdowns only to keep recycling until things burn up. I would size a new one...this forum will make recommendations but will need description of your pool and equipment.

I know it's getting over 300 F when it shuts down, prior to it getting loud it was running about 200 F in full sun. I'm going to give it another motor and kick the can down the road a few more years. Not really interested in buying right now with the price of..... everything. I will do an autopsy on the dead motor when it comes out this week. Shame I have to wait till the end of the week for the parts to arrive and the motor gets here Monday.

 

[willygee]

I would at least get an amp reading at running rpm. For instance..my 2 speed Hayward Tristar decal says 1.5amps at low rpm(1725) and my amp clamp reads 1.39 which is ok. Hi rpm decal says 8.5 amps @ 3450rpm and amp clamp reads 7.9 again ok. Low rpm housing just warm. High rpm 147 degrees @ motor housing at the bottom where it gets the hottest.
Your pump is either undersized or working to hard, wrong impeller, plumbing or electrical issue.
Here is the Amp clamp i use.
Also i shade my pump from the hot florida sun and have a weather shield over it. Air circulation is also important.

 

[jcostantino]

I will see if I can figure out a safe way to hook my multimeter up in series, not sure if it can do that many amps but I will look. As far as I can tell, it has always been a 1 hp pump. I spoke with the pool guy in my neighborhood and he said that 3/4 is pretty common around here with our small pools without a bunch of water features. Electrically everything is fine as far as I can tell - I do need to replace the section of wire between the motor housing and the box because the insulation is failing.

I am going to build it a little shelter this time. Home depot sells plastic roof panels and I can probably make something up but I have weird access issues, the pump is right against the house and the filter is in front of it so I would probably have to cover the whole unit.

Edit: I just bought a whole new whip to go to the motor, my wife is going to love this at least it was only $25.

 

[willygee]

Be cautious of inrush current.
When an electrical device, such as an AC induction motor, is switched on, it experiences a very high, momentary surge of current, referred to as inrush current. When an AC induction motor is started, the supplied voltage creates a magnetic field in the stator, which induces a magnetic field in the rotor.

 

[jcostantino]

You have a point, I just ordered a new clamp multimeter. May as well since my meter is old anyhow. I'll put all this stuff together and report back when it arrives.

 

[1poolman1]

Have you made sure to match the true motor horsepower to the horsepower rating of the impeller? It sounds like too small a motor was installed or someone thought they could get better performance by putting a larger impeller in the pump. They have to match, or the motor be larger in rating than the impeller, or you will continue to have the same issue.

 

[jcostantino]

Have you made sure to match the true motor horsepower to the horsepower rating of the impeller? It sounds like too small a motor was installed or someone thought they could get better performance by putting a larger impeller in the pump. They have to match, or the motor be larger in rating than the impeller, or you will continue to have the same issue.

I have no idea what impeller is on there, I do know it is a sort of clear amber color. I will get a part number off of it tomorrow when I take it apart. I have measured 8.4 amps with an amp clamp and the motor is rated for 7.5 amps but the rear bearing is damaged so it's probably extra current from the extra load. I will get a baseline with the new motor.

Have you made sure to match the true motor horsepower to the horsepower rating of the impeller? It sounds like too small a motor was installed or someone thought they could get better performance by putting a larger impeller in the pump. They have to match, or the motor be larger in rating than the impeller, or you will continue to have the same issue.

Ok I checked it and it is a C105-138PEB impeller which says "3/4 full rated or 1 hp up-rated" so I'm assume that means it's ok with 1 hp? I put all my stuff in today and realized the bottom of the motor case was rotted, I couldn't see it from where it was because it was hidden from view. The whole front quarter of the can was rotted. I did not have a slinger washer on it so it's a good thing I spent crazy money (in my opinion) on one. $13 for a piece or rubber.