Pump turns off and on intermittently

[shulk]

This is driving me crazy and costing me a lot of money... So my pool pump turns off and on several times during the day. It's a very strange behavior: It starts normally, after a while it shuts down and a just few seconds later (no more than 20 seconds) starts right back. It does it multiple times during the day, sometimes multiple times during the hour. The motor is not hot to the touch as far as I can tell.

The frustrating part is that I have called two different pool companies. The technicians always seem to be in a hurry and don't wait for the behavior to occur but I still end up paying the service call. So the first tech told me that I have to change everything pump and motor even though he wasn't sure that would solve the problem. The second tech spent a little more time and said that it could be a chip in the Easy Touch panel but he wasn't certain.

Any clue as to what could be causing this? By the way the motor is over a year old but I don't think the culprit is the motor as the same thing was happening with the old one as well.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Shulk,

Do you by chance have the SVRS version of the IntelliFlo VS pump???

If not what type of pump do you have??

If you have an EasyTouch the pump can only come on when told to come on...

To troubleshoot we need to know the type of pump... Single speed, 2-Speed, or Variable Speed...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[shulk]

Jim you're right. I failed to mention that this behavior only occurs during the time the pump is supposed to be running. After the schedule is complete at the end of the day the pump remains off (thankfully otherwise I'd be really worried). But it is during normal operation that it shuts down intermittently at random times, and like I said it stops and starts right back sometimes not even after 20 seconds.

My equipment:

Pump Pentair WhisperFlo WF28 2hp part number 011774
Motor Century B855
CCP420 filter

Let me know if you need any more info and many thanks!!

 

[JamesW]

You should monitor the voltage at the pump to see if the voltage stays steady or if it drops out.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Shulk,

As James points out... With a single speed pump, either the voltage to run them is there or not.

Since this problem existed with your older pump, I would have to assume it is an EasyTouch issue.

I would suspect a bad Filter/Pump relay... If you have a meter you can measure the voltage between the two load pins and see if it is steady or drops out.

If you do not have a meter, you can always just swap the Pump/Filter relay with an unused one.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[shulk]

Thank you guys. I'll do that. I'll swap the relay and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Mayorb]

Thank you guys. I'll do that. I'll swap the relay and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

One of my pools has had an identical issue since it was installed about 8 years ago. I just considered it a glitch in the Easy Touch system. The main pump will randomly shut down for about 20 seconds then start back up. I ran it in "service" mode and the motor never shut off.

Let us know if the relay swap had any effect!

 

[Jimrahbe]

One of my pools has had an identical issue since it was installed about 8 years ago. I just considered it a glitch in the Easy Touch system. The main pump will randomly shut down for about 20 seconds then start back up. I ran it in "service" mode and the motor never shut off.

Mayor,

Was the pump a single speed pump, like the OP's, or was it an SVRS IntelliFlo???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[shulk]

I just realized that I never came back to this post. Happy to report that it was the relay. Thanks a lot for your sound advice guys!

 

[Jimrahbe]

S,

Perfect!!! Glad you got it fixed and glad for the feedback..

Thanks,

Jim R.