I will soon be installing a pump motor for the second time (3rd motor) this year if I can't figure out what my problem is. I'm a novice electrician at best, but I've done some small and safe wiring jobs around the house and replaced a pump motor before, so I think with a little guidance I can figure this out.
We got our pool up and running this spring and everything was working fine. Until my son called me one day while I was at work to inform me the pump was making a humming noise and would not start. I don't recall how I came to the conclusion that it was the start-up capacitor, but after replacing the capacitor we were again up and running....for about a week. I was again greeted at work by a phone call from my children to inform me that the pump wouldn't start. I troubleshot the next day and, instead of humming, I had nothing. I found the breaker was tripped. I reset the breaker and when attempting to turn on the motor was met with a light show, smoke, and a tripped breaker. a little back story, we had to take the timers off the pump because we discovered we were losing prime overnight, so there could have some times when the motor got overheated while starting the mornings. So I found what appeared to be a good used motor on Craigslist. The seller said the pump was a year old but had to replace his whole pump this year and the old motor would not fit. The motor appeared in good shape and started as anticipate when I installed it. We were again starting manually because the pump would lose prime at night, but that shouldn't affect anything once the pump is up and running. I did discover a leak around the pump housing and believe that to be the cause of the lost prime, but it was a small leak and I planned on repairing it when I had time. Everything was again working fine for about a week when I get another call at work informing me the new pump is humming. So today I will be installing another new start-up capacitor (3rd one).
What is causing these capacitors to go bad? My first thought an overvoltage problem, but I'm sure how to solve this. I certainly don't want to waste my money on another motor if this is going to be a recurring problem. Help please!
We got our pool up and running this spring and everything was working fine. Until my son called me one day while I was at work to inform me the pump was making a humming noise and would not start. I don't recall how I came to the conclusion that it was the start-up capacitor, but after replacing the capacitor we were again up and running....for about a week. I was again greeted at work by a phone call from my children to inform me that the pump wouldn't start. I troubleshot the next day and, instead of humming, I had nothing. I found the breaker was tripped. I reset the breaker and when attempting to turn on the motor was met with a light show, smoke, and a tripped breaker. a little back story, we had to take the timers off the pump because we discovered we were losing prime overnight, so there could have some times when the motor got overheated while starting the mornings. So I found what appeared to be a good used motor on Craigslist. The seller said the pump was a year old but had to replace his whole pump this year and the old motor would not fit. The motor appeared in good shape and started as anticipate when I installed it. We were again starting manually because the pump would lose prime at night, but that shouldn't affect anything once the pump is up and running. I did discover a leak around the pump housing and believe that to be the cause of the lost prime, but it was a small leak and I planned on repairing it when I had time. Everything was again working fine for about a week when I get another call at work informing me the new pump is humming. So today I will be installing another new start-up capacitor (3rd one).
What is causing these capacitors to go bad? My first thought an overvoltage problem, but I'm sure how to solve this. I certainly don't want to waste my money on another motor if this is going to be a recurring problem. Help please!
