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My pool pump just begin to have problems starting last week. After a night of sitting, when I try and start the pump in the morning, it just humms for a bit, and some type of breaker inside the pump must disconnect. If I leave the pump sit for a bit, and break the suction to let water run back into the pool, and then try it again, the pump will start and pump fine. Does this mean my pump is about to die for good? It's on it's 5th season.
Thanks,
Sounds like the centrifugal starter switch is crummy. Check this thread:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=4800
The 2x4 method referred to is the trick of whacking the side of the motor with a 2x4 with power on and it doesn't start, not hard enough to dent but the shock will sometimes cause the starter switch contacts to connect. You need to clean the contacts with fine sandpaper or a small flat file. Use something like 400 or 600 grid Wet-or-Dry (auto stores) and lightly dress the contacts. The thermal cutout switch is what is kicking out when it doesn;t start. It's the thing at top-middle of the pic just over the horizontal gray spring.
Hope this helps.
Al
Thanks Al,
I'll take a shot at it in the morning. Great pic by the way! I'll let you know the outcome.
LT
Thanks Al,
That did the trick. It starts right up now.
LT
Glad to hear it worked. Another cheap and happy ending. did you wind up dressing the contacts?
Al
Yes I did, but the pump started doing it again. If you start it up when it's still warm, it starts right up. But when it sits for over an hour, then it just humms. I think it's the capacitor, so I'm going to try that next.
Thanks.
Could be the cap and they are cheap and worth a try. If it's a loud hum then the cap is shorted. If a low level hum then it's open. You can wedge a piece of paper between the contacts to see what the low level hum sounds like.
Al
It's a low level hum. I put a piece of paper in there, and it still made the same noise. The strange thing is that if I let the pump cycle through 1 or 2 times of not starting, the pump gets warm, and will eventually start. Also, if the pump is warm from being used and you shut it off, as long as it's started before it cools off, it starts up just fine.
Easy way to do a crude check on a cap is to measure the resistance with a VOM...volt-ohm-milliamp meter. Short the cap terminals first to be sure there is no charge that can damage the VOM. Measure the resistance one way and you'll see the resistance drop low and then rise as the cap charges up. Should eventually wind up high....in the 100K ohm + region. Then reverse the leads and the meter will bang below zero ohms and increase again as you discharge and charge the cap in the reverse direction. This will at least tell you if its open or shorted. VOMs measure resistance by applying a small DC voltage to the device under test, measuring the current and calculating resistance.
Al
The new capacitor fixed the problem. No hesitation at all now when starting. When I pulled the old capacitor out, and disconnected the connections, it literally fell apart in my hands. The pool store wanted $25 for a capacitor, but I found one at Grainger.com for $4. Hopefully this post will help others. When I was researching this, I looked all over and found others that have posted similar symptoms, but no one ever posted the fix.
Thanks Al.
Al,
Why not combine this advice with your picture from your referenced thread and make a stickie of this?
Carl.