Pump troubleshooting

[76bronco]

Hope this helps. Let me know if you still want the motor end housing pics too.
Thanks for the help.

[PoolDoc]

The link you used is a bad one -- I tested it directly, and it goes to a "no page" error at Google. -Ben

[76bronco]

sorry. hopefully this one works

[Poconos]

I replied to your initial post the other day and somehow it didn't make it. So, I'll try again.
After the breaker trips and the motor is stopped, does it feel excessively hot? Also do you smell anything like overheated insulation or burnt wiring? That could indicate a shorted turn or turns on the motor windings. I doubt it though. Could be a breaker that has gone bad too. When the pump is running listen at the power panel for a buzz or some noise from the breaker and when it does trip does it feel warm? Is it a GFCI type breaker? That would be more prone to failure. If it's a regular breaker then possibly the contacts have gotten crummy and developed a high resistance and it's heating up. They will trip on overcurrent or thermally if the load slightly exceeds the rating. Changing the breaker is a relatively cheap try. Sometimes the mechanism will just go bad and they'll trip below their rating. Since you said the pressure is right and it's pumping OK you can rule out any problem with the motors starting circuit.
Let's get comments on my suggestions and we'll go further.
Al

[BigDave]

What's the rating of the breaker? 13.8 is pretty close to 15. How far from the panel? Cord Length? Wire guage? I'd guess that if it's a 15 Amp breaker and the breaker is pretty far from the outlet (wire length) with 14 ga wire and an extension cord and a couple lights - you could be drawing more than 15 Amps. Or, maybe not.

[76bronco]

It's a 15 amp breaker and pretty far from the panel. I'll admit it's not done correctly.
It's a heavy guage extension cord run into an outlet in the garage. We're in the process in getting a new subpanel put into the garage so the pool is on it's own circuit much closer than all the way in the house.
But it's been working like this for a long time and all of the sudden now it doesn't work?
What I've done since posting....
I've had the motor checked now and the windings were recoated and baked, bearings replaced and resealed and I've replaced the 15 amp breaker with a new one and we're still tripping the breaker..
Any thoughts?
thanks
brian

[PoolDoc]

Check your voltage at the pump, with the motor running. If the voltage is low -- I'm betting it is -- that's a motor killer.

However, if you check the extension cord, and it's anything smaller than 12-3 . . . you'll need to replace the cord.