Whisperflow Hums won't Start

[Poconos]

Craig,
Something is puzzling. Was the hum that you heard loud or kind of low? Reason I ask is that normally there is a large current through the starting winding when the motor is stalled. Doesn't take too long, less than 30 seconds I would think, to trip the thermal breaker or the house breaker feeding the thing. This would be a loud hum. A low level hum indicates the starting winding is not powered which would point to the centrifugal starting switch not making contact. This is quite common when the motor hasn't been run all winter or for long periods of time when exposed to the elements. If the starter kicked in like it should I would think the torque developed would be enough to overcome any sticking, unless something was really really stuck. I've heard of bearings freezing up but once freed they would make a lot of noise. I'm not familiar with that pump but any O-ring would not be used to seal a moving assembly. The water shaft seal is something else, ceramic I believe. I'm suspecting the low hum scenario and with you taking things apart you jostled the centrifugal switch and it made contact and started working again. I've suggested people whack the motor on the rear with a 2x4 in these cases with the shock causing the switch to make contact. People have done this successfully and I have to do it periodically with the motor on my drill press. When this happens you should clean the contacts. Anyhow, glad all is working again. Enjoy swimming.

Here is the link to that thread:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=4800

Al