Our Pool pump died unceremoniously yesterday at about 11am. I checked all the usual, breaker voltage, external wiring, etc., they were all good. Obviously some surgery was needed.
First thing was to remove the back motor cover, a simple task with 2 screws.
Once the cover had been removed, voltage (220v) was checked again at the pump, and the motor spindle, it can easily be accessed now to see if it has siezed. In this case the spindle rotated freely with no binding and thus eliminated any siezed bearings or other obstructions.
OK, now as the motor was still connected to the pump housing, and the pump is plumbed into the system, access was limited, so it must be removed and taken to the workbench for additional diagnostics and repair. To do this one can unbolt the motor from the pump housing and remove the motor, or remove the whole pump to perform the surgery on the workbench.
We have a salt water pool and live ~1 mile from the beach, so we suffer from anything salt/beach, salty air, salty water, sand etc. As I had replaced the pump last year, I plumbed the system to include quick release unions (See Pic), so the pump could be removed relatively easily.
Once the pump was on the bench, and the motor internals beneath the cover could be seen and access easily, it was clear to see the starter winding where it attached to the start capacitor was discolored. The wire could easily be pulled off the connector.
I removed the capacitor, and the 3 terminal wires checking the others for similar deficiencies. The other 2 were good.
I stripped back the offending wire and applied some flux and solder to get it well tinned. The connector it self was a little burnt, but with some cleaning, a wire brush, and some flux was easily tinned also. I re-attached the wire, crimped it in place (They were originally crimped), and soldered it securely to the connector to be sure it would not fail again soon.
Upon inspection, I checked the start capacitor and noticed the post was a little discolored also, and opted to replace it. It is a $10 part, I had one spare from a previous motor replacement, I like to keep parts if they are good.
Once re-assembled, I tested the pump on the bench by switching it to 110v operation,
it worked. I made an assumption that it would work back in it's place at 220v, so I switched it back to 220v and replaced the rear cover.
Once installed it worked fine as it did before. The key to this was the original installation using the quick connect unions, I highly recommend them. See the pic of the pump in it's service position.
The moral of this story is that it always pays to check something yourself if you have some basic electrical skills and a Voltmeter. If I had hired a service person, for sure they would have just changed the motor at best, or at worse the complete pump. I did the fix for $10 vs ~$300 + Labour.
