Pump Motors

[xiansam]

In late May I had a hail storm take out my cover and it was close to putting the hot tub in summer mode which means I don't use it for several months.  I turn it off but keep it chlorinated.   This year I went through my normal start up procedures and my controller didn't work.   I'll mention that I'm an engineer.  That doesn't mean that I don't make bone headed mistakes, I've made a career of it.  I'm on here because I'm stumped, you are experts and I have 1000 gallons of cold water in my back yard.  I digress.....  I bought a new (exact same) controller and wired it in using the exact same jumper settings as previous.  I metered my power and it was good.  I fired everything up and I had a flow error.  I shorted the flow sensor and determined that it was good and indeed my primary pump was not operating at 1/2 speed and was humming.  The primary pump would operate on high speed. This is an older tub that I got from a friend last year, I've had tubs for 18 years.  Figuring that it was the start capacitor, I ordered both start and run capacitors for both pumps figuring that the pumps were old and if a capacitor went bad it usually meant others were soon to follow and they were cheep.   When I power cycle the unit with the breaker the primary pump works sometime but not all the time and usually not for very long.  I took the armature out of the motor and inspected it. It looked good so I greased the bearings and put it back together.  I read in another post this evening that I should check for 0 ohms between low/hi and common.  It is dark and cold and I haven't done that yet.  The other pump runs and shuts off sporadically also.  I have only replaced the capacitors.  My meter won't test capacitance. (maybe I'll buy one tomorrow) There is a chance that I got el-cheap-o caps that don't work.  I also tested fuse continuity in my control box.   I was convinced when UPS showed up with my caps today that my problems would be a memory right now but I'm stumped.   $10 caps are way better than a $200 motor.  Whatcha thinking guys? 

[bud16415]

I’m no expert and have been helping another member with an intermittent GFCI trip problem. You might want to read thru that thread as well. There are actually a couple threads he has started on the topic.

In your case I would have bench tested and ran the motor when I had it out after greasing and putting it back together. If it ran fine you could eliminate that and look at maybe the pump is lugging it down or something else.

Welcome to the forum also. 

[xiansam]

The pump spins freely.  I checked it before I put it back in.  We got 10" of snow today so further testing will have to wait....

[bud16415]

I woke up to 10” of snow also. Caught me this year I don’t even have the snow tires on yet. 

[bachman]

That's funny.
Just commented the other day on some tires to the neighborhood website for those wanting good winter tires and we had 10" over here too.

My last car was a 2 wd sports coupe, low to the ground and short wheelbase. I ran it for years all season here in CO with the best A/S tires I could find (yeah really, not even winter specific) and it did superb considering. Conti DWS Extreme Contact were a nice match on that car and under $280 each -  lol
Replaced it with an AWD Golf Sportwagen (love it) and the OEM tires just don't dig in. Tires really are a huge factor !! I'm not anxious to burn up those tires just yet (I'm too cheap) but when needed, I'll go custom wheels to snaz it up a bit.