Pump Plug is HOT

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kafox001

Well-known member
Jun 10, 2019
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New England
Pool Size
23000
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Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hello,

I have a pump motor that is new as of last year (Vgreen EVO EVC165) set up as 115V. It's on a 20amp dedicated circuit/breaker with a 20amp GFCI outdoor rated outlet. There is a hardwired Intermatic timer in the mix as well. I noticed yesterday when I went to unplug it that the plug itself was quite hot. There also appears to be a little char or corrosion on the prongs which is obviously concerning.

What would cause this? I have a hard time believing that the pump motor would be failing already and pulling too much amperage. Is it possibly a wiring problem on the house side? Should I replace the outlet itself (only a few years old)?

Thanks!

PXL_20240515_105348048.MP-min.jpg
 
kafox001 said:
Hello,

I have a pump motor that is new as of last year (Vgreen EVO EVC165) set up as 115V. It's on a 20amp dedicated circuit/breaker with a 20amp GFCI outdoor rated outlet. There is a hardwired Intermatic timer in the mix as well. I noticed yesterday when I went to unplug it that the plug itself was quite hot. There also appears to be a little char or corrosion on the prongs which is obviously concerning.

What would cause this? I have a hard time believing that the pump motor would be failing already and pulling too much amperage. Is it possibly a wiring problem on the house side? Should I replace the outlet itself (only a few years old)?

Thanks!

View attachment 573092
Click to expand...
The plug is not a 20A plug. Is the wiring for the outlet 12g copper? Is the outlet 20A?
 
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The defective outlet is making poor contact with the plug thereby causing a resistance powering the pump at the other end, that resistance causes heat which is what you have. Change the outlet to a commercial duty one and change the plug end on the wire too. That ought to put that one to bed. You would need to do an amp draw test but the aforementioned repair needs to be done first. Possibly you can cut the plug off and directly wire nut the wires behind the defective outlet and do the amp draw test like that.
 
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That plug is officially damaged and should not remain in service. You’re asking for a potential fire.

As others have mentioned, you need to check the plug, the breaker it goes to, and the wiring. It all needs to be rated for 20A. Most residential outlets are NOT rated for 20A but rather 15A. However, you must also ensure that the outlet is wired properly to handle 20A. I would also want to know if that is a single outlet on a dedicated breaker or is it part of a leg that feeds multiple outlets. Typically high amperage drawing appliances have their own dedicated electrical circuits to avoid overloads and possible wall fires.
 
Bperry said:
Heres a picture of a 20A rated plug.
Click to expand...

Note a 20A plug has a horizontal prong.

And a 20A outlet can be identified by the horizontal left side slot.

That way a device that requires 20A can only be plugged into a 20A outlet.

And a 20A outlet must be wired with 12AWG wire to a 20A breaker. So don't just go changing an outlet to 20A without checking the wire and breaker is adequate.

img_4547-jpeg.573114
 
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I looked up the specs for that pump and depending on which model it is, the max draw while running is 13A or 17.7A depending on where the spec comes from. 🤨 I suppose if the outlet is rated for 15A, thats cutting it close at 13A. Since its variable speed I wouldnt expect a huge spike in startup current though.

IMG_4548.pngIMG_4549.png
 

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Bperry said:
I looked up the specs for that pump and depending on which model it is, the max draw while running is 13A or 17.7A depending on where the spec comes from. 🤨 I suppose if the outlet is rated for 15A, thats cutting it close at 13A. Since its variable speed I wouldnt expect a huge spike in startup current though.

View attachment 573116View attachment 573117
Click to expand...
The 165 is speced at 17.7A @ 115V and clearly overloading a 15A plug.

Even a 20A circuit is questionable and is over the NEC 80% load factor of 16A for a 20A circuit.
 
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Most inductive loads have HUGE in-rush current. It’s can momentarily spike as high as 10X the spec’d amperage. Good electrical designs will attempt to mitigate in-rush as much as possible but it still happens. There’s not much you can do when the load briefly looks like a short-circuit at startup.

Knowing the locked-rotor amperage (LRA) of the motor can give you an idea of how big the in-rush can be.
 
A poor connection between the blades of the plug and the contacts in the receptacle are causing the heat. Since you are running it on a 115 volts (17.7 FLA), Wiring, plug and receptacle should all be sized for the 20A . Likely the wire attached to your plug is undersized. The pitting/ burn marks on the tip of the plug are from plugging in the plug with the pump on and the receptacle energized.

Replace the receptacle with a NEMA 5-20R receptacle, the plug with a NEMA 5-20P and the cable from the plug to the pump with a 12 awg cable. Also make sure the wire from the breaker to the receptacle is a 12 awg. Also don't use the plug as a switch or make sure the pump is off when unplugging it. A NEMA 5-20R receptacle is at best rated for 1 HP, not all are. This is not to stay that you can't run a 1.5HP motor on the NEMA 5-20R receptacle. It just means it's not going to hold up to plugging in and unplugging a 1.5 hp motor under load. Also a circuit breaker in most cases is not meant to be used like a switch. If you don't have a switch to control the receptacle installing one would be a good idea to eliminate the scorched plug and receptacle issue. Make sure to choose a switch rated for 1.5 hp or more (likely it would need to be a 30A switch to have a HP rating of 1.5HP or more like this 3031-2W).
 
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Let's start with why a plug for an inground pool pump is needed at all?

Get rid of the plug and hardwire it to a 230V circuit with a 20A GFCI CB and all is good and safe.
 
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Thanks for all the responses - here are some more details:
  • This is a dedicated 120V 20amp circuit that runs off a 60amp subpanel in my garage. The breaker is 20amp, the wiring is 12/2 romex and the outlet is a 20amp WR GFCI outlet with an in-use cover (pic below). The in-line mechanical timer is an Intermatic T101R.
  • The pump power cord is a Hayward SPX1250WA and is the same cord the old motor was using. Looks like this is 14awg so would be undersized for this application but seems to be the standard cord for 115V Hayward Super Pumps/motors.
Changing to 240V would obviously be ideal, but my subpanel is already full with one doubled up breaker and I would like to avoid adding more doubles if I don't have to. I would also need to replace the inline timer with one that's compatible with 240V.

If I wanted to keep this on a 120V circuit for now (and it's safe to do so), where would I find a 12 awg pump power cord with a NEMA 5-20P plug? I am good with basic electrical, but I think I draw the line at making my own appliance cords.

PXL_20240515_131657252.jpg
 
kafox001 said:
Thanks for all the responses - here are some more details:
  • This is a dedicated 120V 20amp circuit that runs off a 60amp subpanel in my garage. The breaker is 20amp, the wiring is 12/2 romex and the outlet is a 20amp WR GFCI outlet with an in-use cover (pic below). The in-line mechanical timer is an Intermatic T101R.
  • The pump power cord is a Hayward SPX1250WA and is the same cord the old motor was using. Looks like this is 14awg so would be undersized for this application but seems to be the standard cord for 115V Hayward Super Pumps/motors.
Changing to 240V would obviously be ideal, but my subpanel is already full with one doubled up breaker and I would like to avoid adding more doubles if I don't have to. I would also need to replace the inline timer with one that's compatible with 240V.

If I wanted to keep this on a 120V circuit for now (and it's safe to do so), where would I find a 12 awg pump power cord with a NEMA 5-20P plug? I am good with basic electrical, but I think I draw the line at making my own appliance cords.

View attachment 573145
Click to expand...
Hardware stores carry the DIY assemble your own cable kits. Its not hard.

But if youre using the plug as a power switch, it would help to not do that no matter what.
 
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Bperry said:
Hardware stores carry the DIY assemble your own cable kits. Its not hard.

But if youre using the plug as a power switch, it would help to not do that no matter what.
Click to expand...
I'll look into those and see what I can find - thanks!

I don't often use the plug as a switch - just early in the season when I haven't given everything a thorough inspection and I don't want to leave it plugged in overnight. The motor has an on/off/many other functions button that I use and also the hardwired timer can also be used as a switch.
 
kafox001 said:
I'll look into those and see what I can find - thanks!

I don't often use the plug as a switch - just early in the season when I haven't given everything a thorough inspection and I don't want to leave it plugged in overnight. The motor has an on/off/many other functions button that I use and also the hardwired timer can also be used as a switch.
Click to expand...

To be clear, unplugging is fine as long as you first stop the pump running at its switch.
 
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