A. O. Smith 1081 Motor, Northstar Pump Repair and New Pump Options for Slide/Waterfall

[Sneaky D]

Looks like the booster pump to my water feature died. At first I thought it was the cap since the motor was making a humming sound and not rotating. I opened the back cover and the cap was clearly bad and shaft spins free. I replaced the run cap with a new one same rating of 55uf and 450V instead of 370V. However, I'm getting nothing now... no buzzing or anything. I checked the voltage and getting 240V and 120V on each leg to ground. Also used the incandescent light bulb test on each leg to ground and the light turns on normal brightness so current flow is good. I'm at a loss for what could be causing the issue now when it seemed like a cap and I know the motor hasn't been on except for a few seconds for testing. Anyone have any insight to how the wires coming out of the motor should ohm out? I saw a procedure from A.O.Smith but it didn't seem to apply since mine didn't have an internal start switch. The 5 colors coming from the motor windings are red, white, blue, black and brown. I might look at the pictures tomorrow to draw a schematic of the initial wiring and see if I can figure out what wires do what for the windings. Any advice from motor experts is appreciated... I don't have the greatest knowledge of induction motors but been learning a lot over the last few days on Youtube.

Also, if I determine the motor is bad I'm thinking about moving my filter pump over to the waterfall/slide then getting a variable speed for the filter. The problem is I'm wondering if the filter pump would flow enough water for the water feature. The current slide/waterfall pump has a noticeably larger housing. Any idea the GPM from each pump? Wondering if it would be adequate.

 

[Texas Splash]

Your water feature motor appears to have been manufactured in Feb 2002. I think that motor had a good life. The filter motor is a 2014 model. Upgrading to a VSP to operate all your features might be a good investment at this point. Let's tag @mas985 for some ideas.

 

[mas985]

The Northstar has a PSC motor so there will not be a start switch in the back. The main windings should be about 0.5-1 ohm in resistance. The secondary windings with the capacitor shorted will have a higher resistance. A failure in a winding will usually have infinite ohms although other types of failures can occur such as a full or partial short. Are you certain the capacitor was connected properly?

As for swapping pumps, your current filter pump should have approximately the same flow rate as the existing pump on the waterfall.

 

[Sneaky D]

Thanks for the replies! For some reason I wasn't getting notified about responses on this thread and got sidetracked on a few other projects. Had a bit of time tonight and got to look at things a bit more. So if I understand correctly the secondary windings would be the brown/red that was hooked to the capacitor? If that's true I believe the Blue/Black are the main windings? I ohmed between the black/blue and Red/brown and got 0 ohms so maybe I did blow the motor :-( Does this sound correct? I looked up PSC motor online and did find some schematics but still didn't have the actual one from the manufacture. There is a white wire that was hooked to terminal A but nothing connected to it.

Well this might be a good time to upgrade then... I have an aqualogic AQL-PS-8 Controller and was playing with the settings tonight looks like it supports 1,2 and variable speeds pumps. I'll likely just swap the current filter pump to the water feature one that died since we don't run the waterfall/slide often

Which VSP should I go with then? They are pretty expensive but would definitely want something quality. Also, something DIY friendly is a plus I know some manufactures void the warranty if it's not installed by a pro.

Interesting I was looking at pumps on amazon and Black and Decker are in the pump game now. Wonder how quality/longevity is?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BBRQ4LP/ref=twister_B09FC7K6G7?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

Suggestions?

 

[Sneaky D]

Anyone tried to rebuild a pump with a AVSJ3 motor and EZ-COMM Interface Adapter? It appears this would work with the AquaLogic controler.

Neptune NPTT165 1.65 THP Variable Speed 56J Motor | Perry's Pool Pump

Convert your existing 56J C-face pool pump motor into an ultra high efficiency variable speed design, at a much lower cost. Bolts right up to your Hayward Northstar or..

www.perryspoolpump.com

https://acim.nidec.com/motors/usmotors/~/media/USMotors/Documents/Catalogs/FL600/pool-motorcontrol-variablespeed-switchless.ashx

 

[1poolman1]

Because of the way the pump is assembled, you won't be able to install that motor to a Northstar pump. The drive atop the motor will not let the clamp move into position. Northstar motors were special made exclusively for the Northstar pump to accommodate that clamp among other reasons.

 

[Sneaky D]

Because of the way the pump is assembled, you won't be able to install that motor to a Northstar pump. The drive atop the motor will not let the clamp move into position. Northstar motors were special made exclusively for the Northstar pump to accommodate that clamp among other reasons.

Yea I talked to a guy at Perry's pool pumps in Phoenix he said the exact same thing. Still curious if anyone has tried one of these motors as a retrofit if worked well.

 

[Sneaky D]

Decided to bite the bullet and bought a VS 950. I have it hooked up through the Aqualogic controller (2.85 version) but the amount of control in the aqualogic interface leaves something to be desired. Can't see much about the pump other than low or high speed and the pump run speed in percent. I guess it cam be setup to run through the relays. I'll have to look into that if it's a better solution. I'm wondering if I should have gone for the pump with the omni controller. I didn't even consider it but I was reading a bit more after I installed the pump and it seems it could have replaced my current automation system.

 

[mas985]

Can't see much about the pump other than low or high speed and the pump run speed in percent.

Do you need more than that? I have a VS on an AquaLogic controller and usually just run on one speed.