Overcurrent alarm: pentair sta rite VS

[E-pool]

My pool pump (pentair sta rite VS) gives repeated overcurrent alarms. The pump will start and run all good for a few (random 5 to 25) seconds. Then it stops with an Overcurrent alarm. After 20 seconds, the pump resets itself and start again, run, stops, repeats... The time the pump runs, it runs smoothly, no additional noise or vibration.

- I have inspected the impellor, which is clean and with a little effort (it is hard to reach) I can rotate it.
- I checked for flow restrictions in the suction and pressure side of the plumbing to the pump. No issues there.

Is there anything else I can check for before I call a service company? Any help and suggestions are welcome, I have my multimeter and screwdriver ready! Thanks.

Erica

 

[Jimrahbe]

Erica,

I suspect the drive is bad, but if this were my pump, I'd use that voltmeter and check the 240 volts right where it enters the pump... Measure between L1 and L2 while the pump is running and see what happens to the voltage when the pump stops. It should be close to the same value..

One possibility is that the breaker feeding the pump is bad, causing the intermittent loss of L1 or L2 when under load. I'd probably replace the breaker just to make sure.. before investing in a new pump or drive..

If under warranty, then I'd let the service company look at it first.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[E-pool]

Thank you Jim for your reply. Great suggestions.
I hadn't thought about the breaker. That might be a possibility indeed, since the breaker tripped a few days ago in a storm. We just reset it and didn't give at any more thought. But the breaker may have gotten damaged.
The pump is no longer under warranty. I will investigate and report back tonight.
Thanks!!!

 

[E-pool]

Hi !

Let me answer back on the status of the pump.

We checked the electric circuit and voltage stability. That didn't seemed to be the problem. So we ended up calling our pool service. They came out and concluded that the drive was broken and had to be replaced. After that the all issues cleared and the pump run !!

After inspection of the old drive, it is most likely it got impacted by lightning. Apparently, there are four little rubber spacer between the pump and the drive that sits on top. Those rubber can ware out by vibrations and weather, leading to direct contact between the drive and the pump. This can significantly increase the risk of lightning damage to the drive. We have a fresh set of spacer rubbers now. We also learned that our pool equipment is only protected by the circuit breaker and no additional GFCI. Only the pool lights have a GFCI. Therefore, we added the replacement of the regular breaker with a GFCI protected breaker, to our punch list.

Now it is time to enjoy the pool again.