Pump breaker is tripping after 30 mins to an hour?

[marc.tremblay]

Hi, my pool pump began tripping the panel breaker yesterday. It trips the breaker after running anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. I really don't get it. It was running fine over the last 2-3 months and last year too. This began yesterday after a massive rainstorm that actually got the pool timer to short and melt. I replaced the timer and now it trips the breaker once or twice every hour, it's extremely frustrating.

Pump = 1.5hp Jacuzzi Magnum, theoretically drawing 16 amps on 110v which is supposed to be 1760w, but I doubt it, because it has been running on a 15 amp breaker for 2 years prior to today... plus if you do the math, 1.5hp is more like 1119w. Pump is by itself without nothing else on its own breaker. Outdoor outlet is routed in the basement ceiling approx. 45 feet from the breaker panel. From the outdoor outlet, there is a 50 feet extension cord to the pump.

Here are all the things I tried so far. Nothing changed a single thing to the issue:
- Upgrade breaker to 20 amp instead of 15 amp.
- Tighten all wiring screws inside the pump, and inside the breaker panel.
- Run the pump directly to the wall outlet without a timer.
- Try a different, larger extension cord (14 gauge instead of 16 gauge)
- Clean pump basket, perform a filter backwash, reducing filter pressure from 23psi down to 16psi

WTF is going on? Help please! I can't be standing next to my pump all day long to reset the tripped breaker!

[Teapot]

It sounds like an internal fault but may occur only when the motor feels like it, very tricky but the short out could have caused a spike in the motor damaging a winding or brush/stator.
If you have a motor rewind shop near you I would get it tested.

[marc.tremblay]

Yesterday evening, after posting, the pump ran normally for 3 hours straight, which did not happen throughout the whole day prior to the post I made. The pump is 100% exposed to the sun all day long. Could it be related to overheating perhaps? But if it were overheating, why would the PANEL BREAKER (inside the house) trip, wouldn't the pump simply shut itself down instead? I'll monitor it today, the timer kicked in an hour ago to start the daily cycle and so far it's been running without interruption, just like that 3 hours lapse it ran at dusk. Really weird.

EDIT: Still running after 7 hours straight, still in full sun exposure. This is nuts.

[waterboy]

It's possible that you have something lodged in your impeller putting an extra strain on the motor causing it to overheat. As it slowly clears itself it is now running longer before tripping the thermal overload inside the motor. You may want to check the impeller before you fry the motor. Good luck.

[Teapot]

Good advice but it's tripping the breaker not the overheat inside the motor. Still bit by bit we'll try to figure it out.

[marc.tremblay]

As an update, now it's been 2 full days of duty without any breaker tripping. It looks like the issue has cleared itself somehow. I like the advice from waterboy as it is logical. If the impeller is dirty, the pump has to work extra hard, drawing more amps, tripping the breaker. Now, if the breaker stopped tripping 2 days ago, it therefore means the impeller is not dirty anymore and it is not drawing extra amps anymore. Why would the motor burn if the impeller is not dirty anymore?

[Teapot]

The impeller would actually just spin and not pump water if it were clogged with pine needles for instance and would draw less current as pushing the water is what loads the motor it would be a rotating disk if clogged but without flow could get hot.

[waterboy]

If debris gets in-between the impeller and the housing making it harder to turn. the amps drawn will increase with the amount of work being done by the motor

[Teapot]

Where is the pump pre filter?

[marc.tremblay]

Hi! Thanks for replying.

it would be a rotating disk if clogged but without flow could get hot. Where is the pump pre filter?

Well, the pump was flowing water normally even when the breaker was tripping every half hour. The water flow did not noticeably reduce compared to a month ago or even compared to today, which is actually the fourth day in a row that the pump did NOT trip the breaker. It really looks like the issue just disappeared completely TBH... which creates a lot of anxiety in me, now I fear like troubles might pop up at random for no reason, especially when I'm going away on vacation next week.

Where is the pump pre filter?

It's just an internal basket in the pump housing. I clean it off with the garden hose once every 2-3 weeks. It was cleaned the day the breaker was tripping, among many other things I've tried that are listed in the OP.

[Teapot]

Ok, well intermittent faults are always tough, maybe there was an internal leak passed the seal and keep running it has let it settle down (for now) but keep fingers crossed.

[marc.tremblay]

That's what I think too, because this started occurring immediately after or in the last very heavy rainstorm. Maybe some water got in the pump housing somehow and after a day and a half, it evaporated and things returned to normal. Thanks for following up. I think we can close this thread now as this is the 5th day in a row after the rainstorm and the breaker still has not tripped a single time.

[Denniswiseman]

You may want to help protect it from rain

[marc.tremblay]

That pump has been fully exposed to sun and rain for almost 3 years. It's weird that just now it doesn't tolerate rain anymore. Is that common that people bury their pump in a shed tough?

[Denniswiseman]

That pump has been fully exposed to sun and rain for almost 3 years. It's weird that just now it doesn't tolerate rain anymore. Is that common that people bury their pump in a shed tough?

Fair wear and tear after three years
It may not be common practice to protect your equipment from the weather in the States but we tend to protect it here in the UK