Henry_R wrote:After I posted the question I found the picture I'd taken of the motor where it clearly states "thermally protected". You've replied before I did. What it doesn't have is a resetable breaker for the fuse though. Once it trips the motor is a boat anchor. Or am I wrong on this?
Is it possible to fix the motor after the thermal cutout trips?
After it shuts down, it cools off and will come back on again. It shuts itself off before there is any damage to the motor
Thanks for the info about the water melting things. That's interesting.
What you will normally see is a pump basket that has shrunken up and is distorted.
We've had problems in the past with the water level getting too low and
the pump gurgling and the motor screaming. We were told by our then
HOA president that the low water level causes the pump to "suck air" and
lose prime which heats up the bearings. Would it be safe to suspect this
as the beginning of the bearings being damaged and the seal too? (Event zero?)
A low water level could be the starting point. Anything that causes the pump to run dry will do it. The damage to the bearings is usually comes after the seal gives out and starts leaking.
What's interesting is that the motor serial number says O80L which dates
to Dec 2005 as a mfg date. If so then the motor seals are supposed to be
resistant to damage. We don't have records that show the motor water
replaced though which is the enigma.
It is the pump seal that is leaking which is not a part of the motor. Anytime the pump runs dry for a length of time the pump seal is likely to leak. It is a cheap part to replace with most of the cost involved being labor.
I've been only running the pump long enough to cycle the water.
4 hours at most per day so as not to have longer term problems.
I've had to manually add water to the strainer basket each time
I power on too. It won't prime after being off unless I do.
This is why it was dry when set to turn on automatically.
There is a discinct sound of escaping air (a hissing sound) around
the motor even when the pump has been off for a while. Is this
related to the seal being bad? Air in the system bleeding off through
the bad seal?
It sounds to me like there is probably more than one leak at the pump. They sell a kit that includes all the orings and the pump seal and that is probably what the pool man will install. The faster the pump seal and any leaks you have at the pump are fixed the less chance of further damage to the motor.