Pool pump Electrical

I noticed my pool pump wasn't running yesterday. I noticed a smell from the timer control box the classic plastic electrical smell. Upon inspection leg of the relay switch had the insulation melted off the wires( 2 wires)and burned. Hear is a description of the system, there are two relay switches one for the pool pump and one for the pool sweep booster pump. they are both

220V. on the pool pump each 110 leg has two wires one for the pump one for the chlorine generator. At first I thought the pump was jammed, there was a slight hum but did not sound as loud as a jammed motor hum. Before finding the burned wires I shut the pump manually turning the switch on and off the pump kicked in and ran perfectly. But turning it off and on it did not start all the time. So this is leading to believe there is a problem with the relay switch. The motor is 220V 10.5 amps, the chlorine generator is 220V 1 amp. Both of these are feed off one relay that is wired to a timer.( chlorine gen runs off same timer as pump) The system is protected by a 25 amp breaker. Also the motor is a capacitor start. So hears my questions 1: Dose this sound like the relay has failed? 2: Could it be the Motor, something with the capacitor maybe? 3: Why did the breaker not trip off, there had to be an over load? Also was told if the motor was overloading the internal breaker would shut it down. the pump is about 4 years old. the chlorine generator is about 9 months old. I have shut off all the breakers and the main pool breaker at the house. Any suggestions before I have to make a call. The relay is pretty easy to swap out so I'm thinking of trying that if it's not to much $$$$$. Thanks
Reply to
Sacramento Dave
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Reply to
buffalobill

Could be a motor problem, such as failed start capacitor. Both the start and run windings on the motor are energized, but with the failed capacitor, the motor never starts, or doesn't start reliably, and the centrifigul switch never cuts out the start winding. The current for both start and run windings on the stalled motor exceeds the relay capacity and overheats the wires, but not quite enough current to trip the breaker.

Motor capacitors are easy to swap, and are a failure point, so you should have a spare on hand, and use it to test your motor. Good sources are grainger.com, eBay, or as a last resort an appliance store or pool store. Never seen them at a hardware store or Home Depot.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

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