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  • Results 1 to 8 of 8

    Thread: Burned out my pump - but it's still working?

    1. #1
      jjeff123 is offline Member
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      Burned out my pump - but it's still working?

      My pump is above the waterline, an Performance Pro Artesian2 1/3hp, it has a roughly 1 gallon built in leaf basket. My skimmer got clogged with leaves and starved the pump for water. No idea how long it was running dry, I'm assuming overnight. When I opened the leaf basket built into the pump, steam came out. Anyway, started everything back up and after several hours it seems to be running fine.

      So what's going on? Are the bearings good enough to withstand that kind of abuse?

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    2. #2
      coolwon is offline Senior Member
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      The electrical winding,is what gets very hot on any running motor.

      In your case the bearings are still lubricated,with no dirt to damage the ball races,the hardened shiny steel balls.

      The copper windings insulation, did not break down between any of the windings to cause a dead short between each turn of the winding and

      burn out.

      Good insulation covering the copper wire, insulating it from it's neighbor.

      The water was dissipating, just enough heat to save damaging the insulation which is an applied liquid varnish to the long strand of copper

      wire,before they wind each coil of the armature.
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    3. #3
      coolwon is offline Senior Member
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      A pump with a shaft seal, requires water to lubricate the seal and stop the shaft seal from wearing out.

      Maybe there was sufficient water to lubricate the seal to stop it wearing out.
      Find more about Weather in Durban, ZA

    4. #4
      aquaholic is offline Supporting Member
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      That's one of the downfalls of a pump above water line. And a serious problem that could easily repeat.
      Perhaps you could place a coarse prefilter within the leaf basket?
      Something like this https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...-DIY-Prefilter

    5. #5
      BWG is offline Senior Member
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      It's a quality pump motor combo. It might have survived the mishap with minimal damage. Inspect for a leaking shaft seal on a regular basis and note the sound running. A bearing going out will most likely let you know in advance with its noise.

    6. #6
      jjeff123 is offline Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by BWG View Post
      ... and note the sound running. A bearing going out will most likely let you know in advance with its noise.
      When I turned it off, definitely unhappy noises. But seems fine now. I assume the motor is OK, because it has a fan. But if the bearings got hot enough it certainly could have cooked things.

      I emailed these guys - https://pumpfuse.com
      They monitor amperage and can send alerts. They just emailed me back asking more about the application, they might add a relay so it can shutoff power to the pump.

    7. #7
      aquaholic is offline Supporting Member
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      The relay option sounds good.
      I was thinking a flow switch on the pump outlet side that turns off pump/power when flow drops would be safest/cheapest.

    8. #8
      jjeff123 is offline Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by aquaholic View Post
      The relay option sounds good.
      I was thinking a flow switch on the pump outlet side that turns off pump/power when flow drops would be safest/cheapest.
      I have a waterfall filter; just a bunch of stacked bins with holes in the bottom. I could put a basic sump pump sensor in there, wired in reverse, to shutoff the pump if the bins become empty.

      Like this one, I'd just reverse the position of the 2 sensors:
      https://www.amazon.com/HydroCheck-Su.../dp/B006AU4L4U

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