20 Most Recent Smith AO Pool Pump Motor Questions & Answers

Hi, Parts can be found on amazon, here: Amazon com AO Smith motor. I hope this was helpful. Mike

it might be good yet, check the wires over good and make sur there is none touching or burnt in half, thats what the breakers for, to protect, in most cases, from burning stuff up. get back to me w/ pictures if you need more help .. jay

there is a green screw and two other screws. green is ground and the others two are universal, it's not like a DC motor.

might have more than one breaker, or switch. check for power at back of motor and or start capacitor or dirty start switch

need to consult a fireplace store or the project center at home depot/lowes..

Disassemble the pump to the point where you can see the whole impeller. Then turn the power back on to verify that it is the bearings, and not trapped debris causing the noise. If it is the bearings the short answer is to replace the motor.Bearing failure is usually related to a leak at the pump seal. This results from either a faulty seal installation, or the pump running excessively hot (from running w/o water).When replacing the motor carefully examine the seal plate (where the seal is set) front and back for any cracks or deformity. If the new seal doesn't set exactly, it will leak.

Couple things to consider.... First off when you plug it in, or hook it up, are you doing it with the impeller and diffuser attached? If so the diffuser can rub on the impeller and cause it to scrape, and make a noise. If your running the motor free load meaning nothing attached to the shaft, well it will naturally have a low humming sound no matter how new it is. If however your sure it's louder than it should be, the bearings can certainly be going out. Is this a new motor? if not then how old? It's not uncommon for a motor over a year or so start having problems with the bearings. It is unlikely the bearing on the shaft is missaligned, but if the four bolts holding the motor together have come loose, then the front and tail pieces could have shifted allowing the rotor to rub the stator. Also if the bearings are worn and/or starting to go out, they may sound perfectly normal when spinning by hand, but at high speed can make significant noise.

Do you have a robotic or automatic pool cleaner? If so, inspect the bearings in them for failure. Otherwise, is it possible they were tossed in by something outside the pool? Your motor bearings would have a very hard time coming apart and allowing the balls from inside the bearings to migrate to the pool.

John

WD40 IS A WATER DISPERSANT AND WILL CAUSE MORE DAMAGE THAN GOOD ,IT WASHES AWAY OIL AND GREASE.. YOU MUST HAVE THE START SWITCH SET ,IT SHOULD BE CLOSED FOR START AND OPEN WHEN RUNNING.. NEW BEARINGS ARE THE ONLY GOOD FIX . YOU CAN TAKE THE BEARING IN YOUR HAND AT A SLIGHT ANGLE AND SPIN THE ROTOR, YOU CAN FEEL ANY BEARING DAMAGE THREW YOUR HAND I'M YOUR LOCAL POOL PUMP REPAIR GUY IN LONGWOOD FLORIDA. WHERE THE POOL IS ALWAYS OPEN

check voltage at the motor on the two lines should read what the motor label wiring diagram is set for, kinda sounds like it may be using 115 v and motor is set for 230 ... volt meter auto parts store ask them how to use it. there cheap and a good tool to have ! it also may be a run capacitor. search you zip for your local pool pump repair guy
HEY IF I WAS ANY HELP PLEASE GIVE A THUMBS UP ... JAY YOUR LOCAL POOL PUMP REPAIR GUY IN FLORIDA THE POOL IS OPEN 365 DAYS A YEAR, COME ON IN THE WATER IS JUST FINE...Jay

Thank you for posting your question here on Fixya.com.

The cap would not ruin the rest of the motor on its own. It could be the pump is bound up but it is more likely the motor is failing. It may be a small part such as the capacitor or the starting switch, but could also be more severe such as the winding itself. You will also want to examine the shaft where it passes thru the pump and motor and look for signs of rust from a pump seal leak.

If you are not familiar with testing these parts your best bet would be a local electric motor repair shop to see if the motor can be repaired or if it would need to be replaced. They should also be able to ensure there is no pump damage.

If this answer does not fix your problem, please comment with additional details prior to rating the answer. Positive feedback is appreciated once your problem is solved!

John

I think the lug with no screw is for 110 volt? Don't know, but your 2 wires in, black and red are both hot, each one to the lugs,line 1 and 2, the bare wire gets bolted on outside of the motor and jumped to another ground somewhere, and the white wire, goes to a lug marked B?,,, check that one. I went to the web site and they want you to know if you do it wrong, no guarantee, so check out the frame number, then look up your motor and go by the label.

http://www.pool1.com/motor.asp Hope this helps.

In this case you are going to be better off consulting a electrician to help you with this issue. There are to many risk involved in getting someone to assist you over the internet with this. If someone tells you the wrong wire placement and you get hurt or pop the fuse in your house you are now looking at that much more work,

Thank you for posting your question here on Fixya.com.

No...drying out will have nothing to do with fixing this even if it is required to ultimately get the pump back up and running. The breaker trips due to current overload that results from a fault in the motor winding or line leads feeding power to the motor. The fact that there is not even a buzzing noise from the motor after resetting the breaker means either the motor is blown, the line is open somewhere due to a catastrophic failure or both. If you can test for line voltage at the motor terminals you should and look for either the 115 or 230 that was present prior to the failure. Be careful when checking a live circuit not to ground anything as you do so.

Once you have determined if voltage is getting to the motor you will need to have it looked at by a local electric motor repair shop. If it is blown they can quote a replacement that will generally cost less than purchasing it through a pool store.

If this answer does not fix your problem, please comment with additional details prior to rating the answer. Positive feedback is appreciated once your problem is solved!

John

If you have a DMM or an analog one, test the start capacitor to see if it is blown or not. If it is, replacing it for $10 or less may fix the motor. Otherwise the damage is internal and in the start circuit and will need to be looked at by a local electric motor repair shop.

Does it hum at all or make any noise? If not, look for a tripped GFI or circuit breaker. If it makes noise at all, it is getting power and likely needs to be replaced.

For a quote on a new one, get the nameplate information off the motor and contact us at www.arrowmotor.net

internal thermal over loads in motor are working properly! how old is the motor? double check all vavles on the intake and discharge line to make sure that they are open? sounds like the pump is pushing against what is known as dead head pressure. obstruction in discharge line! if valves are ok you can take the jet covers off (the piece that helps direct flow of water) which will relieve some of the pressure should allow it to run without tripping tgermal overloads. if none of this works replace motor!!