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ThermoSpa - Pumps 2-5 trip the GFCI


rmcderm313

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On 10/2/2020 at 12:44 PM, RDspaguy said:

I think some motors aren't worth rebuilding...🥺

Interestingly enough, aside from this mangled start capacitor the rest of the motor is in really good shape.  I've cleaned it up and bench tested it on 120 volts again and it is running pretty well.  When the new capacitor arrives I will test it outside the tub and see if it still trips the GFCI.  The 120 volt circuit I tested it on was plugged into a GFCI and it did not trip.

I can see the water ingress and it's from the back of the motor, not from the wet end.  The seals and bearings are all in good shape.  The shaft was rusty but I cleaned that up.

After about 2 minutes, when I was cleaning the shaft with a file, the thermal protect on the motor did shut it down.  After about 30 seconds I heard the thermal protect reset and it started working again.  I'm not going to worry about that until I have the new capacitor and it's running on 240v. I'm not sure why it would run hot, but I'll see if things change in a more normal running scenario.

Thanks,

Rob

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All,

To close the loop on this, all 4 of the pumps had an issue that was causing the GFCI to trip when activated (as unlikely as that seemed at the outset).  The first pump I pulled had the corroded capacitor that I sent the picture of above.  Each of the next 3 pumps I pulled, the centrifugal switch was stuck so when started the start windings were staying energized even after the pumps got up to speed.  I sprayed them with WD40 and worked them loose.  I also cleaned up the motor shafts but for the most part all of the seals, bearings and impellers looked fine.

I put all of the pumps back in and now everything works great, pumps 1-5, the circulation pump, and even the wave lounge mechanical diverter valve I was able to take apart and clean out the corrosion and get it working again. I can run everything at once, and while the heater shuts off with all running (a feature of the board) I've seen no GFCI trips since replacing the pumps.

I can't thank the experts that have helped me get through this enough. @RDspaguy @CanadianSpaTech I truly appreciate the time you take to help guys like me trying to learn a new DIY area. Hopefully at some point I will be able to help another forum member in return.

Thanks,

Rob

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