SOLVED - Waterway 56 low speed stalling and tripping breaker on startup

[dashdash]

Hello all, I'm having an issue on my Leisure Bay G2 hot tub. It has 2 Waterway 56 frame motors/pumps. One of them (5hp) has 2 speeds; a low speed that should come on when powering up to circulate and the high speed jet for half the tub.

I removed the motor/pump from the cabinet and replaced the spring seal and ceramic seal in the wet end of this 2 speed pump due to a slow drip. I never even disconnected the power from the control board, only ground wire. Leak is now fixed but when I turn on the breaker to power on the tub it makes a kind of buzzing or stalling sound at this motor and it does not spin. If I hit the high speed jet button for this motor then it comes on, then I can hit the button again to slow it to the lower circulation speed and it works great. What happens is it circulates water this way and the heater heats up the tub, then it turns off as it should until the next circulation cycle. When the next cycle comes time the pump stalls again when trying to start at low speed from being stopped. Essentially it seems that the low speed is not enough power to get it spinning and after awhile trying it trips the breaker. If I'm there to hit the jets and then back to low speed then it seems to work okay, but I won't be there waiting for that every time haha!

I've taken out the motor again, confirmed wiring for continuity and connections are all ok and secure from the board to the motor. I even removed the spring seal and reinstalled to make sure it's fully seated (it's fully seated now and was before also). The bearings in the motor are great, very smooth and it spins freely very easily when the wet end is NOT connected. When the wet end pump is ON the motor I notice it's definitely harder to spin the motor freely. It seems that the new spring seal might be pressing against the ceramic seal with more force than the old leaky one and this might be binding up the low speed function.

Is this common? Should I have bought the complete wet end instead? This might sound dumb but should I apply some grease where the spring seal meets the ceramic since that seems to be the sticky spot? I appreciate any insight!!

The seal I purchased appears to be the correct part ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BY5MHRY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details )

[CanadianSpaTech]

PS 1000 is correct. 

Usually when a seal fails and starts to leak what has happened is that the shaft of the motor just behind the thread where the impeller screws onto the shaft the metal of the shaft has fattened/expanded over time and it presses the impeller shaft apart and into the seal. Most impellers break when trying to get them off because the impeller shaft has cracked/split and locked into the seal. Most motor shafts have to be ground down to reduce it's size a bit so the impeller screws on easily and it spins freely in the seal when installed. Did the new impeller spin onto the shaft easily and did it bottom out? 

[dashdash]

39 minutes ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

PS 1000 is correct. 

Usually when a seal fails and starts to leak what has happened is that the shaft of the motor just behind the thread where the impeller screws onto the shaft the metal of the shaft has fattened/expanded over time and it presses the impeller shaft apart and into the seal. Most impellers break when trying to get them off because the impeller shaft has cracked/split and locked into the seal. Most motor shafts have to be ground down to reduce it's size a bit so the impeller screws on easily and it spins freely in the seal when installed. Did the new impeller spin onto the shaft easily and did it bottom out? 

Thanks for the reply! So yes the impeller unscrewed pretty easily just by hand and threads are good on the shaft and impeller is not broken so I did not replace it. Impeller screws back onto the shaft very easily and is not rubbing on the inside of the new seal. The motor and wet end have signs that it's been opened before me so maybe that's why it's in decent condition. I guess there is a possibility that the shaft has become longer due to the expansion you mentioned; this could cause additional pressure against the seal.. and maybe the old seal was just worn down enough to spin more freely?

Additionally, since posting my issue I've found that it could be the capacitor on this AO Smith motor. Other's have reported a humming and motor not starting. This motor doesn't appear to have a start capacitor, just a run capacitor on the "doghouse" on top of the motor, but maybe it functions as both for this motor..?  It looks like a cheap part so I may grab one for $13 and try it out. Any thoughts on the capacitor?

[CanadianSpaTech]

13 hours ago, dashdash said:

shaft has become longer

They get wider/fatter but your good there. I was going to mention start cap but it was running good before the seal leak so didn't. Some pumps have a cap at the back of the motor. post pics of the motor so we can see what one you have.

[dashdash]

Ok great I got some good pictures of the motor end. I did put the new capacitor on the top and the tub is doing the same thing. Stalling out with a humming noise when powered on. I can force it to move by turning on the high speed jet on this motor, then back to low speed and it will circulate and the tub heats properly. The low speed just doesn't start on the next circulation/heat cycle. I could run it continuously but I'd buy a new motor/pump before that.

Can you tell me if there's a "start capacitor" that I may have missed? It seems the capacitor on this one might be a dual speed/stage but could just be a marketing term.

Additionally, I noticed the tub is indicating an error code on the display but I don't think it's correct and might just be another symptom of the stalling problem. The display shows "FLO" and the manual for the tub that I downloaded years ago says for FLO (flashing with temp): (1) The filter may be plugged. Remove the filter and clean. (2) The amount of water flow may be inadequate. Make sure the spa is filled correctly. (3) The pressure switch may be malfunctioning. The spa will continue to operate, but the heater will not activate. Contact dealer or service center.

I've checked the filter and all seems ok. There is plenty of water in the tub. The heater is working fine and the tub heats to full heat as long as I jump start the motor by cycling on/off the high speed jets..

[dashdash]

Just bumping this topic to see if anyone knows if this pump has a start capacitor. I replaced the only one located on the top; original was 50 uF and I replaced with a 55 uF (+/- 6%) and I'm having the same issues

I priced a replacement pump/motor for $400 but would love to just repair this one if I can

[dashdash]

SOLVED! Hello all, I was able to get the pump working and just wanted to post it in case someone has a similar issue and uses the search function.

Since the pump started stalling just after I replaced the seals I figure it had to have been something I did when taking out the motor axle thing. The rear end bearing hits a little metal button switch when removing it so I think I bent it slightly when removing.

A centrifugal switch should press the button switch mentioned above when not spinning. This makes sure the low speed start is engaged when powered on. Once the motor spins the centrifugal switch pulls back and "unpresses" the button switch; this deactivates the capacitor's start function and it runs properly. When I bent the button switch thing the centrifugal switch was not engaging the low speed start function of the capacitor so it would just start humming and then trip breaker. Anyway, glad to save $400 for now!