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Another Home Repair


Brad

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In the past I've posted repair stories about a printer, DVD-VHS combo player etc and how most people (not on here of course) would just call someone or throw the item out and buy a new one.

 

Not with us obsessive tinkerers ;)

 

Not really a show off as it was really simple, just a reminder to at least try and fix your own shit first :)

 

Our in-ground pool is now 10 years old, and some of the equipment that came with it is a little tired. I'd already replaced the cleaner 2 years ago. Salt Water, Chlorine and UV is the ultimate enemy so happy it lasted that long to be honest. I had to replace the Controller and Chlorinator last year. The company that built our pool put the minimum equipment requirement for our size pool and that unit was operating at its upper limit the whole time :realmad:

 

Anyway last week, I looked out at the pool and saw the cleaner not moving, then realised the pump was not on even though its programmed time was set. Went out and had a look, turned the pump on and just a buzzing noise :(

 

Replacement pumps are between $700-$1000!

 

I'd hoped it was a clogged impeller so took it apart and cleaned it out. It DID have something caught but nothing major and the unit now turned freely both ways. So put it back together and fired it up. Same issue =(

 

A bit of reading and I found out that most pool pumps have one or two capacitors. Either a Run or Start capacitor or some have both. I searched all over the place for a parts/service manual for my pump but could only ever find external component information but my research led me to checking the capacitor. So I took it apart, dis-charged it with a screw driver and wacked the multimeter on it and success. The capacitor appeared dead.

 

I then hunted around for a supplier with a matching unit. It's a lot larger than the ones I'm used to seeing. Found and online supplier and they had it home in 3 days. Out of curiosity I tested the new one with the multi-meter and it looked great. 10mins to install and put pump backing into cleaning system, prime it and switch it on. SUCCESS!

 

I was pretty relieved AND happy. The thing must have been declining for some times as the new part has made the pump work WAAY better, like it was when first installed. Great pressure in the sand filter and the cleaner moves a lot better. I hadn't realised how bad it had slowly gotten. Not really sure how the capacitor makes it work better :unsure

 

Either way total cost was $50.00 shipped instead of $700 for a new pump.

 

Here's the old one

 

capacitor.thumb.jpg.94778585ee05d8fb8ff78d8c8bfcc1e6.jpg

 

Cheers,

 

Brad

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Yep Brad, we had the same problem with one of the 3 pumps on our spa. I wasn't happy about going into it so called the local spa guy and yes it was the capacitor. Sure I had to pay him for his labour but like you said , it was still a lot cheaper than buying a whole pump.

 

Good work "Joe Fix-it":)

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Got the same problem here on a big arsed pedestal fan. Just a hum when turning on an AC mains motor is either the cap gone or seized bearings.

 

Excellent "How To" you put here and I'm sure others will follow your lead and repair rather than replace.Well done.

 

I love it when people have a go rather than calling others or replace.

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