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How To Troubleshoot & Repair Swimming Pool Pumps

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Every swimming pool pump will break down at some point, and when it does it can have a huge impact on your pool that you may not be realizing. The good news is that most of these swimming pool pump problems can be troubleshooted within a few minutes to prevent further damage that can cause even more repair work on the pump. How To Troubleshoot & Repair Swimming Pool Pumps

This troubleshooting guide will help you repair & troubleshoot many brands and models of pool pumps including such brands as Hayward, Pentair, Sta-rite pool pumps, and many others. The only difference is that some pumps will have different horsepower, name brand, but no matter what brand of pool pump you have they all will have an impeller and so on so this guide should work for you.

There are a few common reason that you pool pump will break down. Things like running the pump with a pool prime can burn out the seal and even over heat the pump fittings to a point where the pump won’t pull a prime at all. Other things include things like leaking plumbing pipes that drip on the pool pump motor for years that eventually rot a hole though the pump casing and then destroy the motor. Those are just two really common happenings at most pools in many backyards and with just a few minutes of time and labor you can avoid all these pump problems before they happen.

Lets now go over how you can troubleshoot your swimming pool pump. You will want to get your swimming pool running again as soon as possible because otherwise your pool chemistry could become off balance and the water will turn green and the you will need to learn how to clear a green pool once you get the pump running. Anyhow let’s get on to the swimming pool pump troubleshooting.

How to troubleshoot your pool pump motor:

Hayward Super Pump and Super Pump II
The swimming pool pump consists of two parts the actual electrical motor and the wet end that contains the seal and the impeller. On the popular Hayward super pump these two parts separated by removing four 9/16 bolts on the pump. So the first thing you want to do to determine what is wrong with the motor is to see if you have power to it. Make sure to check your circuit breaker for the pool as well as any sub panel breakers that maybe outside as well.

If the breaker is on on both panels you will now want to make sure that the time is on as well. Most in-ground pools will have a separate time that maybe off, and if you have an above ground or semi above ground you may have a timer as well. If you know you do not have a timer at all then just skip this part. You will also want to make sure that the pump is plugged in, I know this may sound silly but often, landscapers and other ground workers sometimes disconnect or trip over cords, this does not happen to often but it always can happen. If you have check all the power sources and you still have no power chances are your motor is no good or will need serious repair, your best bet it to replace the motor or bring it to a pump repair shop to see if they can rebuild or repair it, but in most cases its cheaper to buy a new motor. It will also make sense to buy a new motor if yours is several years old. If your pump is however in a newer shape it might be worth it to have it repaired.

How to troubleshoot your pool pump wet end:

Hayward Super Pump housing
The “wet end” of a pool pump is the part that contains the impeller and the seal. The reason its called a wet end of the pump is for the exact reason you maybe thinking. It’s because water goes through this part of the pump and it gets wet, its as simply as that. The parts on the wet end of the pool pump are called, the impeller, seal, pump cover, pump cover gasket, drain plugs and also the volute which is also know as the pump housing. If your motor is good, meaning it turns on and no water is pumping through it , you probably have a problem with wet part of the pump and this can includes problems with the parts we just listed above,

How to make your pool pump run air free:

Hayward Super Pump
The first step to making sure you pump gets a full prime every time it runs is to make sure that all the places that can leak air are sealed tight. The places that you seal up to make sure that no air gets in the pump are the drain plugs, suction union or suction valve, volute gasket even and the pump lid gasket. These are the most common places that air will get into the filter system.

So what you will want to do is make sure that the unions are tight and that the gaskets are not dry rotted, or cracked and also make sure that the drain plugs have a sealant tape on them if they are tapered. Please note that there are two different types of drain plugs. The first kind is tapered and will require sealant tape. The second type of pump drain plug has no taper but uses a rubber washer to make the seal, Often this washer rots away and then the drain plug does not have a complete seal. So make sure to check the pump drain plugs really well.

Also check out this video that will show you the most common places the Hayward Superpump will leak:

http://video.wetheadmedia.com/hayward-pool-pump-troubleshooting

The video might give you a better visual on where things will leak and the most common places the pump will suck or draw air in.

How to replace your pool pump:

Replacing a pool pump can be done with a few tools as pool pumps usually are only connected by two fittings and the electrical cord. You will need a large sized pair of water pump pliers and also a flat head screwdriver.
Pentair IntelliFlo High Performance Pump
Here is how to remove and replace the swimming pool pump:

Step One:

The first thing you will want to do when removing your pool pump is to make sure that the power is off and then you will want to also unplug the pump .

Step Two:

Now that you are completely sure that the power is off and you have disconnect the swimming pool pump power cord you will now want to disconnect the ground wire. The ground wire is attached by the ground clamp that will be attached to the top pf the motor. Take your flat head screwdriver and loosen the screw and remove the ground wire and place it to the side. The ground wire will be a copper wire coming from the ground. This is required on above ground and also in ground pools.

Step Three:

In this step, you will be removing your swimming pool pump completely from the filter and the base. To do so, you will have loosed the discharge union and the suction union of the pump. The suction union is the union on the front of the pump and the discharge union can be found on the top or side of the pump. If you have an above ground pool you will just have to loosen the hose clamps on the plastic hoses and then remove the hose hoses from the pool unless your above ground pool is hard piped then you will have to loosen the unions, as we described above. To loosen the unions turn the union nut with your water pump pliers counter clockwise until hand loose and then spin the union nuts by hand.

Step Four:

Before you remove the pump , make sure that the power is off , ground wire is removed and the unions disconnected. Once that is all done you can lift up your pump and remove it. To re-install the swimming pool pump just reverse these directions and don’t forget to prime your pump before starting.

98 Comments

  1. I HAVE A SOLOR HEATER FOR MY INGROUND POOL, EVERYTHING WORKS FINE BUT WHEN THE PUMP SHUTS OFF THE WATER SHOOTS UP THRU THE SKIMMER BASKET AND EVERYTHING THAT THE SKIMMER SUCKED IN GETS BLOWN BACK INTO THE POOL. ONLY HAPPENS WHEN THE VALVE TO THE SOLAR HEATER IS IN THE ON POSITION..

  2. I am opening my pool and noticed that my in-ground pool cleaner motor comes on but shuts itself off after about 10 seconds (the pool vacuum does not move at all). Any idea on how to troubleshoot?

  3. I have an above ground pool with a power-flo lx pump. The pool has been up and running for 2 weeks. All of a sudden the pump begin making a loud noise so I shut it off. It sounds like a bearing went out. Can the pump be repaired? Where do I begin?

  4. When we opened our inground pool we noticed that the pump was sucking a lot of air. My husband tried a few things but nothing seemed to work. Also we were questioning if loosing water. A local pool company came out and cut into our concrete around the skimmer found nothing, then they repaired all elbows that went to pump still not working, they sais they are almost 100% sure it is the pump so we replaced pump and still not working. My husband removed cartridges to filter and still the same. We have spent over 1000 dollars and next week is July and our pool is still not working. We are totaly stumped, we will take any help.

    • Hi Gina,

      Can you send me a picture of your pool and filter system? If so send it to joseph at wetheadmedia dot com and then I will use your images and make you an article explain what you should look for. I have been working on pools for 18 years,

      let me know,

      Joseph

      • My pool overflowed and got the pump wet now it won’t turn on. Do I need a new pump or is there something that I can do to fix it myself?

  5. I have an above ground pool and went to turn on the pump for the first time but then noticed a wasp nest in the motor. There was smoke and now the pump is not coming on. What can I do?
    Thanks,
    Charles

  6. My filter pumps stops working every time the weather gets hot. The button for the pump on the control box clicks when I press it, but the pump won’t turn on. This happened last summer, but it corrected itself when the weather cooled? I checked the control box and all the wires are in place. All the other buttons and functions work except the pump. Is it the mother board? What do I do?

    • The same thing happened to me starting this past week. I visited 2 pool stores as well as asked neighbors and researched on-line. The general consensus seems to be the motor is overheating due to either 1) malfunctioning fan, 2)outside temperature too hot, or 3) decrease in power being recieved by the motor. Issues 2 & 3 are usually caused by a really hot day, especially when u and all ur neighbors are running fans and A/C at the same time. This should be the easiest problem to resolve: try running the motor in the late evening when it is cooler outside.

  7. I am a new owner of an above ground pool. When I go to empty the pump basket, water gushes out as soon as I remove the lid; this is with the power turned off. It is very difficult to get the lid back on with the gushing water, not too mention a huge amount of water gets out. Is this normal for an above ground pool? A co-worker said this is normal but it seems like there must be a better way. I watched a few videos on youtube and this was not happening.

    • You have to buy a gismo to plug the skimmer area. It screws down inside where the water is sucked into in the pool. Then you can open it and no water comes out!

    • Install a cutoff valve between the pool skimmer and the pump. Next install another cutoff valve in the return hose leaving the filter returning to the pool. This will stop the water from siphoning out while you remove the lid on the pump.

  8. My Waterway pool/pump/cartridge filter system starts fine and runs smooth for about 3-5 minutes and then it starts humming (in the filter housing it seems) and gets louder and louder until I get scared and shut it off. What can be causing this? I powerwashed the filter and it’s pushing a lot of water out of the outlet.

  9. My pump was working last night but today it was not pumping water when I turned it on. The water level was fine but it didn’t catch prime as before. I cleaned the strainer basket, filled the strainer with water it still didn’t catch prime after a few minutes. I refilled the strainer and tried this a few times. it still didn’t work. What could suddenly go wrong?

  10. Hi. I am an new above ground pool owner. turned pump on for the fisrt time today. The pump ran for 30 minutes and the shut off on its own. Every few seconds it a quick sound (sounds like “Eh”)but does not go back on. It seems like it is trying too but it doesn’t. If i unplug it and plug it back in about 30 minutes later it goes on but the same thing happens. I have no chemical in the pool yet cause we just had it installd and now thw pump is not working properly. We have to get this going and put chmicals in before the water turns green, so confused no ckue what to do? PS, the pump is on its own breaker (20 amp breaker).
    plse help

  11. I have an astralpool pump. The box where the electrical stuff is keeps tripping and I have to untrip it to get it started. This has happened recently since a communal power cut, has my heating thingy gone?

  12. The drains at the deep end are backing up after the pump is shut off, there is diatomaceous earth at the drain area every night. What causes the water to go backwards from the filter? Thanks.

    • This is usually caused when the sand filter has internal damage to the plastic tubing with little slots in it, whatever you call those things. Anyways, there’s no sand in you filter, its backflushed out and that is why the water reverse flows when the pump is shut off.

  13. I have a funny problem.

    Whenever I turn on the two way valve that lets the water from the solar heating tubes into my pool pump system I always lose suction and the main pool pump stops circulating water as it loses prime.

    If I close this two way valve the main pump eventually primes itself and then continues working normally.

    I have no idea where the air is getting in from as there are no water leaks either in the solar heating tubes or pipes on the roof and no leaks with the two way valve which I have replaced.

    Your help would be appreciated.

  14. Pool installed in July with Pentair Superflo pump. Pump always runs in “high gear” shooting water out the jets hard and fast. Any way to slow it down? Our electric power bill has doubled since installation.

    • Sounds like the motor has too high a horsepower rating for your needs, look into replacing it with a smaller motor which will save you some money, then resell your original pump to recoup some of the cost.

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