Woke up to no water

Woke up last night to do my nightly old man walk to the bathroom and the water is off.
Walk out to the pump house and the thermal protector has the pump off.
Motor is hot enough you can not touch it.

So I let it cool down and take the pump out this morning.
Motor just hums when you turn it on.
If I spin the shaft by hand something will click in the motor and it will run for as long as I leave it on.
Turn it off and I hear a click in the motor again.
Turn it on it just hums.
Spin it I hear a click and it starts running again.
Over and over.

Any ideas of what might be wrong with this motor.
Its a 1 1/2 hp and not very old.
Most likely not far out of warranty.

Why do these things always seem to happen on the weekend when everyone is closed.

That is a simple one but not repairable. Start circuit in the motor has gone south on you so you Will need to replace the motor at the very least but more then likely the whole pump assembly. Had the same thing happen to my compressor motor a number of years ago

I had that happen on a pump and was told if you can spin the motor and it starts, it is the starter capacitor. Sure enough that was the problem. You can remove the starter capacitor and have is checked. May save a few bucks.

That definitely sounds like a blown starter capacitor. You should be able to buy a replacement for around $10-15.

I would assume starting circuit has failed, probably just easier to replace.

Its been a longgggggggggggg since my first electrical engineering job with the Century Electric Motor Company, but it sounds like its a single phase split phase motor that starts by using a separate start winding (different then run winding) and a centrifugal switch which opens (clicks) upon a certain RPM so the start winding is out of the circuit while the run winding goes ahead to turn the motor. If there's no start winding (bad or open circuit) OR the centrifugal switch is defective, it will set there and hum and draw high current and kick out the thermal. HOWEVER, if you manually spin it the run winding will propel it and if fast enough the start winding will become disconnected (the click you hear) because the centrifugal switch (even if bad contacts) opens.

ALSO if the centrifugal switch was bad with its contacts burned and corroded and resistive, even when its closed on startup as it should be to engage the start winding, THE START WINDING DOESNT WORK TO GET IT SPINNING.

One might check resistance and continuity of the start winding to see if its open to narrow down if the problem is the switch or the winding

If it were a slit phase capacitor start motor and had a faulty start capacitor such can cause the problem

I'm thinking its a bad start winding or a bad switch, maybe others have different opinions???

John T

His pictures does not show a capacitor and good chance it does not have one. Never see a well pump with a capacitor on it. But many have a start winding that once it spins up will click off and then it runs on the run winding's

Start capacitor if it has one is under the end cap and not on the outside

I used farm water pump systems over 40 years and I don't recall any of my 120 VAC split phase shallow well pumps (1/2 to 1 HP as I recall) using a start capacitor??? Thats NOT to say it cant be done, ONLY mine didn't have any.

John T

There is a start capacitor under the rear cover. It will probably be in the 175-220 MFD range. I have replaced a few of them --around $7

I have installed a good many of those pumps over the years and I have only seen one with a capacitor and it was in the control box not even on or close to the pump. and the pump being a submersible should not have one for it to work

I agree with start winding switch. Easy enough to check, just remove the back end cover. I took a pressure washer pump motor to the repair shop last year. I had replaced the motor only 3-4 years earlier. I used to get the switches replaced with a solid state switch when they went out, because I had a couple hundred of them out there that I serviced. That would cost me under $100.00, and then the motor was five times better to me than a new one. Well, my buddy that owned the shop had sold out, and under the new management it was $65.00 just to look at it. I said OK, and when they called they said it was another $130 to put in a plain old points start switch. I told them no thanks. I brought it back to my own motor repair shop, where a glance at the start switch revealed a slightly bent part, that cost me nothing to straighten.

Hi Old, you're the man with more experience than I, but I have a pump much like his where the start capacitor on the tail end and a cover has to be removed to access it. At any rate we all hope he has it fixed. Have a good weekend. Always enjoy reading your posts.

Not saying he could not have a capacitor in it but not real common in many pump systems

UPDATE........


Since it is Saturday and the place that sells real well pumps and parts for these pumps is closed; I just went to home depot and bought a whole new 1 hp pump and installed it. No way my wife is letting this go to Monday even if it would save us hundreds of dollars. Somehow I have to agree with her.

So how do I test this start capasitor or check it to make sure it is the problem.
Heck if it is a big deal to check for $10 I might just buy one and try it.
I assume the pump supply house will have or can get this part.

(quoted from post at 15:55:59 04/29/17) UPDATE........


Since it is Saturday and the place that sells real well pumps and parts for these pumps is closed; I just went to home depot and bought a whole new 1 hp pump and installed it. No way my wife is letting this go to Monday even if it would save us hundreds of dollars. Somehow I have to agree with her.

So how do I test this start capasitor or check it to make sure it is the problem.
Heck if it is a big deal to check for $10 I might just buy one and try it.
I assume the pump supply house will have or can get this part.


<img src="http://photos.yesterdaystractors.com/gallery/uptest/a158603.jpg">


<img src="http://photos.yesterdaystractors.com/gallery/uptest/a158604.jpg">


<img src="http://photos.yesterdaystractors.com/gallery/uptest/a158605.jpg">

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Your new motor has a simple to check start winding switch. It is the part with the two brass strips on top and the two 1/4 diam. springs below. Over a span of 35 years or so we replaced a start winding switch maybe every five weeks and probably two capacitors in that time. I think that is a good indication which is likely to be the problem. I may not have done as many as young fella Old but I have done a few.

Capacitors can be hard to check with the common VOM that most people have. You can maybe check it by setting the meter on a high ohm scale and hook it up. It should read high then low or is that low then high. But what happens is the meter charges the capacitor then discharges so you get an up down reading. Best way to know for sure it take it to a motor shop that has a real capacitor tester. Me I would if you have one gone to Menard's they have a no question asked warranty. If you buy something form them and it stops working in less then the warranty time they replace t with out questions or a recipe. Found that out when my well pump went AWOL a month or so ago

Sorry to hear about your problem John. At least you can fix it yourself. When we moved out here in '79 the community water system was an infant and highly mismanaged....no income so no money to do what needed to be done. Was a common occurrence to get up in the morning thinking you were going to prepare your coffee and yourself for work just to turn on the tap and drip, drip........

Just my .02 worth on the capacitor. On the end with the terminals is a 5/16" or so hole with a tannish colored rubber seal. If it's bulged out (not flat!), it's blown/no good. My brother-in-law, who's an HVAC business owner/tech showed me that a few years ago.

The voltage rating of a capacitor is a function of the insulation ability of the dielectric. An ohm meter will put far less voltage that that device is rated for. As a result the readings you get will not be definitive unless it is shorted with little or no resistance, or open with infinite resistance.
With the capacitor disconnected, and shorted across with a screw driver to assure it has nothing in it, use the RX1 setting and touch the leads to the terminals. Within a few seconds, the ohms should go from low resistance to high resistance. If it does, it is at least somewhat of a capacitor. if you then wait a few minutes, it should show the same reading as when you took off the leads. This means it has no internal leak at the tiny voltage of the meter. If those contacts shown in the image are clean, replacing the cap is probably worth the effort. Jim

mine always goes out when I have company.