hot tub motor

daniel hill · Apr 5, 2010

hi all just a quick question a friend ask me yesterday about where he could get a capacitor for his pump for his ho ttub as it had stoped holding charge but took looked at the motor n it smelt burnt out but apparently hes had some one test it and they say its fine
i was just wondering if there was any way of testing these from the wires
its a 1/2 hp single phase capacitor start motor

cheers danny

UNG · Apr 5, 2010

Just do continuity checks on the start and run windings and an IR test to earth and across the start and run windings to check for shorts if it tests ok the motor can be checked by putting a supply on it and spinning the shaft the motor should run, Capacitors can be checked using a megger to charge it up then short the terminals there should be a loud crack on discharge

Capacitor can be sourced for about £15 - £20 from a motor rewind shop, some hot tub pumps have capacitors on the start and run windings normally the start cap fails

Also worth checking that the motor and pump turn freely as this tends to the cause of the failure

Guest123 · Apr 5, 2010

Continuity tests on the windings (start & run) and IR tests to earth will show up any shorts.

If you can smell burning although the motor may be fine it's worth checking to see if you can find out the cause of the excessive heat....does everything move freely, nothing jammed, shafts and cooling fans spin correctly.

Edit.....UNG beat me to it.

pmac10 · Apr 5, 2010

capacitors can also be checked by setting your multimeter to 'capacitance', assuming your meter has this feature, disconnect the leads to the capacitor, take a reading, and compare with what should be printed on the body of the capacitor. safer than shorting it and listening for a loud crack.