Hot Tub Pumps and Motors

Maintenance and Repairs

Since the hot tub pump and motor are the heart of the system, pumping water through the other components, if they don't perform efficiently, the abilities of the other components won't much matter.

Keeping the motor in good working order is a matter of keeping it dry and cool. The best detection tool of motor problems will be your ears. Labouring motors or those with bad bearings will let you know quickly.

Keeping the pump in good order is more a matter of sight. Leaks will alert you that the pump needs attention. Here are the basic repairs and maintenance of the pump/motor unit, starting from the front, the first place the water encounters.

Strainer Pots

RATING: EASY

Clean out the strainer basket often. Even small amounts of hair or debris can clog up the fine mesh of the basket and can reduce flow substantially. This simple preventive maintenance and keeping a clean skimmer basket are the two simplest and most important elements in keeping a clean hot tub and all the components working. If the water can't flow adequately, it can't filter or heat adequately either.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: PUMPS AND MOTORS

•  Flat-blade screwdriver
•  Phillips screwdriver
•  Allen-head wrench set
•  Open end/box wrench set
•  Hacksaw
•  5/16-inch (8-millimeter) nut driver
•  Impeller wrenches
•  Teflon tape
•  Silicone tube
•  Needle-nose pliers
•  Hammer
•  Seal driver
•  Emery cloth or fine sandpaper
•  Impeller gauge

1. Prepare Shut off the pump and close the valves (if the pump is below the water level) to avoid flooding.
2. Clean Remove the strainer pot cover and clean out the basket.
3. Prime If the pump is above the water level of the hot tub, fill the pot so the pump will reprime easily.
4. Close Check the cover 0-ring for nicks or breaks before replacing the cover. Tighten the bolts or clamps, open the valves, and restart the system.
5. Look Check that water is circulating freely after the air has been purged from the system.

The only other problems you might encounter at the strainer pot are broken baskets or a crack in the pot itself. If the basket is cracked, it will soon break, so replace it. If allowed to operate with a hole in it, the basket will permit large debris and hair to clog the impeller or some of the plumbing between the equipment components.

Cracks might develop in the pot itself, especially if you live where it gets cold enough to freeze the water in the pot. Again, the only remedy is replacement. Remove the entire pump and motor assembly and take it to your hot tub professional to replace the pot. More detailed repair procedures can also be found for the do-it-yourself in The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual.

Gaskets and 0-Rings

Most problems occur in strainer pots when the pump is operated dry. The air heats up as the impeller turns without water to cool it. The strainer basket will melt; the pot cover, if plastic, will warp; and the 0-ring will melt or deform. Usually, replacement of the overheated parts will solve the problem.

GASKETS

RATING: ADVANCED

When gaskets leak, or in extreme cases, if the strainer pot itself must be replaced, the procedure is quite simple:

1. Disassemble Remove the strainer pot. Take out the four bolts, usually using a 1/2- or 9/6-inch box wrench.
2. Clean Clean off the old gasket thoroughly. Failure to do this will leave gaps in the new one that will eventually leak.
3. Reassemble Reassemble the pump with a new gasket in the same way the old one came off. Tighten the bolts evenly (so the new gasket compresses evenly) by gently securing one bolt, then the one opposite, and then the last two. Continue tightening in this criss-cross pattern until each bolt is hand tight. When you are dealing with plastic pumps, over tightening will cause the bolt to crack the pump components or strip out the female side.

Some pumps are designed with bolts that go through the opening in the pot and volute and are secured by a nut and lock washer on the other side. Still, do not over tighten, as you will crack the pump components. The key to this simple procedure, as with virtually all other mechanical repair, is to carefully observe how the item comes apart. It will go back together the same way!

0-RINGS

RATING: EASY

When you are removing or replacing the strainer pot cover, be sure the 0-ring and top of the strainer pot are clean, debris can cause gaps in the seal. Sometimes these 0-rings become too compressed or dried and brittle, and they cannot seal the cover to the pot. In this case, replace the 0-ring.

If no replacement is available, try turning the 0-ring over. Sometimes the rubber is more flexible on the side facing the cover. Be careful to remove the 0-ring gently. Too much stress will cause the rubber to stretch out, making it too large around to return to the groove in the cover. If it has stretched out, try soaking it in ice water for a few minutes to shrink it. Finally, coat the 0-ring liberally with silicone lube. This can take up some slack and complete the seal if the 0-ring is not too worn out.

Another emergency "trick" is to run Teflon plumbing tape around the 0-ring to give it greater bulk and make it seal. If you use this trick, be sure to wind the tape evenly and tightly around the 0-ring, so that loose or excess tape does not cause an even worse seal. If the 0-ring has actually broken, it will almost always leak at that spot. However, I have used the Teflon tape trick successfully in these cases for a temporary repair when a new 0-ring was not immediately available.

Pump and/or Motor Removal and Reinstallation

RATING: ADVANCED

Sometimes it is necessary to remove an entire pump/motor unit to take it apart or complete a repair. If the pump is damaged beyond your ability to repair it, you may want to take the entire unit to a motor repair shop. The shop can rebuild it as needed, and then you reinstall it on the job site. Your local pool/hot tub supply house can recommend a builder, or you can consult the phonebook.

1. Cut the Plumbing Disconnect the plumbing. Most hot tub pump/motor combinations will be installed with threaded unions, making removal quite simple. Other hot tubs require that you cut the plumbing on the suction and return side of the pump to remove the unit. In these cases, cut the pipe with enough remaining on each side of the cut to re-plumb it later. Ideally, a few inches (or millimetres) on each side will allow you to use a slip coupling to simply reglue the unit in place later.

2. Disconnect the Electrical Wiring Some hot tubs even provide a plug-in connector for the electrical supply, making this part of the job easy, too. But in some models, you may have to disconnect a hardwired electrical connection for your pump/motor:

A. Shut off the electrical circuit breaker to be sure no current can get to the hot tub equipment while you are working.

B. Remove the access cover to the switch plate area of the motor, near the hole where the conduit enters the motor.

C. Remove the three wires inside the motor and unscrew the conduit connector from the motor housing. You can now pull the conduit and wiring away from the motor, and the entire pump/motor should be free.

D. There may be an additional bonding wire (an insulated or bare copper wire that bonds or grounds all the equipment together and to a grounding system). This is easily removed by loosening the screw or clamp that holds it in place.

E. Tape off the ends of the wires, even though the breaker is shut off, and put tape over the breaker switch itself. Leave a note on the breaker box to yourself, family members, or the customer to be sure no one accidentally turns the breaker back on while the pump/motor is away for service.

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