pump not working

[pipemajor]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum, but I hope someone can help me.
A few days ago I turned my central heating on as it was getting a bit chilly in the evening. After about half an hour I noticed my radiators were still cold. I checked the boiler and the pump wasn't spinning, but the body of the pump was very hot.
I removed the central screw and the pump was easy to turn with a screwdriver.
When the pump was powered on I can hear a slight buzzing coming from the motor, and it gets hot, but if I try to spin it with a screwdriver it doesn't start. I took the cover off the capacitor and found it appeared to be leaking as there was a clear liquid in the housing. I stuck a multimeter on the mains terminals and got a reading of 210 ohms.
I changed the scale to millivolts range and spun the shaft and got a reading.
This would suggest to me that the start capacitor is stuffed, but I thought that if I spun the motor it would continue to turn, so I'm not sure if it is the capacitor or that the motor is u/s. I would be very grateful for any suggestions and advice.

 

[diamondgas]

Replace your pump my friend ... It's gooshed!

 

[blayedrunner]

I agree new pump would be in order

 

[WHPES]

Replace the pump head (get the same pump to what is on)

 

[billybob150811]

if i were you the last three post say get a new pump and theres a lot of distlled wisdom in them capacitors discharge their electrical charge instantly but if you know a way to check them safetly i,d be interested to know however cutting the lines of force in a single phase pump isnt realistic and perhaps getting hold of a capacitor may be easier said than done 210 ohms does sound right but theres more to a pump than a motor and a starter

 

[diamondgas]

if i were you the last three post say get a new pump and theres a lot of distlled wisdom in them capacitors discharge their electrical charge instantly but if you know a way to check them safetly i,d be interested to know however cutting the lines of force in a single phase pump isnt realistic and perhaps getting hold of a capacitor may be easier said than done 210 ohms does sound right but theres more to a pump than a motor and a starter

Nice one billybob... At one time you use to be able to repalce capacitors on domestic pumps. Why bother though these days. Replacing the pump, or just the head, isn't that expensive.

 

[WHPES]

If the capacitor alone is duff you should be able to manually set the pump spinning like normal. If the pump still won't spin properly then its the motor itself thats at fault.

Of course it is easy and cheap to change a capacitor but to me that doesnt sound like its the problem.

For oil burner motors the capacitor is normally the first thing to check but these go quicker due to the constant start/stop all the time.

 

[billybob150811]

the original post said the capacitor appeared to be leaking and the windings resistance was 210 ohns which made me think it was the capacitor my main concern was safety as it may still be fully charged i know nothing about oil burners so i,m interested to know if theres an easy way to check if there discharged and you check i dont want to appear stupid but how do you check if its working the other thing in your post which i was curious about can you physically start the pump and get it running by spinning it (i,ve never tried) i just assumed 50hz 60sec 3000rpm one pole pair i could never spin it fast enough but we all here to learn and if you can its one to remember

 

[pipemajor]

Thanks for all your replies and assistance. I sort of guessed what the replies would be but hoped someone would say it is the capacitor. Normally I would just have gone ahead and changed the pump, but there are a few reasons why this is not too easy. First, I'm deep in the French countryside with the nearest decent diy store 40 miles away. The pump is a Salmson, which I checked on the net and in france they cost up to £350. The pump itself is in a pig of a position in a basement brick cupboard, behind the the floorstanding boiler. I had a quick go at getting it off but the nuts are absolutely solid, so I've sprayed them with penetrating oil and will get the blowlamp on them in a couple of weeks. I'm not likely to need the boiler as my hot water is separate, so I'll bring the pump back with me when I return to the UK in October and get a replacement there. Thanks again for your help.

 

[diamondgas]

A good glancing blow with a hammer and cold chisel (Floorboard lifter) does the trick usually! 🙂