New Pump Motor Startup with Smoke

Pool Equipment
1

Just installed a new Century USQ1202 Electric Motor (from InyoPools) on a Sta-Rite Dura Glas II spa pump. Upon sartup I noticed a small amount of smoke wafting out the back cover and immediately shut it off. I pulled the cover to look for anything weird. Turned pump/motor shaft by hand easily. Nothing looks amiss. No leaks. Wires still connected solidly. The start relay was very warm to the touch. Is this small bit of smoke normal from the new motor assembly oils or not? I did not try running it with the back cover off to see where the smoke was coming from. I don’t want to power it any more until I find out if this is normal or what’s going on.

Thanks for any comments or suggestions in advance.

2

We’d be glad to assist you. Was your old pump motor a USQ1202? Do you have the part number from your old motor? It’s possible the old motor was a full rated 2HP and the new uprated 2HP had a hard time spinning the impeller. That could have caused the smoke.

If your old motor was a USQ1202, use a multimeter and check the input voltage. It needs to be within 10% of 230 for the motor to work correctly.

Lastly, it could be a bad run or start capacitor. Check out our guide titled “How to Test a Pool Pump Capacitor”.

If the motor continues to smoke or not work, submit a request to replace it on the following page. https://secure.inyopools.com/Support/SupportRequest.aspx