circuit breaker trips

Aqua cal t120.Pool heater about 10 years old New Led was replaced along with starting capacitor last year.. was running fine. Then when thermostat triggered the heater to turn on, the fan started as usual and after a few minutes the breaker would trip. Will not heat. Pump runs fine on its own circuit. Reset breaker, and same thing happens. If I reset too quickly after shutdown, FLO light comes on.. have to wait for internals to reset.

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Dec 11, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		problem solved, but cause not
by: Mark

We were lucky this time around as the problem was with the failure of the starting capacitor. I am curious what would cause that problem and if its replacement will fail due to some root cause in the compressor or related electricl components. What was noticed was that a terminal slide on lug was loose in the connection to the on board electrics of the system to the failed cap.
Dec 11, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		problem solved, but cause not
by: Mark

We were lucky this time around as the problem was with the failure of the starting capacitor. I am curious what would cause that problem and if its replacement will fail due to some root cause in the compressor or related electricl components. What was noticed was that a terminal slide on lug was loose in the connection to the on board electrics of the system to the failed cap.
Dec 09, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Process of elimination
by: greenscape02

Circuit breaker tripping can be a tricky thing to narrow down. First make sure that you don't have power issues outside of your heat pump. Then it is always good to test your compressor and fan/pump motors to be sure that you don't have a bad motor that is drawing infinite amps. If you have the chance to put a meter on the circuit while it trips, sometimes this can help you to narrow down the problem.

You said that you replaced your start capacitor a year ago, but it is worth checking to see if that is bad. Sometimes you can see it with visual signs of the capacitor cap bulging.

After that you're going to have to check for bad contactors or bad terminals/wiring.

Like I said this can be a tricky one to resolve if there is not an obvious problem.

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