Pool Pump Trips Breaker / GFCI

December 8, 2014

3 Minute Read

Electrical problems can be among the most mysterious and frustrating that pool owners experience. They are also dangerous to the untrained DIYer so great caution – or a licensed electrician – is required when attempting to diagnose. Here are the most common reasons we see when it comes to pool pumps tripping.

Moisture

GFCIs are quite sensitive to moisture so if your breaker trips after a storm, you might just need to let the sun do its thing for a day or two. If it’s not summer, you can probably just leave the pump off for a day and try again once everything has had a chance to dry. In the summertime, you can still get by with your pump not running for one or two days but it will require some extra chlorine (shock) and manual circulation with a pole or paddle a couple of times per day.

Keep in mind that rain isn’t the only possible source of water. A misdirected sprinkler, spray from power washing, even high humidity can affect a GFCI.

Bad or Wrong Breaker

Sometimes breakers just fail due to age or inferior quality. If the problem does not appear to be with your pump and/or motor, try replacing the breaker.

You could also have the wrong size breaker if you recently bought a new pump or motor that was not an exact match to the previous model. Confirm you have the correct breaker size by checking how many amps the new motor requires.

Short in Pump

You might be able to spot an obvious pump motor short by disconnecting power and taking off the motor end cap. Make sure all wiring is properly connected and nothing appears obstructed or burnt. Insects who decide your motor makes a really cozy home can create an electrical short by blocking contacts.

Wrong Voltage

Most complete pumps and replacement motors leave the factory set at 230v to prevent installers from accidentally running 230 volts to a motor that is set to 115v. This has saved many motors from premature frying but it also results in many confused homeowners. Typically in this scenario, the pump will initially come on, then shut down, repeat. Check to see which voltage your motor is set to and what voltage you have running to it.

A Quick Fix

One quick thing to check is if the “reset” button on the GFCI simply needs to be pressed back in. If the GFCI trips, then you will need to press the reset button to restore electricity back to your equipment. Watch this helpful GFCI outlet video for more details.

Always remember that addressing electrical issues requires proper knowledge and safety precautions. If you are in any doubt, enlist the help of a qualified pool professional.

Matthew Simmons Technical Writer & Pool Product Expert

Swimming pool expert at InyoPools and host of Poolside Chat, brings over a decade of experience in the pool industry.

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163 responses to “Pool Pump Trips Breaker / GFCI”

Beth

June 23, 2018

Correction to my post above. What I meant to say is that the extension cord is plugged into a GFCI outlet and doesn’t trip the outlet. It’s not running from the breaker so of course the breaker wouldn’t trip. Sorry

Reply
Beth

June 23, 2018

Last week my above ground pool pump began tripping the breaker. I have a dedicated breaker with an underground line to a dedicated outlet. Pump is 2hp 2 speed 115v Waterway. I had an electrician come out, changed breaker and outlet box. Checked wires no short. Also bought new pump. Old pump was 5 yrs old. Pump is still tripping the breaker. I did a bypass test and connected pump to extension cord and plugged into an outdoor outlet. Pump runs fine and doesn’t trip breaker. Any suggestions?? I’m at a loss.

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Anthony

June 6, 2018

Hi I have a Aqualink rs one touch outdoor panel and a jandy one touch indoor panel, yesterday my pool filter was on and then I shut off the pool side from my main house breaker(due to an outdoor light being installed), and when I turned the breaker back on, my pool filter is not turning on, No power to either outdoor or indoor panel (no lights are lighting up in either one so I’m assuming no power) . The only power I see available is to the gfci on the side of the outdoor panel but It doesn’t do anything when I push reset. What could be the problem? I know I should’ve turned off the pool first but it slipped my mind and now this mess is happening. Any help would be appreciated.

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Cleo B. Autry

May 23, 2018

Pump keeps popping the breaker outside, switched to a different breaker, it popped that one. Moved pump to inside and it pops the gfi in the garage. Took the pump to the pool store and it works fine. Any suggestions?

Reply
1. Cleo B. Autry
  
  May 23, 2018
  
  Also let me add that all outlets have been checked. 124 volts and the pump itself is set on the inside at the factory preset of 115 volts.
  
  Reply
  1. Matthew Simmons
    
    May 24, 2018
    
    These breakers you are testing the pump on at your house, what is their amp load rating? Look on your motor label to find the amp draw of the motor. The go check to see how many other devices were on and operating on the breakers when you added the pump to them.
    
    It could be you were overloading the breakers that were not able to handle the extra draw.
    
    Reply
leo missler

April 10, 2018

I just got thru checking why my GFCI kept tripping . hot tub that is.
first checked the GFCI first, it was okay.
Than checked all wiring connections, Found a couple of loose ones, tighten them .
Next unhooked the pumps and the heater. Turned the GFCI to on.
Computer came on and went thru its program. Connected the heater first , no problem.
Connected pump 2, no problem. Connected pump 1, started the pump and tripped.
Thus pump one had a problem. checked the wiring on the pump all was good. Unhooked the capacitor and since I had a same capacitor on a spare pump installed it and switched the GFCI breaker to on and everything is working normal again.
So if you have tripping problems follow and do the above and you most likely find the culprit.
Also check your fuses there are 4 in my panel.

Reply
Krissy

April 9, 2018

Good morning everyone!

I have an inground pool, and every time I turn the pool light on, it’s trips the GFCI. It doesn’t ever trip the breaker though. Any thought?

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  April 9, 2018
  
  It could be a faulty GFCI, they do go bad. I would try to get that replaced to see if it fixes the issue.
  
  Reply
David

February 24, 2018

Hi, I’ve seen quite a few posts about tripping breakers that are associated directly with the pool pump. In my case, I have a new house + new pool with, varying by day, 1 or 2 so-called “3-way” (Schneider Electric Square-D brand overload/arc/ground fault detect) breakers that are tripping. After some detective work and data collection, we see a very high correlation between the time of the pool pump turns on and begins priming and when the other house breakers trip. We have a Hayward SP3400VSP EcoStar Variable Speed Pump. It was set by the pool company Aquatech to prime for 2 minutes at the maximum speed of 3450 rpm, which appears to cause the trips in other part of the house panel. We altered the turn-on time of the pool pump, and indeed the time of the trips are following this time exactly, so we have high confidence at this point in the cause-and-effect of the correlation seen. After some time invested with the nice support engineering staff at Schneider Electric in North Carolina, have learned further that these trips are uniformly due to ground fault interrupts (vs. overload or arc conditions – these breakers have a way to discover type of last trip). We have as of today started an experiment to reduce the maximum prime/turn-on speed from 3450 rpm to 3000 rpm in an effort to reduce the inrush current demand/surge to see if this reduction helps in the ground fault, will update later on if this helps. I should add that the run from the main house panel to the pool pump junction box is about 60′ but may have up to 80′ of wire, and runs through an under-slab conduit put in prior to house foundation (wire pulled later of course and was sized to 60A / 220v – not sure as to exact gauge; pool pump is about 11A supposedly). The pool pump is grounded along with the control electronics on the side of the house. In my pre-retired life in engineering of micro-circuits, ground shifts in PCBs were a constant challenge requiring extensive capacitive filtering, so I am wondering if anyone has heard of whether this kind of problem could require some added high-voltage capacitor / filter at the pool pump itself; Schneider Electric thought this might interfere with the correct performance of the circuit breakers. After I’ve collected some more data I will go back to my builder or another independent electrician but wondering if anyone else has seen this? My pool company/electrician has not seen it before and I’m not finding this case on the web as yet… Appreciate any thoughts or insights! Thanks

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Dirk

January 31, 2018

My pool started tripping the breaker (Just it’s fuse, not the entire house) last October after rain. The pool runs for about 5-10 minutes, and then trips the breaker again. After the first rainfall, it was still over 75 degrees outside, and the pool filter began running all day a few days later. After the next rainfall and the temperature dropped, the pool trips it’s breaker again every 5-10 minutes. Logic makes me think water is in the system causing the short, and the problem may resolve itself once Spring hits. The motor does not feel particularly warm when it trips. Any ideas?

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  February 1, 2018
  
  Unless it doesn’t rain in springtime where you live, you’re going to have the same issue. It also doesn’t matter the temperature outside or the temperature of the water; if there is water introduced to an electrical circuit it is going to be a problem.
  
  I suggest hiring an electrician to either find the leak in your electrical conduit and/or rerun wire to your pump.
  
  Reply
  1. Dirk
    
    February 5, 2018
    
    Thank you for responding Matthew.
    
    I’m trying to understand the logic of why it fails when it fails, so the details provided were for evidence.
    
    We’ve had abnormally high temperatures for the past week – around the 70s without rain. The pool filter will run almost exactly 4 mins before it fails every time.
    
    I may try to just replace the breaker the pool runs off.
    
    Reply
  2. Anonymous
    
    February 16, 2018
    
    FYI I replaced the breaker – and the pool started running normally again.
    
    Inside the old breaker were char marks on the wire and inside the breaker.
    
    $20 to replace it – much cheaper that the alternative!
    
    Reply
Philip

November 10, 2017

I am having a problem with pool pump coming on. New pump and relay in June. Now the relay does not trip. I can push down the contactor and pump come on. My freeze guard thermostat is 25 years old and is wired into relay. I unplugged it and the pool still does not come on.

Reply
ANDY

October 17, 2017

Pool breaker was tripping intermitently, then tripped and would not reset at all. Took pump out of circuit and still tripped, took freeze protection device out and it worked ok. So bought new freeze protection device wired it in runs ok. Tested freeze protection with ice water and as soon as the freeze protection switch closed it tripped breaker. What ideas come to mind that might be the root problem?

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  October 19, 2017
  
  The first thing, have you switched the circuit to a different breaker? Or have you replaced the breaker? Also, did you replace the wires from the breaker to the new freeze protect?
  
  Reply