My Pool Pump Will Pull the Water, but Then Stops: What Is Wrong?

Timer

• If your pump is running and then stops, your timer may be malfunctioning, or it may be set incorrectly. Pump timers are often set to turn off at night, then come back on in the morning. If you had a power failure, turned off the breaker or manually started your pump, the timer may be off, reading day as night and vice versa. Timers also can malfunction, turning the pump on or off at the wrong times.

Breaker

• If your pool pump randomly shuts down, the breaker might've been tripped due to an electrical overload. This is easily confirmed by looking at your breaker box to see if the pool breaker is in the off position. A tripped breaker can mean that your pump is malfunctioning.

Overheating Pump

• Once in a while, a pool pump’s impeller can get jammed with debris, causing the pump to overheat. Or the wiring leading to your pump may not be sufficient for the amount of current needed to run the motor. If your pump has an automatic shutoff, also called a thermal overload, the temperature increase from a jam or limited wiring can trigger the pump to turn itself off.

Wrong Voltage

• If you're using your pump for the first time and it's turning on and off in a quick cycle, it's likely that you've plugged the pump into an outlet not intended for the pump’s wiring. You cannot plug a 110-voltage pump into a 220-volt outlet, or vice versa.

Losing prime

• A common pump problem is the loss of suction, or prime, as it’s called. If your water level is too low or if debris – too many leaves in your skimmer basket – is blocking the water flow, the pump will pull air, causing it to lose prime. When this happens, the pump can automatically shut off if it has a safety switch.