Davey Silensor Pool Pump: Problem Solved

Bugger!!! went to turn on my Davey Silensor pool pump & it just hummed. At just 5 years old I didn’t want it to fail as this is an expensive item. The power was still connected but the pump didn’t do a thing.

I pulled the power plug out & undid the one screw that held the cover on the pump & looked at the back. There was a slot in the middle of the exposed guts of the thing that had an arrow showing the rotation direction. I put a  screwdriver in & turned. It moved without a lot of friction, so I figured that not too much could be wrong. A bit of Googling & the capacitor seemed to be the main problem with these pumps. I figured he humming sound was an indicator this might be it as I have an old flourescent light that makes the same noise and that (I am told) is the capacitor. In my pump the capacitor is large an inch and a half in diameter & about 3 inches long. It resides in the large hump shape at the top of the pump. My time as a Telecom Tech. 30 years ago had taught me Capacitors are
full of carcinogenic goo, so if it is leaky do not touch the muck oozing
out.  I gently pulled it out & pulled off the connecting tabs (labelling them first).  It actually looked perfect. Not a mark. I strained my eyes.
Perhaps an almost imperceptible bulge in the middle??? After a bit of ringing around I got a replacement one for $25. The bloke in the store told me to keep my receipt & he would give me my money back if it didnt do the job. Sweet!! I put it back in & everything worked fine. Saved me heaps & was pretty easy to do.