Pool Motor Starter

thingiverse

Tool for starting a failing pool pump motor. DANGER!!! That's the first thing to know about this. If you're not experienced in dealing with exposed machinery that can sever your fingers in an instant, then don't even think about printing this object. If you are not absolutely meticulous about ensuring that power is cut off, and that a pool timer cannot kick on unexpectedly, then don't even think about printing this object. Seriously, guys... Cant stress this enough. OK, I'm off the soapbox. On to the assembly and use... My pool motor was failing, and I needed to keep it going while I figured out how to repair & replace. My motor is a very popular AO Smith B849. (I'm betting this device will work for other motors also. But, you might need to scale shaft gear insert in blender to adjust for different shaft sizes.) I found I could remove the rear shaft cover to rotate the shaft, and get it going again. But, as time went on, this got more and more difficult. So, I decided to build a motor starter which could be safely handled and rapidly disengage when the motor kicked over. I was unwilling to risk breaking my hand trying this with a wrench. To assemble, just pressure fit the center insert into the shaft gear. This is loosely slipped over the exposed rear motor shaft (AFTER POWER IS SHUT OFF!) Put a 1/4" bolt, washers and nut thru the center hole of the drive gear as shown in the picture, and tighten. Now put the drive gear in a rechargeable drill. Keeping hands, eyes, kids, away from the pool motor... hold the drill securely, and mesh the gears together. Flip the switch to start the pool motor. Power the drill to spin the gears, thus turning the pool motor shaft. As soon as the pool motor starts, the gears will separate. The shaft gear should wobble and fly off the motor shaft. But, if not, resist the urge to stick any part of your body in there to pop it off. Smart money has you buying a new pool motor pronto. Print Settings Printer Brand: Printrbot Printer: Simple Black Rafts: No Supports: No Notes: In retrospect, I should have used a raft. Because of the large area, it was difficult to separate this from the plate. Also, my printerbot is actually a heavily frankensteined 1405. Not selectable above. This is important, because the gears are larger than the original 100mm sqr print area. I used .3 infill with double walls which was good enough for the intended durability and strength.