this could be a dumb question..but because i for one have done it..do you have a breaker on it that maybe you forgot to turn on..it's just weird that it appears to be dead..i leave mine sitting out (albeit in a big pool shed but no heat) all winter long and have done that since i bought the house with pool 5 years ago..with no problem. you could take the end cap off it it has one and see if the 2 wires connected to the switch (v shape on the end in my sta-rite pumps) are solid..i was working on my pump which was rebuilt last year and one wire basically pulled right off the connector..nothing that a chunk of 18 guage and some new end connectors didn't fix in 10 minutes)