Well pump bad?

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KVA

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Today I had to troubleshoot a house having no water. It's a 2 wire 240v pump I replaced the pressure switch and the fuse in the disconnect blew 3 times. I went out to the well head and redid the splices that were severly corroded by upside down wirenuts full of water. I did a continuity test from the both hot legs from the pump to the cast iron well pipe and had continuity on both legs.

Bad pump right?
 
KVA said:
Today I had to troubleshoot a house having no water. It's a 2 wire 240v pump I replaced the pressure switch and the fuse in the disconnect blew 3 times. I went out to the well head and redid the splices that were severly corroded by upside down wirenuts full of water. I did a continuity test from the both hot legs from the pump to the cast iron well pipe and had continuity on both legs.

Bad pump right?
Click to expand...

Could be a good pump, but a bad impeller. Check the amps at the well head.
look here:http://www.plumbingpro.org/HTM Pages/well_pumps.htm
 
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I'll be honest I haven't worked much on well pump wiring.

There is a time delay 15 amp fused disconnect that is only 2 wires a hot and neutral 120v. That goes directly to the pressure switch the black and white on the outer terminals and #10 red and black on the inside terminal. What is weird to me is that the load side of the pressure switch has the #10s red and black like the pump is 240 but it has the neutral from the disconnect connected to one line terminal on the pressure switch?

It's weird it worked that way for years. How can you get 240v from a pressure switch with only 120v feeding it? There is a black,white,red,green #10 on the load side but the white is not connected anywhere.

Strange to me.
 
KVA said:
Today I had to troubleshoot a house having no water. It's a 2 wire 240v pump I replaced the pressure switch and the fuse in the disconnect blew 3 times. I went out to the well head and redid the splices that were severly corroded by upside down wirenuts full of water. I did a continuity test from the both hot legs from the pump to the cast iron well pipe and had continuity on both legs.

Bad pump right?
Click to expand...

Second thoughts, without knowing what pump is installed, your going to have to pull it out of the well, then you can do the proper ohm tests for that specific pump. But, generally speaking, inside the control box is usually the ohm readings you need to test for.
 
KVA said:
I'll be honest I haven't worked much on well pump wiring.

There is a time delay 15 amp fused disconnect that is only 2 wires a hot and neutral 120v. That goes directly to the pressure switch the black and white on the outer terminals and #10 red and black on the inside terminal. What is weird to me is that the load side of the pressure switch has the #10s red and black like the pump is 240 but it has the neutral from the disconnect connected to one line terminal on the pressure switch?

It's weird it worked that way for years. How can you get 240v from a pressure switch with only 120v feeding it? There is a black,white,red,green #10 on the load side but the white is not connected anywhere.

Strange to me.
Click to expand...


Are you sure the white wire in the disconnect is actually a neutral? what voltage reading did you measure? Im betting that white isn't a neutral at all...
 
stickboy1375 said:
Second thoughts, without knowing what pump is installed, your going to have to pull it out of the well, then you can do the proper ohm tests for that specific pump. But, generally speaking, inside the control box is usually the ohm readings you need to test for.
Click to expand...

There isn't a control box it's wired directly from a 15 amp 120v time delay fused disconnect. Neutral wire goes to outside terminal on pressure switch the hot to the other outside terminal. The red and black #10s on the inside load terminals out to the well.

The #10 neutral wire that goes to the well was never connected.

So 2 hots are going to the pump but 120v is feeding the pressure switch???
 
stickboy1375 said:
Funny, I always just check for power and leave, not like I'm going to waste my time pulling a pump anyway, so I leave it for the plumber....
Click to expand...

Never walked away from good money. Bad thing here is now you must have a certificate to break the well seal and disinfect the well after replacing the pump.
 
stickboy1375 said:
Are you sure the white wire in the disconnect is actually a neutral? what voltage reading did you measure? Im betting that white isn't a neutral at all...
Click to expand...

I got 120v when i disconnected the white and black from the line side of the pressure switch. So 120v was connected to the pressure switch with a red and black on the load side out to the well without a neutral.
 
First thought is that the problem is down the well and that pump is coming out anyway, maybe bare wire or bad pump. Second thought is that wire color does not always dictate voltage (beware).
 
KVA said:
I got 120v when i disconnected the white and black from the line side of the pressure switch. So 120v was connected to the pressure switch with a red and black on the load side out to the well without a neutral.
Click to expand...

So basically you're telling us they used "red" instead of "white" for the neutral going out to the pump? :)

One more question, how do you know this is a 240v pump?
 
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stickboy1375 said:
So basically you're telling us they used "red" instead of "white" for the neutral going out to the pump? :)

One more question, how do you know this is a 240v pump?
Click to expand...

All i did was replace the pressure switch and wired it exactly the way it was before and the fuse kept blowing.
 
KVA said:
So you put neutral wires on a pressure switch? I always thought they get spliced through. So basically the pressure switch is switching the hot and neutral?
Click to expand...

Im only going by what you're telling me, I can only guess.... if they truly ran the neutral to the pressure switch, then yeah, it got switched along with the hot leg...
 
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Trace your "neutral" white wire back to it's source. Maybe you'r 110 volt reading is supposed to be 220. I've never seen a set-up like your describing. Any pressure switch I've ever seen was either 110 in 110 out or 220 in 220 out. But, keep in mind, I don't have extensive well pump experience.
 
KVA said:
I'll be honest I haven't worked much on well pump wiring.

There is a time delay 15 amp fused disconnect that is only 2 wires a hot and neutral 120v. That goes directly to the pressure switch the black and white on the outer terminals and #10 red and black on the inside terminal. What is weird to me is that the load side of the pressure switch has the #10s red and black like the pump is 240 but it has the neutral from the disconnect connected to one line terminal on the pressure switch?

How can you get 240v from a pressure switch with only 120v feeding it? There is a black,white,red,green #10 on the load side but the white is not connected anywhere.

Strange to me.
Click to expand...
What is feeding the fused disconnect? What is the voltage at the line side of the disconnect. I think you have a 240V pump. Just because the wire is white it does not mean it is a neutral.
 
mjf said:
Trace your "neutral" white wire back to it's source. Maybe you'r 110 volt reading is supposed to be 220. I've never seen a set-up like your describing. Any pressure switch I've ever seen was either 110 in 110 out or 220 in 220 out. But, keep in mind, I don't have extensive well pump experience.
Click to expand...

I think what the OP is describing is a two wire 115v source feeding the pressure switch, with a three wire (white capped off) going to the pump... thats what I'm reading anyway...
 
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