Submersible pump connection

[kwired]

But minerals and salts in the water do. With the right test equipment you will probably see unequal current flow on the circuit conductors, meaning you have some current flowing into the well casing and earth through the water.

Roger

And if a metallic well casing with no equipment ground (he said only 2 wires), any above ground exposed portion may be a shock hazard.

I know of a little girl that was electrocuded by touching an energized well casing because of non grounded casing and a fault within.

 

[renosteinke]

I like Billy Idol almost as much as I like Judas Priest. There's nothing like some good head-banging music in the day- why else do we wear hard hats?

"Postulate" all you want; 'underwater' splices are a fact of life. Do you really think all those cables crossing the bottom of the Atlantic ocean were run without splices? More relevant, it's often simply impossible to pull a pump cable out of its' conduit when the time comes to replace the pump, or a float- especially in a sewage pit. If you're really clever, you'll even splice in enough cable to be able to make your connections from OUTSIDE of the pit. The drawback is, the splices are then able to hang farther down into the pit.

I can't think of a splice that has failed. I can't think of a connection box in a pit that didn't get filled with muck and water. Boxes also break and corrode. Mounting them in a pit is a real challenge- the walls often won't hold anchors, and are curved. Most important, spaces are so tight that the box impedes access, gives the float cables something to hang up on, and forces you to work in a hazardous confined space. Every splice must be in a box? OK, then, I'll call the entire pit my 'box.'

Now you might wonder why it's 'impossible' to pull the wires out and replace the entire length. The short version is that even the best, specifically rated cables will have their outer jackets swell over time and glue themselves to each other as well as the conduit itself. I've even tried using a truck to pull 14/3 cables out of a 24" lenght of conduit - and only succeeded in exceeding the tear strength of the wires. That's how hard it can get. Yet, you want to try explaining why they need to greatly exceed the 'fill tables' when they install the pits? Good luck. Nor is the custiomer going to welcome your tearing up his drive to replace it all.

I'd explain further ... but the radio just started playing the acoustic version of "Rebel Yell" ....

 

[jerryalan]

no equipment ground

no equipment ground

"And if a metallic well casing with no equipment ground (he said only 2 wires), any above ground exposed portion may be a shock hazard"

it is indeed a metallic well casing. i ran two 8's and a 10 in pvc, along with a solid 6 buried alongside, from the house to the well house. i made a joint in a box, along with a switch to control two 60w bulbs in series.
the 6 solid is lugged onto a threaded hole in the well casing and jumpered as a 12 to the switch/junction box.
the closest neighbour is about an 1/8th of a mile downhill and i do the widows maintenance gratis, she doesn't seem to have had any electrical issues these last ten years or so.
the 6 is tied to a ground rod at the house and probably a good ground at the casing.
haven't had any lightning related issues since i ran this twenty some years ago.
another neighbor had lightning issues til i ran a similar set-up under a creek to his horse stable/shed, planted a ground rod right in the middle of the creek, probably stays wet.
i'm not as learned as y'all, but i di the best i can based on my understanding of the code, trade and mt experience.
i think the well casing would serve as an equipment ground were the wires short to the casing due to constant torque and untorque, though i do have three torque arrestors on the 1?" tube from the pump to the surface and the wire is black taped every 6' ~ 10'

 

[kwired]

"And if a metallic well casing with no equipment ground (he said only 2 wires), any above ground exposed portion may be a shock hazard"

it is indeed a metallic well casing. i ran two 8's and a 10 in pvc, along with a solid 6 buried alongside, from the house to the well house. i made a joint in a box, along with a switch to control two 60w bulbs in series.
the 6 solid is lugged onto a threaded hole in the well casing and jumpered as a 12 to the switch/junction box.
the closest neighbour is about an 1/8th of a mile downhill and i do the widows maintenance gratis, she doesn't seem to have had any electrical issues these last ten years or so.
the 6 is tied to a ground rod at the house and probably a good ground at the casing.
haven't had any lightning related issues since i ran this twenty some years ago.
another neighbor had lightning issues til i ran a similar set-up under a creek to his horse stable/shed, planted a ground rod right in the middle of the creek, probably stays wet.
i'm not as learned as y'all, but i di the best i can based on my understanding of the code, trade and mt experience.
i think the well casing would serve as an equipment ground were the wires short to the casing due to constant torque and untorque, though i do have three torque arrestors on the 1?" tube from the pump to the surface and the wire is black taped every 6' ~ 10'

Is the 10 AWG you ran inside the PVC an equipment ground conductor? IF so the solid 6 on the outside is not needed and serves no meaningful purpose. If it is bare it acts as a grounding electrode. But to be a code compliant grounding electrode needs to meet requirements of 250.52 A 4.

What is the two 60 watt bulbs in series about?

as far as the neighbor not having any problem that is not too suprising. If you had a neighbor that was a dairy farmer, it would be no suprise if there was some extraneous voltage problems within the dairy operation. They have enough problems with POCO grounding issues sometimes and do not need to have a neighbor pumping voltage into the ground to add to the problems.

The pump motor and the well casing both need to be connected to equipment ground conductor. Some old pump motors may not have included an equipment ground termination provision but they all do now.

All may seem fine, even for years, but wait until you have the unexpected fault someplace and the risk of shock or electrocution increases dramatically if not grounded properly.

 

[lee5425]

Well Pumps

Well Pumps

every submersible well pump i have seen comes with about 3 ft of cable and a splice kit. They will last for years if done right. 20 to 30 years. or you can order from pump mfg the harness and enough wire that you will need for the job.