Well pump wiring

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bmxer883

Member
Location
Pa
Occupation
Industrial electrician
Hey so I don't have a lot of time to read through forums but I'm re doing wiring for well pump just from top of well case underground into basement to pressure switch..

My question is type of wire to use I thought uf? Right now it's just wire nutted at top of well do you normal install a junction box? Also is it okay to run the uf through conduit underground into basement to the pressure switch.
 
There is a fitting that goes on the top of the well casing for power. This seals the wires and prevents contamination.
UF is ok.
Conduit going into basement is an entry point for water if the HO does not object 90 up along side foundation, enter thru rim joist, in and then down to controller.
 
Water enters it now and it's only 2 wires no ground and that is part of reason I'm changing it. But basement is being dug out and concrete blasted to walls(it's a old rock foundation right now)
So if I put my conduit in place then they balst concrete around think it could still get water in? There will be a water line going through the foundation beside conduit to a barn.
 
Water will follow your conduit inside and out. Can oversize hole and use hydraulic grout to seal. At well head can weld strut to well casing install small NEMA 3R j box and LT flex to well casing. Use WP wire nuts. Avoid bell box they do last
 
So do you always recommend to run up 90 for all installs I liked everything underground so nothing can be hit or damaged
 
Does the well have a pitless adapter for the water line, or is coming out the top of the casing out of a well seal? If it has a pitless adapter then the sub wire should still come out the top of the casing. A well cap should have 1" pipe threads on the bottom, for the conduit to thread into. I always install conduit. Then I switch from the sub wire to thhn not uf. Tom is correct, the inside of well casing is considered a wet location, so your splicing method has to comply with that. Plain wire nuts are not compliant, neither are polaris connectors that aren't rated for wet locations. Occasionally we will put a junction box next to the well. If the sub wires are extended to it and duct seal is used then the jbox is not considered a wet location.

Although it is possible, I have never had water enter a structure from inside the conduit. My local inspectors do expect me to use duct seal when any underground conduit enters an above ground structure though.

You mentioned that the existing UF wire from the structure to the well head has no gec. Does the sub wire down the well to the pump have a gec? It's been required here since the mid 1980's. If the well casing is metal, then it also needs to be bonded to the gec. Electrical inspectors here specifically look for that.
 
Yes it has a pitless adapter. Cover has a spot for conduit so you say you switch to thhn but at what location do you just under the cover? Also do you run pvc?
The old wire isn't even uf im unsure of type it's very old but the sub wiring going down in the well has a ground I'm hoping it's hooked up but idk.

This job isn't for a client it's actually my place we are getting basement dug deeper. Id like conduit to go underground but I can do it other way if that seems to be smarter.. I'm also installing conduit to run underground to my barn I was planning on it being underground too until this post
 
Yes I normally spice inside the well casing. I like to have an extra foot or two of wire inside the casing to allow for any future changes. I use wire nuts rated for wet locations or a water proof splice kit, with heat shrinks. The splice kits come with butt connectors and precut pieces of heat shrink. I buy the 10-12 ga kits in bags of 50 from my pump distributor. Larger kits I buy individually. When I get to 4/0 and bigger, I use butt connectors and buy 36" lengths of heatshrink from my electrical wholesaler.

For the water line I run sch 40 pvc or heavy weight poly or hdpe. A few installers use PEX for the pipe between the well and the house, but it gets very expensive when you go over 1". The only time I use galvanized drop pipe in the well, is setting over 500 feet deep or pipe over 2" diameter. Otherwise we use sch120 pvc pipe . It's threaded just like steel pipe and we use stainless steel connectors. No more rusted drop pipe. Some areas of the country, poly is commonly used for drop pipe.

Got to head back out to the jobsite now. We're pulling a 1,200 gpm 125 hp submersible set on 336 ft of 6" galvanized with 4/0 flat double jacketed sub wire.
 
Thank you very much. My wells not even 10ft away so distance is no issue.. that sounds similar to well we have at our plant I work for it's 1000gpm turbine type had to pull it just week or two ago we have 3 more to run the plant
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top