Well pump popping breaker

[buickanddeere]

I'm wondering if your line voltage is dropping from time to time. Low voltage will cause the pump motor to draw more current.

Yes, VD can be an issue .

 

[a49deere]

Have you checked, cleaned your contacts on the pressure switch, or replaced switch?

 

[UAFitter]

Went to get in the shower last night, no water. Turned it back on, pressure started dropping, it went off again. Still on this morning though. The only wire that hasn't been replaced is from a box on the deck, under the house and in to the breaker box in the basement. I'm going this morning to get all new wire to run in one piece from the breaker to the well. I just don't know what to do anymore.

Nothing worse than chasing gremlins headed into a holiday. I think MarkB is on to something regarding the voltage drop. I would have thought your installer measured amp draw as part of startup, and he maybe probably did. Inrush current has certainly been an issue on different projects in my life, so that's where I'd be looking. I know you've replaced all the parts except this one chunk of wire, so I think I'd be looking at issues that affect current draw, and the first place I'd look is line voltage.

 

[a49deere]

How does a bad service/utility ground cause those symptoms ?

Loose a neutral or incorrect neutral/ground bonding and you'll answer your question. high and low voltage on legs, voltage to ground, Low voltage to loads ETC.

 

[a49deere]

When we pulled my son's FIL's pump a few years ago there were no discs on the pipe/wires to keep the wires off the wall. I had the three kids that were present use rags and clean/inspect the whole length of wire. They found two worn places. We installed 5-6 discs.

Had the same thing happen with my wife's grandfather's pump. Can't recall exactly but wires were rubbed down to copper in a few spots and pump still ran fine!! Sure, it pulled a few more amps than normal!

 

[a49deere]

Nothing worse than chasing gremlins headed into a holiday. I think MarkB is on to something regarding the voltage drop. I would have thought your installer measured amp draw as part of startup, and he maybe probably did. Inrush current has certainly been an issue on different projects in my life, so that's where I'd be looking. I know you've replaced all the parts except this one chunk of wire, so I think I'd be looking at issues that affect current draw, and the first place I'd look is line voltage.

Is/was the proper AWG wire used? Bigger is not a bad thing! How far from source of power is this well? Voltage at pump should be no more than 5% less than at street!

 

[buickanddeere]

Loose a neutral or incorrect neutral/ground bonding and you'll answer your question. high and low voltage on legs, voltage to ground, Low voltage to loads ETC.

Pump is 240V

 

[a49deere]

Pump is 240V

true, but I was thinking more about the pole top transformer connections. strange things happen when you lose a neutral or proper bonding on the transformer including voltage and breaker tripping issues.

 

[rrlund]

If it keeps working, I'll let you know what I did. I don't want to jinx it so I'm not going to claim it's "fixed". It's gonna take a long time to get over this PTSD. I feel like I'm gonna puke about half the time.

 

[Steve in VA]

If it keeps working, I'll let you know what I did. I don't want to jinx it so I'm not going to claim it's "fixed". It's gonna take a long time to get over this PTSD. I feel like I'm gonna puke about half the time.

 

[a49deere]

If it keeps working, I'll let you know what I did. I don't want to jinx it so I'm not going to claim it's "fixed". It's gonna take a long time to get over this PTSD. I feel like I'm gonna puke about half the time.

completely understand! Sucks not having water or worrying about not having water! Just ask my wife when i forget to turn off the hose!!

 

[lenray]

If it keeps working, I'll let you know what I did. I don't want to jinx it so I'm not going to claim it's "fixed". It's gonna take a long time to get over this PTSD. I feel like I'm gonna puke about half the time.

Hello Randy I have 12 wells that I KEEP GOING----Have 20 some spare pumps. Just a little info. I dug up my buried pressure tank and have it at the wellhead under a little Dog House. That way I can check the pressure every year to make sure it is 2 PSI under the kick on pressure. Just makes it easier to service. I was always concerned about it being buried.. Maybe just me. Good luck my friend...

 

[rrlund]

Hello Randy I have 12 wells that I KEEP GOING----Have 20 some spare pumps. Just a little info. I dug up my buried pressure tank and have it at the wellhead under a little Dog House. That way I can check the pressure every year to make sure it is 2 PSI under the kick on pressure. Just makes it easier to service. I was always concerned about it being buried.. Maybe just me. Good luck my friend...

I've got a good sized wooden wishing well sitting over it. On the old bladder tank, they had taken a piece of five inch PVC, cut it about a foot long and had that sitting on top of it with a rubber cap on it. It was close enough to the well so the wishing well sat over both. We had inflated it up to 38 psi in November, but by late December, it had lost about half of the pressure, so that's when we replaced it.

The new one has a piece that came with it that sits down on it and has a cover that lays about flush with the ground so we can just take off the little manhole to check it. This one is too far out to fit under the wishing well.

 

[rrlund]

I hate to even say anything because if I do, the next time I turn on a faucet, there won't be any water, but it's been on since Wednesday. When they put the well in back in 90, we ran a wire under the side of the house in to the crawl space, then to the cellar and across to the breaker box, all one wire the whole way from the breaker to the well. Six or seven years later, we ran another wire next to it and put a box on the deck for a hot tub. Whole different wire and breaker in the breaker box. The hot tub only lasted a few years and it's been gone for a long time.

In December when we laid a new wire on top of the ground and out to the well, we hooked it in to that hot tub box on the deck instead of trying to get it under the house when it was 15 degrees outside. There was some odd ball breaker in the box, some kind of GFI I assume, so we didn't use that breaker, just hooked to the wires that came in to the box. It was the hot tub breaker in the box in the cellar though. In fact, I moved the new breaker that I'd just bought to that position in the box. Anyway, it was good until a week ago Friday.

Wednesday morning, I went and got a new roll of wire, dug under the house and ran it through the crawl space, through the cellar and hooked to the original spot in the box. We pulled it through the conduit all the way to the well, so it's all one piece, breaker to pressure switch, all in conduit from the switch, through the crawl space to the cellar.

I found the old wire when I dug down, hooked on to that and used it to pull the new wire in to the cellar. It had some scratches and bite marks in it, but nothing looked discolored or burned. All I can figure, it was getting moisture in it somewhere. Darned funny the other wire to the hot tub box started doing the same thing three months after we hooked to it though. I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and feel like I'm reaching for a red hot poker every time I reach to turn on a faucet.

 

[RCP]

I hate to even say anything because if I do, the next time I turn on a faucet, there won't be any water, but it's been on since Wednesday. When they put the well in back in 90, we ran a wire under the side of the house in to the crawl space, then to the cellar and across to the breaker box, all one wire the whole way from the breaker to the well. Six or seven years later, we ran another wire next to it and put a box on the deck for a hot tub. Whole different wire and breaker in the breaker box. The hot tub only lasted a few years and it's been gone for a long time.

In December when we laid a new wire on top of the ground and out to the well, we hooked it in to that hot tub box on the deck instead of trying to get it under the house when it was 15 degrees outside. There was some odd ball breaker in the box, some kind of GFI I assume, so we didn't use that breaker, just hooked to the wires that came in to the box. It was the hot tub breaker in the box in the cellar though. In fact, I moved the new breaker that I'd just bought to that position in the box. Anyway, it was good until a week ago Friday.

Wednesday morning, I went and got a new roll of wire, dug under the house and ran it through the crawl space, through the cellar and hooked to the original spot in the box. We pulled it through the conduit all the way to the well, so it's all one piece, breaker to pressure switch, all in conduit from the switch, through the crawl space to the cellar.

I found the old wire when I dug down, hooked on to that and used it to pull the new wire in to the cellar. It had some scratches and bite marks in it, but nothing looked discolored or burned. All I can figure, it was getting moisture in it somewhere. Darned funny the other wire to the hot tub box started doing the same thing three months after we hooked to it though. I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and feel like I'm reaching for a red hot poker every time I reach to turn on a faucet.

I have been reading the saga of the well pump, and you have been very logical about your approach. It stinks when logic doesn't work and you have to resort to the parts canon. BTW do you want to buy a Kubota?

 

[rrlund]

I have been reading the saga of the well pump, and you have been very logical about your approach. It stinks when logic doesn't work and you have to resort to the parts canon. BTW do you want to buy a Kubota?

do you want to buy a Kubota?

No, I bought one in a big online auction last year.

 

[cjunrau]

The thing that scares me a little is that the wire that goes inside of the pump is only about two feet long. That has to be spliced on to the wire that comes up to the top of the well. That splice is always under water. They use a heat shrink splice on it. If that ever leaked, it would trip the breaker immediately.

No it would not. Water does not conduct electricity good enough to short out. the mineral content in it does.