Well Pump Electrical Question

[Usedtobeiowadave]

House water supply is a bored well 75' out. 220V pump 60' down on plastic tubing hanging on a pitless adapter. Pump is about 10 years old, the it replaced lasted 30. Tubing and wiring inside the pump case were replaced along with the pump. No water on this 96 degree day. 220V incoming to the Pumptrol switch, 220 outgoing when I lift and hold the switch lever. At the well head, no current with clamp ammeter when wife lifts and holds Pumptrol switch. At the well head, momentarily reads 220V when she lifts and holds Pumptrol switch. Thinking broken line between house and well head, but why would it momentarily read 220V?

 

[leroy in ne]

You apparently have a square d switch with auto off , start , off positions. If so down by base is auto off/low no pressure 1/4turn is manual off however 1/2 way in between is start position. You have to hold it in the start position until enough pressure is built up to keep it running. positions should be molded on side of plastic cover. You Tube Square D pressure Switch Problem On Water Well Pump explains it, 1 minute video

 

[Usedtobeiowadave]

It is a Square D switch as you describe. Halfway in between I can hear the switch clack. Holding it right there, I get 220V in and 220V out, constant. With my wife activating the switch in the same way, my meter flashes 220V at the well head (75' from the switch) then goes back to zero. Not throwing the breaker, contacts in the switch look good. Why do I only get a flash of 220V at the well head? If I got nothing I'd be thinking broken wire somewhere between the house and well head. Now running a temporary line above ground.

You apparently have a square d switch with auto off , start , off positions. If so down by base is auto off/low no pressure 1/4turn is manual off however 1/2 way in between is start position. You have to hold it in the start position until enough pressure is built up to keep it running. positions should be molded on side of plastic cover. You Tube Square D pressure Switch Problem On Water Well Pump explains it, 1 minute video

 

[Keith True]

Do you also have a start/relay box? The pressure switch would be wired into that.Lightning plays funny games with the capacitor in those things.

 

[Janicholson]

It is a Square D switch as you describe. Halfway in between I can hear the switch clack. Holding it right there, I get 220V in and 220V out, constant. With my wife activating the switch in the same way, my meter flashes 220V at the well head (75' from the switch) then goes back to zero. Not throwing the breaker, contacts in the switch look good. Why do I only get a flash of 220V at the well head? If I got nothing I'd be thinking broken wire somewhere between the house and well head. Now running a temporary line above ground.

There could be a broken wire in the lead from the switch to the head. when off, the wire makes enough voltage to show in the meter, but fails when asked to run the pump. I think I would run a new conductor from the switch to the head. to assess if that works. (I assume the existing wire is direct buried or in a conduit. Jim

 

[used red MN]

When my mom’s submersible pump failed the plumber came out and checked the continuity of the 220 leads going down to the pump. One was shorted to ground. He said your pump is bad. Thinking about it more maybe there was no continuity between the two 110 feeds. I stood there and watched him do it I can’t remember which is was, but when he relayed the info to me it made sense to me. I think that pump was in there about 45 years. And we had a 30’ x 50’ sweet corn patch off the side of our driveway that it would water every year plus a fair bit of garden. The plumber said this one is definitely not going to last that long. The old one was a Dayton branded TEIL pump.

 

[KCTractors]

House water supply is a bored well 75' out. 220V pump 60' down on plastic tubing hanging on a pitless adapter. Pump is about 10 years old, the it replaced lasted 30. Tubing and wiring inside the pump case were replaced along with the pump. No water on this 96 degree day. 220V incoming to the Pumptrol switch, 220 outgoing when I lift and hold the switch lever. At the well head, no current with clamp ammeter when wife lifts and holds Pumptrol switch. At the well head, momentarily reads 220V when she lifts and holds Pumptrol switch. Thinking broken line between house and well head, but why would it momentarily read 220V?

Can you disconnect the pump at the well-head. If you can, disconnect the pump and then see what you have for voltage. If you have 220 v there, then it is problem going down to the pump.
We just went thru that in January, cost us $2600 for pump, electric wire and plastic pipe, that was a 3/4 HP pump.

 

[Russ from MN]

We had something similar happen and it was a broken wire right above the pump. Since I was the installer my wife and I pulled up the pump, it was down 130 feet, and I fixed the broken wire, and all was fine. You can do it!

 

[NoDakInMN]

If all is as you described, you have weak spot somewhere between the switch and the wellhead. It will show voltage but the second you have amp draw, the bad connection can't handle it. Pocket gopher or something may have gotten to it. If you have a portable generator with 240v output
capability, you could hook that up at the wellhead with a switch and check if the pump then works and to give you water temporarily.

 

[wp6529]

First thing to do is turn off the power and then carefully inspect and clean the contacts on the pressure switch. Burned contacts are a more likely issue than a bad wire.