Water well pump pressure switch problem

old

Well-known Member
A couple days ago I got up to take a leak at around 5am and found I had no water. Went out to check what was going on in the well house. Found that one of the 2 power wires from the breaker panel was not making good contact so tapped on the switch and it kicked the pump on and I went to bed. Forgot about it till it happened again. Went to fix the problem and the screw broke off. Switch still works find but the wire is just on it by the pressure of a bend I made. I know if I try to drill the screw out I will mess up the tread so thinking I could drill it out slip in the wire in that hole then solder it in.
Does that sound like it would be a good and easy way to fix it.
And no I do not want to replace a $40 pressure switch if I can get a few more years out of it
 
you could,simply wire the two wires together and use one side of the switch, ive done that before when i couldnt get to town for a new switch.
 
(quoted from post at 11:24:19 09/18/12) A couple days ago I got up to take a leak at around 5am and found I had no water. Went out to check what was going on in the well house. Found that one of the 2 power wires from the breaker panel was not making good contact so tapped on the switch and it kicked the pump on and I went to bed. Forgot about it till it happened again. Went to fix the problem and the screw broke off. Switch still works find but the wire is just on it by the pressure of a bend I made. I know if I try to drill the screw out I will mess up the tread so thinking I could drill it out slip in the wire in that hole then solder it in.
Does that sound like it would be a good and easy way to fix it.
And no I do not want to replace a $40 pressure switch if I can get a few more years out of it

"A couple days ago I got up to take a leak at around 5am and found I had no water."
Dehydration! Not drinking enough! :lol:
 
That is hard on the motor and also causes a power drain you have to pay for all day every day and my electric bills are to high as it is LOL.
 
Always has to be a joker in the crowd. If it was dehydration I would not have gotten out of bed LOL It was the opposite other then the fact the pump in the well did not work my pump worked just fine and that is why I wanted the other pump to work so as not to leave a smell behind that I did not want left there LOL
 
Breaking only one line of a 240 VAC motor will not cause a constant power drain. It will leave the windings "hot" but no energy will be used.I will not cause your power bill to go up one penny...
 
A good soldered connection will likely do as good and better then the screw holding down on the wire, so why not "go for it" unless you wanna (after drilling out if you dont trash it lol) use a small screw and nut or re bore n re tap the hole. Unless theres a short, as long as you break only one of the hots the motor wont run nor will there be any current draw, although I always used a 2 pole breaker/switch/contactor to open BOTH hots to turn off a 240 volt motor.

John T
 
Points are not the problem it is the $crew you use to hook the wires on an one of them broke. I have it fixed now used my 260 watt soldering gun to solder it on
 
OLD,
Your pressure switch is a double pole single throw switch. Why can't you just connect the broken side directly to the pump and use the other side to open the circuit?

If you have a 120v pump, connect the neutral directly to the pump and use switch to break the power leg.

Does this violate any NEC codes?

George
 
Yo George, you ask "Does this violate any NEC codes"

As most here know Im rusty as an old nail on the latest NEC having retired as an EE in 1991 HOWEVER I can tell you anytime I installed a switch or safety switch or combination starter or contactor or circuit breaker or pressure switch etc on a 240 volt motor I ALWAYS USED A TWO POLE TO BREAK BOTH LEGS and I "suspect" its indeed a NEC violation to only break one leg on motor loads. Of course, on 120 volt you are only required to switch the hot leg not the Neutral which is grounded.

My old code book is pretty dusty lol

John T
 
JohnT,
I have a 12 year old Rudd A/C 220v. The motor contactor only broke 1 leg. When it went bad this past summer, I replaced it with a 2 pole. Every 220v window A/C I ever worked on only broke one leg.

SOOOOOOOOOOO it may be in violation of NEC, but if Old doesn't want to replace the switch do you think the NEC police will give him a ticket if he only breaks one leg? :) I know I would until I went to town and got a replacement switch.

George
 
Old-
My advice is I would rather work on the well this time of year than January. I make darn sure that I spray that pressure switch down with WD40 every fall to make it through the winter good.
I would spend 20 dollars, put a new one on, and sleep well all winter.
 
No George, I doubt the NEC police would ever step foot on Rich's place let alone give him a ticket lol. All I can say is in all my years as an electrical design engineer neither myself or my super picky (as far as NEC was concerned) boss would ever allow a 240 volt motor (regardless if using a safety switch or combination starter etc) to be switched/controlled by only de energizing one of the two hot legs...

Of course, Rich or anyone is free to do as they please regardless if its NEC approved, HEY ITS A FREE COUNTRY SO YALL DO AS YOU LIKE. Its just safer to totally de energize BOTH legs on a 240 volt circuit and is how I was trained and how I practiced.

I think he said he already soldered the broken terminal and is using the two pole contactor so BOTH of the hot legs are switched off so he ought to be fine.

Take care now n be safe

Fun chat

John T
 
$20 more like $40 and that is if I am lucky. Do not know where you buy yours at but I have never seen one for less then $40
 
Well since I was well 30 plus years ago micro mini quality soldering trained I figured I could do this with no problem and did so. Still remember doing jobs where you solder thing in that where so small you use a magnifying glass just to see the legs on the micro chip
 
$12.85 at Lowes hardware. 30-50 switch.
a82822.jpg
 
Ya and Lowes is a 50 mile round trip but town is a 14 mile round trip so in the long run at $3.75 a gal for gas one does not save much if any thing driving 50 mile
 

It always amazed me the things that manufacturers could get away with. and this was one of them. NEC requires that both legs be switched. But manufacturers build and sell things that only switched one leg.

Dusty
 
Why do people ride you so hard about some of your comments? It gets kinda smart aleck sometimes.I always enjoyed your comments,your a very well read person in alot of subjects,I respect your opinions on most problems.
 
I this case I know that JMOR is just joking around with me. But yes some seem to think I should not be here and should not know what I know etc. Some also seem to think to be disabled you need to have to live your life in a bed. But that in it self is another story
 
I know how people are?I got a very sassy answer on a question about broken forks a couple weeks ago.Was'nt going to fix them,have a good of factory forks for my loader.According to that guy i was a complete idiot.Had a lot of respect for that fellow.Since that I've read alot of his answers.He is very negative on most of his comebacks.
 
I just replaced the switch at rental house and The price was $15.00 plus tax at Orscheln's. That's a mid-western store chain.
 
The problem with breaking only one leg is that the broken leg will give you shock (through the motor windings) even when it is off.

Cliff(VA)
 
Since we are talking about lots of possibilities, remember sometimes you can carefully solder switch and when you are done it won't work due to heat factor of soldering. I have done radio and TV and electronics work and I have had it happen more than once. Use as little heat as possible. Rosin core solder only. Dave
 
Ya some people do not care how they answer you they are right your wrong no matter what.
On here I do my best to help people if and when I can and I try to answer in such a way not to offend the person. I try to treat people that same way I want to be treated but many here are not that way
 
I understand that I am a former Navy Electronics tech and was mico mini qualified for soldering on computer boards and also did many years of TV and radio/ computer repair
 
Ya did not check at the local Orcheln's that is now in town. Last one I got was from a electrical supply store so yes there prices are always higher but then they also sell the top of the line stuff and this switch is at least 5 years old if not more like 10 and the soldering job is working just fine so why spend $15 but if and when I need to replace it I will try to remember to check there
 

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