Suggestions to show well pump on from outside shed

Rkh

Member
Neighbor has shed with well pressure tank 4' below ground & would like to be able to
see when pump is on from her trailer window. I was thinking of a hole thru wall of
she'd with a light bulb comes on when pump on. Any ideas of how to do this?
 

wire a light up to it.. but put it in a tin can, pointed at the house.. so that it can be seen in sunlight.... as the can will block off the sun... Nighttime no problem, buy seeing in daylight required the can modification.


that way you can see if the well is running too long or having a problem.
 
"If the pump is 220v you probably will find there is no neutral for a 110 v light bulb."

EASILY solved by using a small machine tool transformer or autotransformer to allow the use of a standard light bulb.

A quick search of the 'net turned up lots that would work, starting @ about ten bucks on ebay, up to about $35 from other sources.

Another alternative be to use a transformer to step the 240 down to 12 or 24 Volts, allowing the use of low-voltage wiring, and an appropriate/matching outdoor landscape/patio light.
 

Do a little search you might be able to find a 240 volt bulb.
Or install 2 fixtures in series and 2 bulbs. This is a little out in left field.
 
(quoted from post at 17:36:33 04/20/17)
(quoted from post at 15:37:16 04/20/17) Neutral would go to the metal part of pressure switch housing.

Oh no it doesn't buster. That is chassis which is earth or ground. A neutral it is not
For 115v?

On 220v, white is hot, black is hot, bare is ground. Each side of hot is 110v. LED (or incandescent) is 110v - could be 2 wires or three. If two, then black is hot and white is ground. If three, then black is hot, white is neutral and bare is ground. If tapping into a 3-wire 220v connection, there is no neutral that isn't hot, correct? Then your white would connect to ground as well.

Arg, now "I'm" getting confused! No sleep last night - sinus infection. If I'm wrong, then please correct me.
 
My grandfather put a light bulb in the corner of the kitchen hooked to the pump, so when in the house you know when the pump is going.
 
(quoted from post at 17:36:33 04/20/17)
(quoted from post at 15:37:16 04/20/17) Neutral would go to the metal part of pressure switch housing.

Oh no it doesn't buster. That is chassis which is earth or ground. A neutral it is not

One thing I have learned over the years is a person sure cant trust a well pump guy (or a HVAC guy for that matter) to know the difference!!! To most of them neutral or ground is nothing but two different words for the same thing. We had both new central air and new well switch installed this past year and I had to rewire both so as to have proper separation.
 
(quoted from post at 21:31:29 04/20/17)
(quoted from post at 17:36:33 04/20/17)
(quoted from post at 15:37:16 04/20/17) Neutral would go to the metal part of pressure switch housing.

Oh no it doesn't buster. That is chassis which is earth or ground. A neutral it is not
For 115v?

On 220v, white is hot, black is hot, bare is ground. Each side of hot is 110v. LED (or incandescent) is 110v - could be 2 wires or three. If two, then black is hot and white is ground. If three, then black is hot, white is neutral and bare is ground. If tapping into a 3-wire 220v connection, there is no neutral that isn't hot, correct? Then your white would connect to ground as well.

Arg, now "I'm" getting confused! No sleep last night - sinus infection. If I'm wrong, then please correct me.

I guess people get confused because they open their panel and see the bare (or green) ground wires and neutral (white) wires connected to the same bus. That is the ONLY place that they are connected. The neutral is designated to carry the return current, the ground is NOT. Will it work to use the ground for the return current path? Sure. Is it to code? Nope.
 
I will add to the confusion, wire colors are not gospel they need to be validated.

On 220V, there is no neutral, there are two hots, can be any color, usually either black and white, or black and red.

On 120V, there is a hot and a neutral, usually black is hot and white is neutral.

Green or uninsulated is usually ground.
 
Guys, we're (at least me, anyway) talking about tapping a small LED light into a 220v well pump that has no neutral. Nobody mentioned about making this up to code - only for how to hook up a light to know when the pump is running. If we're wanting this to be to code, then we also need to mention that you need to call an electrician, as most (if not all) code and insurance requirements want a licensed electrician doing this work. But many people live in an area where this is not the requirement.

Outside of this direct-wiring connection, others have mentioned some very good alternatives for keeping an eye on the system. So will add to that mix that you could buy yourself a sensor (whether sound or shock) to connect at the pump (not "to" it) so that when the pump comes on, the sensor triggers some type of notification device - a light, a ringer, or......?
 
dr sportster -- Well, I'm quite rusty with 220v, but remember that there are both 3-wire and 4-wire single-phase pumps. So, on the 4-wire systems, isn't the 4th wire the neutral? ....Guess I could look it up, but is easier to just ask you. *lol*
 
Connecting a light bulb in with one side of the 240v is no problem; one hot and one ground. However the problem comes when the pump comes on and the pump start capacitor is in the circuit for a few seconds. The bulb will blow every time the pump comes on. Put a time delay relay in the light circuit to allow the motor to start and the light bulb to come on 30 seconds later and all will be fine.
 
(quoted from post at 21:31:29 04/20/17)
(quoted from post at 17:36:33 04/20/17)
(quoted from post at 15:37:16 04/20/17) Neutral would go to the metal part of pressure switch housing.

Oh no it doesn't buster. That is chassis which is earth or ground. A neutral it is not
For 115v?

On 220v, white is hot, black is hot, bare is ground. Each side of hot is 110v. LED (or incandescent) is 110v - could be 2 wires or three. If two, then black is hot and white is ground. If three, then black is hot, white is neutral and bare is ground. If tapping into a 3-wire 220v connection, there is no neutral that isn't hot, correct? Then your white would connect to ground as well.

Arg, now "I'm" getting confused! No sleep last night - sinus infection. If I'm wrong, then please correct me.

Ground and neutral are no more related than the hot and cold water taps at the sink.
The ground system is not to carry load current. The ground system holds what ever if bonded to it , to earth potential. Green or bare.
The neutral is an energized , insulated, energized, insulated load current carrying conductor.
Neutral current is not to flow in the ground system or the ground system becomes energized to a potential above true earth. This is when livestock receive shocks from waters, feeders, milking machines etc.
 
(quoted from post at 18:40:52 04/21/17) Connecting a light bulb in with one side of the 240v is no problem; one hot and one ground. However the problem comes when the pump comes on and the pump start capacitor is in the circuit for a few seconds. The bulb will blow every time the pump comes on. Put a time delay relay in the light circuit to allow the motor to start and the light bulb to come on 30 seconds later and all will be fine.

Do not use the ground system to conduct load current.
 
Thank you Buick, I didn't know that. However, I still do not understand how it is possible to connect a 110v load to one side of a 220v pump in order to make a light go on. In this instance, I was thinking of small LED with extremely low mA draw. Wire would be very small, so could not carry much current anyway.

Could you explain please how the OP could connect a light to their well pump as an indicator of when it's running?
 
As I posted before, it's safe and easy and CHEAP to do it safely using a "machine tool transformer", at a cost of $10 to $30.

NOT entirely unreasonable for a safe and permanent way to do with without having to keep special 240 Volt bulbs on hand.

Feed the 240V into the transformer and get 120V out for thelamp. WITHOUT requiring a neutral from the breaker box to the pumphouse.

The fixture and junction box (if metal) can be grounded to the existing ground to the water system, and WILL not be carrying current.
 
I ordered some small 220v LED indicator lights online, I put one on my water heater and the other on a electric baseboard heater, work good. On our water heater there is 120v current at the element at all times, just not a complete circuit. I tried a 120 v light and it was on all the time.
 
Get a outdoor porch light and wire it into one side of the 220 and you are done. Dad did this a number of years ago and if I replaced the bulb I am sure it would still work.

jt
 
big jt: "[b:f739902d34]and if I replaced the bulb I am sure it would still work[/b:f739902d34]."

Are you implying it's not working now? Ever wonder why?
 

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