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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

way OT, but you guys'll know-Well Pump

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Chip S

02-10-2004 06:09:39




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I have a 1hp 2 wire submersible pump and 200 amp service in the house. Lately when the well pump goes on, the house lights momentarily dim. I dont think this should happen. I put a clamp-on AC ammeter onto the feed wires one at a time. At startup, one side draws 11 amps, the other 8 amps. Running, one side draws .36 amps, one .18 amps.
But here's the thing. It seems on all my 220 appliances, stove, water heater and such, I've had a rash of on leg of the source line burning up. Had to replace the pigtail on the stove and hotwater heater. All the 120v stuff workes fine.
I hava a primary line and my own pole mounted tranformer coming to the farm from the power company. I don't want to pull the pump and replace the wires just to find out it doesn't solve the problem. So, a couple questions:
What should the resistance be down the well to through the pump circuit? Is it possible the pole transformer is bad? How can I find out? We've had a lot of building around here, so the power has been going down a lot for brief periods.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

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Fighting suburbia in NC

02-11-2004 08:42:39




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 Re: way OT, but you guys'll know-Well Pump in reply to Chip S, 02-10-2004 06:09:39  
Check all of the lugs in the panel box for tightness. If there is a loose terminal then the resistance is higher there and can cause the unbalanced lines that you are seeing. GET THIS SOLVED ASAP! You are in danger of having a fire if the terminals get hot enough.

I had to pop my meter base and re-wire the ground feed to the panel ground bar because somebody in distant past used a wood screw to hold the terminal block to the metal ground rail. Loss of ground caused major flicker and it was arcing across the gap but nothing got hot enough to ignite (metal box on outside of brick house - not a whole lot to burn).

Electricity can do really weird things but it usually lets you know before it gets bad enough to cause combustion.

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Chip S.

02-12-2004 06:14:58




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 Re: Re: way OT, but you guys'll know-Well Pump in reply to Fighting suburbia in NC, 02-11-2004 08:42:39  
Pulled the cover off the panel for a real close look. Nowhere did I see obvious signs that anything got real hot. All the lugs look good and clean at both of the hots and the common and ground terminal bars. The builder used aluminum wire, I guess copper must have been too dear when the house was built. Looks like the well pump lead that goes down the hole had a problem at one time too. Of the three wires, the black is cut off and the ground is being used as a hot, so there's no ground wire back to the panel. But since the pump is sitting in water 150' down, it must be grounded well enough. Or maybe that's the root of the problem?
Called the power company to come and take a look at the transformer and power drop. If they find nothing, I'll go ahead and replace the well pump leads. Don't like the current setup. (No pun intended!)
Thanks guys.

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John K

02-10-2004 14:06:54




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 Re: way OT, but you guys'll know-Well Pump in reply to Chip S, 02-10-2004 06:09:39  
If you have a two wire pump, you should have the same amperage on both legs wheather it is 120 or 240 volts, if it is different you have some leakage to ground. To find out if you have a bad neutral, put a volt meter from one hot on the panel to neutral an then turn on the unit that causes the lights to dim, take a reading. Now move the voltmeter lead to the other hot and to neutral also take a reading. If you have a broken or poor neutral, one of the readings will go up, the othe will go down proportioatly. I have found that 120 volt loads like furnace or fridge will cause voltage fluctuations when the neutral is bad or poor. Niebours house when furnace kicked in had 160 volts on his micro wave plug. The purpose of the neutral is to carry the unbalanced load of a 3 wire circuit or panel feed. If it is a 240 unit causing the lights to dim, it could be a loose connection on one of the hots. Hope this helps.

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Daniel

02-10-2004 08:45:47




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 Re: way OT, but you guys'll know-Well Pump in reply to Chip S, 02-10-2004 06:09:39  
I ran into a similar situation once. As I recall the neutral wire was broken where it came out of the transformer on the pole. It was intermittently making a connection and was causing problem with the refrigerator and ceiling fans among other things. Look over your service entrance wire real close.



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JT

02-10-2004 08:52:13




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 Re: Re: way OT, but you guys'll know-Well Pump in reply to Daniel, 02-10-2004 08:45:47  
Had similar problem. Check ground terminal in service box. You can tell if it has been getting hot. I had to replace terminal block.



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