Cold Weather Well Pump Overload Problem

[Duane Bozarth]

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss wrote: ...

It's an 8" casing, I'm almost sure I recall...it is a bigger well than it might be if it were just for the house as it is farm use and 1500 head of cattle drink a lot of water on those hot summer days! :)

This is 20' sections of 2" plastic now although it was originally galvanized.

The "fixup" sounds like it indeed might have been a loose connection or a bad ground --that would be good. If you didn't, you might also inspect the connections in the starter box...in the basement there's a chance the humidity could have led to some corrosion products over the years, perhaps???

If you do have to pull it again, make (or rent) a well dog to hold the pipe sections as you pull it...that'll make the job much easier (and much less harrowing about worrying about the "what if" it gets away)...

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I don't know...can't imagine they can get somebody local to do it for that. I'd surely get a written statement of what is and isn't covered before jumping. I personally just don't put much faith in Sears anymore.... :(

Good luck on yours as well...

It was 70F yesterday, to be

[Mark & Mary Ann Weiss]

While this is probably not the problem here, I do also note that we only get 'adequate' voltage in the winter, but not the summer. During the winter, I can use my recessed fluorescent troffer lights in my studio, but during the summer, the won't come on unless I flip the switch on/off several dozen times. The only time they come on without fiddling with the switch is when we're on generator power. Utility voltage is low during the warm months here too. Just ask the fluorescent ballasts in my ceiling. :-) Right now, we're reading about 215 volts across the 220 rails at the main breaker box and the fluorescent lights work fine.

BTW, pump was still working this morning and we continue to get water pressure in the building. Starting to look like it was bad connections on one 220 leg.

-- Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION ? FILM SCANNING ? DVD MASTERING ? AUDIO RESTORATION Hear my Kurzweil Creations at:

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[Mark & Mary Ann Weiss]

I think ours is either 6" or 7", if memory serves me. The plastic pipe seemed to be around 2", but the nipple on the pump is 1-1/4 so I think the plastic pipe must match. We sometimes use a lot of water around here in the summer too. Wife does a lot of washloads and I frequently wash the car, truck and outside of the house.

Control box looks like brand new. Cellar is actually quite dry. An electronics workshop shares the same space with the pump controller and furnace and hot water heater plus laundry area. Not a hint of corrosion on the contacts in the box, but I did clean some black carbon-like deposits off the pressure switch electrical contacts. They spark a lot, so they can get fouled with carbon. So far, so good. One day later and we have water pressure without having to reset. After a month of no resets, I'll be pretty certain if the cleaning fixed it.

I can't find any Google reference to this term other than having to do with healthy dogs. What is a 'well dog'? Is it a gin pole or jib of some sort?

Yeah, the price seems fishy, like a webmaster typo or some standard boiler plate text that wasn't removed.

Thanks!

Ah, summer weather. We're up to a swealtering 9ºF here today!

-- Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . DVD MASTERING . AUDIO RESTORATION Hear my Kurzweil Creations at:

sites at:

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[Treetops]

Glad to hear you may have fixed the problem. Just a thought, I am no expert... but your voltage at 215V is on the = extreme edge or outside of some power companies voltage spec's and I = doubt that is good for your appliances, especially motors, in the long = term. Nominal voltage is 240V, not 220. The spec for voltage at some = power companies is: normal range 240+/-5% or 228-252, extreme conditions =

[Duane Bozarth]

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss wrote: ...

That may not be an "official" name, it's at least one name...

It's the piece that lays across the top of the casing and holds the pipe in either a friction fit w/ galvanized pipe or a slit that the pipe coupling can't slide through for plastic. That way you can set the rest of the pipe down while dissassessmbling joints on pulling (or vice versa on setting) the pump.

I'll do a little looking and see if I can come across one...

Well, it's damp and cloudy this AM...talking now of only a couple inches snow but yesterday it was supposed to stay warm enough here to be rain...but either way, sounds like no major precipitation event.

Sounds good on the conditions in the basement then...maybe your fix will have actually been a root cause. I'd still look into borrowing a ammeter and taking a set of current readings simply to start a baseline measurement if nothing else. That's a routine check the well company has on the wells going back to first installation.

[Pop]

The "range" for 220 power is plus/minus 10%, 12 or 15% emergency. Same for 240. So, 252 is OK for them to deliver if it's really

240, but if it's actually 220, which I suspect is the case , then by regs they can't deliver more than 220+10% which is 240, far from 252.

So, be certain of the rated voltage, and contact utility if there's a problem. The ten percent is good in North America, UK and most of European Union. Sources available upon request. Posts like this should include the country (and region if it's like Japan, etc.).

Pop

[Mark & Mary Ann Weiss]

I understand now. In my case, this can be a piece of 3/4" plywood with a notch big enough for the pipe to fit through, but small enough to stop at the couplings.

It is -2ºF here, with a high of 7º yesterday afternoon, and a blanket of snow on the ground. The good news is we have not had a reocurrance of any overload trips. So far, so good. Two nights in a row of sub-zero temps should have been enough to trigger the problem, if it was a freezing pipe.

Yeah, it's really pretty dry down there. And good idea on the ammeter/baseline measurement. I'd like to have a record of that info.

-- Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . DVD MASTERING . AUDIO RESTORATION Hear my Kurzweil Creations at:

sites at:

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[Duane Bozarth]

...

I'd feel more comfortable if it were a piece of plate rather than ply although your well/ pump is enough smaller (ergo lighter) that will probably be safe enough...it's a real "aw shxx!" if it fails... :(

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Well, for once they did as promised...after the 70F the other day, it's given us about 2-3" overnight and still snowing--supposed to keep up a light but steady snow most of the day...now will be the time for ours to fail again... :)

You too, good luck w/ it, and spring come...or are you some of the crazies that the cold? :)

-dpb

[Treetops]

Pop, I stand corrected. Did not realize that some utilities provide 220V = nominal. Also I should have noted I was quoting from a power supplier in = Canada. After further looking I found this supplier not to have typical limits. = Canadian power companies typically spec power to the Canadian Standards = Assoc CSA spec CAN-C235-83. This spec is: Normal range =3D 220-250V, = Marginal/extreme range =3D 212-254V.

For ref. see: =

This is from my supplier Hydro Quebec. They do not spec percentages. And = it appears the nominal is closer to 234V. By coincidence, this is what I = get now that they fixed up the power lines. BTW when I was having high voltage problems, peaks were hitting 259V. The OP should check with their own power company for the relevant specs = if curious.=20 If out of normal range, I would ask for their plan to correct it.

[Mark & Mary Ann Weiss]

Yes, so far, over a week has passed with two below zero nights and no further problems. It appears to have been a poor connection between the master breaker and the pump controller.

I may just contact CL&P about this low voltage. It's okay in winter, but annoying that I can't use the overhead fluorescents in summer because of insufficient voltage. My TrippLite LC2400 line conditioner is always showing "extremely low" line voltage and is stepping it up to 127vac at it's output.

-- Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION ? FILM SCANNING ? DVD MASTERING ? AUDIO RESTORATION Hear my Kurzweil Creations at:

sites at:

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