Outdoor water fixture/heat tape no freeze question

"Butthead" wrote

installing the

unheated,

You should be using 220vac for the pump. How are you going about sizing the pump? There are a number ofthings you need to know before you buy one. The cable has to be sized properly for the hp of the pump, voltage and distance of the run from the power source to the pump. IMO you're going to have problems finding a 120 v pump if your well is very deep and/or the depth to the water line in the well and, your distance to the barn also has to be taken into consideration.

You want a frost free hydrant, they come in various lengths so as to keep the faucet height where you want it and to get the water line connection below frost level for your area. In Maine I might guess about

I would have used 3/4" 200 psi rated PE rolled tubing for the water line material instead of PVC with all its joints every 20' and its stiffness but... it's too late for that.

Why with a 220 pump in the well did you run 120 to the well? What's wrong wit hthe pump that's there now?

Gary Quality Water Associates

I have heard that pumps should be 220v, but my pump is only 120v. It seems to be working just fine.

When it goes (and I assume it will someday) should I be looking at replacing it with a 220v, or will a new 120v be okay if this one is?

The hydrants that allow water to flow back, let it flow outside the plumbing system, so you will have to account for the runoff of that water.

Actually, the pipe did come on a big roll and was installed by the excavator. It is probably what you describe. I just thought it was pvc. The electrical cable was installed by the excavator too. He said it could be used for either 220v or 120v. I connected the electricity to the cable to run an electric fence in the barn. Since the electricity goes from my 2 car garage to the well and then over to the 3 car garage that is being used as a barn, and there is no 220v electricity in the 2 car garage, and I can't run an electric fence off 220v, I decided that the cost of getting an electrician to run 220v from my house to the 2 car garage, and then buying some sort of step down transformer so I could run the electric fence from the barn, would be more than a cheap 120vAC well pump from Sears. Since the well is a fairly shallow dug well, ( not more than 30-35 foot rise from water level to where the hydrant needs to be, I don't think I need a hefty pump.

Thanks for your answer to my question. I will get one of those outdoor hydrants now that I know that they drain into the ground and not back into the pipe.

"Wade Lippman" wrote

It costs less to run the pump on 220. Usually 120v pumps cost more than the same thing in 220. He had a 220 pump and ran 120v out to somewhere, the well I think. The cable has to be sized for the voltage and the distance the run is, along with the amps the pump will draw. Start up amp draw is higher on 120v pumps so most people opt for 220 but there's no 'should' except where you have one or the other already installed.

Gary Quality Water Associates

above-ground

stiffness

outdoor

Mistakenly saying PVC for other types of plastic is a way too common mistake, and eventually gets some into trouble.

With all the details it seems you did just fine except I'd suggest a better quality pump. They don't cost much more to purchase and they pay that back by lasting much longer; so in essence, they actually cost less.

Gary Quality Water Associates