Toby Hanson
New Member
Hello everyone,
I have a Flotec 3/4 HP three-wire pump and control box. It's 90' down in a 100' six-inch well. It quit pumping water on Monday. I checked the fuses in the service disconnect and one of them was blown. I replaced the fuse and it pumped for a couple more hours and then the fuse blew along with the starting capacitor. I replaced the fuse and capacitor again and the capacitor blew again yesterday. I got another control box today and installed it and measured the amperage on each of the wires going to the pump before the capacitor blew. After it blew I checked the resistance on each of the wires going down to the pump. Here's the data:
Resistance
Red-Yellow: 12.2 ohms; range should be 11.1-13.6
Red-Black: 15.2 ohms; range should be 2.7-3.3
Yellow-Black: 4 ohms; 13.8-16.9
Resistance to Ground
Red-Ground: 0 ohms
Yellow-Ground: 0 ohms
Black-Ground: 0 ohms
Amperage
Red: 4.3A
Black: 8.1A
Yellow: 0.2A
Green: 11.8A
I expected the current on the red wire to drop once the relay opened to take the capacitor out of the circuit but it never did. Based on the readings, I think the pump needs to be pulled out and replaced but I want to make sure before I dedicate a day to pulling and replacing the pump.
I have a Flotec 3/4 HP three-wire pump and control box. It's 90' down in a 100' six-inch well. It quit pumping water on Monday. I checked the fuses in the service disconnect and one of them was blown. I replaced the fuse and it pumped for a couple more hours and then the fuse blew along with the starting capacitor. I replaced the fuse and capacitor again and the capacitor blew again yesterday. I got another control box today and installed it and measured the amperage on each of the wires going to the pump before the capacitor blew. After it blew I checked the resistance on each of the wires going down to the pump. Here's the data:
Resistance
Red-Yellow: 12.2 ohms; range should be 11.1-13.6
Red-Black: 15.2 ohms; range should be 2.7-3.3
Yellow-Black: 4 ohms; 13.8-16.9
Resistance to Ground
Red-Ground: 0 ohms
Yellow-Ground: 0 ohms
Black-Ground: 0 ohms
Amperage
Red: 4.3A
Black: 8.1A
Yellow: 0.2A
Green: 11.8A
I expected the current on the red wire to drop once the relay opened to take the capacitor out of the circuit but it never did. Based on the readings, I think the pump needs to be pulled out and replaced but I want to make sure before I dedicate a day to pulling and replacing the pump.