Help Identify Pump Switch?

[Jfharper]

I'd like to replace this old switch but I don't know what it is called or if the newer ones of today look the same. It goes between the float switch in my holding tank and the control box for my sub. It is 240v and turns on automatically when float is low in tank. It also has a safety mechanism where buttons in the middle pop up if something went wrong...this has happened maybe twice in ~20 years. Could someone help? Thanks.

Also, I disconnected an external switch that connected to this, but I cannot remember how the ext switch connected. You can see the 2 red wires at the bottom of the picture. I think they attached to the left side somehow...that ext switch allowed me to turn on the sub without having to open this box by removing the screws. Could someone help me figure how the ext switch connects? Thanks.

 

[Reach4]

That is a contactor (power relay). The coil terminals are on the side.

Measure the voltage across the side terminals. A relay coil may be 120v, even tho the contacts are switching 240v. However, if I look at this right, the middle nipple seems to carry wires to the float switch, and the coil in this case looks like it would be a 240v coil.

The new one does not have to look the same. You want a 2-pole contactor with a 240 volts or 208/240 volt coil.

I think the box connector on the left comes from the breaker panel, the middle would be to the float switch, and the right hand box connector would go to the pump.

There are some whites that do not connect to the relay that I don't know what they are being used for. They might have been run for future flexibility.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jfharper]

great, yep you have it correct. breaker panel on left, float in middle, control box for sub on right...the white going to the cb goes to the ground screw in the cb. how about the external switch connect...any idea?

my sub is 240v, does that confirm a 240v power relay?

lastly, what amp rating should I get, 30 or 40? it comes off a double 15amp breaker.

 

[Reach4]

Also, I disconnected an external switch that connected to this, but I cannot remember how the ext switch connected. You can see the 2 red wires at the bottom of the picture. I think they attached to the left side somehow...that ext switch allowed me to turn on the sub without having to open this box by removing the screws. Could someone help me figure how the ext switch connects?

The picture shows wires that look white, but I don't see any that look red.

My first answer is going to work, but I am not quite sure if it is permitted by codes and rule. I am pretty sure you are using all 240 volts her. If you added a normally open switch between terminal L1 and C1, it would be in parallel with the float switch. Suppose you made that a push-button switch. When you held the button in, the pump would run.

The C1 and L1 have unused blades that you could use spade terminals to connect to.

Now if you wanted to re-wire to use a relay with a 120 volt coil, I know you could do that.

 

[Jfharper]

great thanks.

it worked.