Problem with well need help

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Anders K

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Hi I'm new here my name is Anders I have been having problems with my well. So it's a 300 ft deepwell ( our secondary well that we use as backup and as well for a garden space) and when we started the garden this year we got the hoses and everything from the well to turn on and eject water no problem. We came back the next day and the well won't turn on, and everytime time we turn the breaker on it's trips after about 10 seconds. We pulled up the well because we were told the well has a lot of sediment and thought we could run some clean water through it to clean it out, but that doesn't work. The breaker keeps tripping after about 10 seconds. Where do we go from here?
 

Reach4

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I think you are saying that no water gets pumped up during the 10 seconds before the breaker trips. The problem could be the control box or a part in the control box.

You could get a clamp-around ammeter and take current readings, or you could just replace the box without further troubleshooting.

I am not a pro.
 

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"Garden space" "hoses" ???
Those are key words for cycling a pump to death. Hope it is just the start capacitor this time as it is most likely that or the motor.
 

Anders K

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Hey there I greatly appreciate your time and consideration. Also sorry for the delayed response I'll try to be better about that. So I went around and took photos of all of our equipment. The bottom well that we're having issues with consists of a 300 foot well (specs on the pump later), a 20 gallon pressure tank, a relay, and breaker. It's the same for the top well (which is running fine) except the well is only 100 ft and the label on the pressure tank on the top well is a little different and it's labeled as a 20 gallon diaphragm pressure tank. Also the top well has a filter and uv light to make it suitable for household use. Also there is a pipe that connects both systems so that the deep well can be used as a backup for the house if the top well goes out.
At first I had some well guys come out and give me a qoute. Basically he electrical tested the relay and said he was getting weird readings. I don't know what those readings were but I have an electrical tester and could redo the test. Then he proceeded to repeatedly shout that the 'pump was packed slam full' and that I would need new pump. I rememeber the other guy looking at him and saying 'you don't know that...'.
The deep well pump with issues is a Franklin Electric model 2445089003 1 HP 60 Hz 230 volts 8.2 amp 75 kw 3450 rpm s.f.max.amp 9.8 hp 1 kva code N s.f.1.4 continuous duty e79319 2 wire submersible motor thermally protected equipped with lightning arrestors.
Also is it bad for me to have the pump up and out on the ground like that while I'm getting it taken care of? Also I leave the black cover over the well hole so nothing falls in it the mean while
Heres photos
The only one photo of the top well and it's the one where all of the parts are inclosed in a little well house and the pressure tank is hidden behind insulation
 

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Valveman

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I am sure the pump was cycling on and off, as that is what happens when you run hoses from a well pump with a 20 gallon tank that only holds 5 gallons of water. The "relay" is a starting relay that is only used to start the pump. The relay being bad is just a first sign that the pump is cycling too much. Hopefully this time you can just put in a new relay and start capacitor, but cycling can also destroy the pump if it hasn't already.
 

Anders K

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So I've tested the pressure switch which reads 230 volts. I also tested the pump itself between the two power (black) wires, which the meter didn't even read, if I really messed with it I could get the meter to flicker to 3 ohms for a second but then back to nothing again. And then when I tested between ground (green) wire and metal casing and the meter would go all the way to the right which is less than 1 ohm. So it sounds like the windings in my motor are bad? But what about the no reading between the black wires? What does that mean? Do you think I can successfully replace the windings to repair the pump?
Also when I go to cut the pipe to free pump is there a recommended distance I make the cut at? Like 2-4 feet from the bottom for example?
Thanks again
Anders
 

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I don't really understand what you are doing. There should be 230 volts going into the pressure switch, and 230 volts coming out of the pressure switch to the motor. If you have 230 coming into the pressure switch and nothing coming out, the pressure switch is not making contact.

The green wire should be grounded, 100% continuity to the casing. And there should be a few ohms of resistance between the wires to the motor.

No you can't rewire a motor. If it is bad it will just need to be replaced.

If you are talking about cutting the pump from the pipe, there should be a hose clamp or a threaded fitting that you can take lose instead of cutting the pipe. You will need all that pipe to put it back in the well, so you don't want to cut it.
 

Anders K

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Sorry I hope this will clarify,
So when the pump was still connected to the power whenever I turned the breaker on it would trip. So after having pulled the pump out of the well I have cut the wires from pump where they were connected to the wires going down the well, so that I could test the pump with my multimeter. I used the Rx setting which is the one that checks for continuity by resistance of the circuit with electric current provided by a battery in the multimeter (sorry if this is redundant I'm just trying to clarify). I know the photos are sort of hard to see because of the grass but I tried to get a good photo of how I cut the wires. And when I tested between the black (power) wires it did not read. and when I tested by touching one lead to the ground wire (green) and one to the metal casing it had a reading of 0 ohms, which I thought I've understood means the windings are bad. so that means the pump is broken and I need a pump, doesn't it?

Also I didn't realize I could take the pump off without the cutting it from the drop-pipe. I took a photo of where it connects to the pipe. So should the piping just slide right off after having removed the ring clamp? I guess I thought it just seemed like it was pretty stuck on there.
Thanks again for the help.
Anders
 

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Reach4

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when I tested by touching one lead to the ground wire (green) and one to the metal casing it had a reading of 0 ohms, which I thought I've understood means the windings are bad
That is normal. The green wire would be grounded (connected) to the case on purpose.
 

Valveman

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Yeah it should show zero ohms when checking the green wire to ground or the casing. But it should show no continuity between the other wires and ground. Then is should show a few ohms between the power wires to the motor.

Yes poly pipe sticks to the barb fitting. It can usually be wiggled off. But sometimes I have to slice it for an inch or so over the barb fitting to get it to come loose.
 

PumpMd

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Yeah it should show zero ohms when checking the green wire to ground or the casing. But it should show no continuity between the other wires and ground. Then is should show a few ohms between the power wires to the motor.

Yes poly pipe sticks to the barb fitting. It can usually be wiggled off. But sometimes I have to slice it for an inch or so over the barb fitting to get it to come loose.


We use a torch on the polly (it doesn't take much heat) and it slides right off. Use the same technique when putting it back on and tighten the clamps while it's warm.
 
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