Off and on water for last couple weeks, now none at all

[Vtgoody]

Been trying to figure out my well problem for a couple of weeks. It stopped one night while giving the kids a bath. I turned the breaker off, and in about an half hour turned the breaker back on and the pressure tank started building pressure and everything was good for a couple of days. It then it happened again, this time I had to turn the breaker off for a copule of hours before it would work again. The next time I had to wait overnight.
So now that I cant get anything to work at all, I have tried to narrow down the problem. I have 240v to the pressure switch and 240v to the control box L1, L2. I have about 18.5ohm on yellow and red, and 1.8ohm on yellow and black. At junction box between the control box and well I have 120v to ground on yellow, 120v to ground onblack, and 9v to ground on red. Also confirmed I have 240v with yellow and black, and 120v on yellow and red. With only 120v going to yellow and red for startup I assumed the relay in control box not working so I went and bought a new control box. The new box was not the same brand as the old but its specs (1/2hp, 240v, 6amp) were the same. I hooked everything up and heard a loud clicking/rattling noise from box. I checked all wiring and it continued to happen again. I have since ordered a replacement control box that matches the original. Does it sound like I am on the right track? why would the relay in the new box make such a racket?

 

[Reach4]

Looking at the Franklin AIM manual, 1.8 ohms looks too low for the run winding of a 1/2 HP 230 volt motor. (they call it 230 even though the power is called 240) It says to expect Main winding 4.2-5.2 and Start winding 16.7-20.5 ohms. While motors can differ, that seems like a lot of difference.

I have no relevant experience. You might check your ohmmeter somehow.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Vtgoody]

Looking at the Franklin AIM manual, 1.8 ohms looks too low for the run winding of a 1/2 HP 230 volt motor. (they call it 230 even though the power is called 240) It says to expect Main winding 4.2-5.2 and Start winding 16.7-20.5 ohms. While motors can differ, that seems like a lot of difference.

I have no relevant experience. You might check your ohmmeter somehow.

Yes I agree it seems low, perhaps the pump is on the way out as well. That being said, not having any power on the red (start) wire to ground after the control box suggest the pump isnt getting the power it needs to try and start.

 

[Vtgoody]

I have also tested the blue relay in the control box. It reads 0.00 between l1 and B, and infinity between L1 and C. This seems like it checks out, the capacitor also starts reading numbers then goes to infinity when I put the multi-meter to its two terminals. Any ideas why there is no voltage out the red wire (start) from the control box but 120v on yellow, and on black? Shouldn't I be reading 120v on red and on yellow until motor starts then read only 120v on black and yellow?

 

[Reach4]

Yes I agree it seems low, perhaps the pump is on the way out as well. That being said, not having any power on the red (start) wire to ground after the control box suggest the pump isnt getting the power it needs to try and start.

Maybe there is a control box that uses a start timer instead of sensing what voltage is on the start winding.

How does the kick on your ohmmeter compare for the cap on the new box to the kick for the cap on the old box? With power off, of course, short the cap leads to discharge any voltage. Then time long it takes to get to infinity again when you put the probes onto the capacitor. I am thinking that time will be proportional to the capacitance. Maybe the old box was OK except that the capacitor was weak.

 

[Vtgoody]

Maybe there is a control box that uses a start timer instead of sensing what voltage is on the start winding.

How does the kick on your ohmmeter compare for the cap on the new box to the kick for the cap on the old box? With power off, of course, short the cap leads to discharge any voltage. Then time long it takes to get to infinity again when you put the probes onto the capacitor. I am thinking that time will be proportional to the capacitance. Maybe the old box was OK except that the capacitor was weak.

They both about 4-5 secs

 

[Vtgoody]

3 years ago, the pump stopped working, and I blamed it on a bad cap that was leaking oil. I replaced that box witch was Franklin 1/2hp 230v with a Franklin qd 1/2hp 230v. Its worked perfect up till now. The pressure switch is set to around 60/40. Today I tried to replace it with utilitech box from lowes. Without the leads from the control box hooked up to the well it would make an aful clacking racket. With the leads wired to the pump you could hear the capacitor humming. I have since order a new Franklin qd 1/2hp 230 that should be here by tues.

 

[Craigpump]

Did you check for shorts to ground?

How many amps is it drawing?

The Utilitec box is probably the same as a Franklin with a different label. Rarely do you see a new control box that's bad.

 

[Vtgoody]

Did you check for shorts to ground?

How many amps is it drawing?

The Utilitec box is probably the same as a Franklin with a different label. Rarely do you see a new control box that's bad.

I do not have any shorts to ground on L1 L2 R Y B. I checked the resistance again with R Y B.
R to Y 18.5 ohm
B to Y .285 ohm
B ro R .285 ohm

what exactly do these low ohm readings mean? Im guessing the B wire has got some sort of issue

I dont have any way of measuring amps.

 

[Vtgoody]

I have also discovered that if I unsplice the red wires at the junction box between control box and well that I have no voltage on red from control box, but I have 120v from red lead from well. Is this because yellow is common and its sending its voltage back through the red?

 

[Vtgoody]

I have also discovered that if I unsplice the red wires at the junction box between control box and well that I have no voltage on red from control box, but I have 120v from red lead from well. Is this because yellow is common and its sending its voltage back through the red?

I get the same low ohm reading at the wire splice at top of well. I also have continuity between yellow and red, bot not yellow and black

 

[Reach4]

I do not have any shorts to ground on L1 L2 R Y B. I checked the resistance again with R Y B.
R to Y 18.5 ohm
B to Y .285 ohm
B ro R .285 ohm

what exactly do these low ohm readings mean? Im guessing the B wire has got some sort of issue

I dont have any way of measuring amps.

You apparently have a 4 wire ohmmeter with Kelvin clips to be able to measure such low resistances. Could it be your meter has failed? If you have some wire, you could measure the resistance of a length of wire and compare that to what the meter says. http://www.cirris.com/learning-center/calculators/133-wire-resistance-calculator-table has a calculator.

Your readings don't seem possible. Did you make a typo with two 0.285 ohm readings? Yes, yellow is common. So (B to R) should equal (B to Y)+(R to Y), Maybe try unsplicing two of the wires and check the resistances again.

I have also discovered that if I unsplice the red wires at the junction box between control box and well that I have no voltage on red from control box, but I have 120v from red lead from well. Is this because yellow is common and its sending its voltage back through the red?

You are saying that you measure 120v from red to ground I think. That would be expected, but you don't want to leave 230 on the pump for more than a couple seconds with the pump not starting.

 

[Valveman]

You already replaced the control box once because the start cap was leaking. That clicking a buzzing usually means your control box is good, and the motor just will not start. The motor has been cycled on/off too many times and all the smoke has come out of it. Most likely you will need a new motor. Then if you don't want this to happen again, figure out how to stop the cycling on and off.

 

[Vtgoody]

Pulled the pump, checked ohm off of pumps pig tails and everything looked good. I quickly tested pump on land and it ran. Got some new waterproof well splices, and so far everything looks good. Only thing I could think of was a bad connection in one of the splices. Guess I will see how it goes.

 

[Craigpump]

Or bad wire