Well pump problems. Need help diagnosing.

[brkshr]

Hey guys,

I'm new here. Google has a lot of good info from you guys. So I figured I would ask some questions.

A couple days ago my well pump quit. It's a 3 wire 1hp. The pressure control switch (with low pressure cutoff) works fine. When I tried to manually start the pump again (low pressure cutoff lever), nothing happened.

I saw a video that explained that the capacitor for the control box would have a yellow circle that should be white, if it was blown. It was yellow and also appeared to have a tiny blowout through it. So I bought a new control box and put the new lid with capacitor on the old box. Now when I turn on the pressure switch, I hear the solenoid click and hum as I hold it, but no water comes up.

So got out the multimeter. Checked voltages all around. The pressure switch is good and the control box for L1 and L2 are getting 120 volts each, which should indicate that the power to the control box is good.

Then I go on to check the ohm's for the R Y B wires to the motor. I watched a youtube video on how to do this. The capacitor/lid was not on the control box (pretty much impossible to check with the lid on anyways) and he was getting an ohm's reading of 2-3 and 5-6, etc for different matched colors. When I do this on mine, I get nothing on the display. It was a crappy multimeter, that I eventually broke doing this with the wrong settings. So I bought a better multimeter and checked again. I get the same result of zero (or nothing on the display, I forget right now), between B-Y, Y-R & R-B. I'm still unclear of how this works with the power (L1 & L2, not being connected to RYB, but this is how the video showed...

So, what does it mean if I have no reading at all between Black - Yellow, Red - Black & Red - Yellow? I'm guessing the wiring is bad or the motor is bad? That's the only logical conclusion I came up with.

Also, how hard is it to replace a motor myself? I'm sure I have galvanized pipe. So I'll making a rig to pull up 20 foot sections with a cable pull. I also plan on replacing the pipe with 80 schedule PVC with a couple check valves in there. I do have some experience with handyman type work. In the last couple years, my dad, uncle and myself completely remodeled my house. I mean everything. All electrical wiring, plumping (pex), sewer lines, complete bathroom remodels, tiling, gas lines, drywall, laminate floors, walls removed and moved, new windows, etc, etc, etc. So we're no stranger to handyman type work, but this well business scares me a little bit. Especially the thought of losing the pipe down the well. My dad saw someone replace his well pipe with PVC, so he saw, and can replicate, the pipe holder/pincher to hold the pipe up. I also make sure to do a lot of research to figure out what all the proper way of doing things are.

Anyways, I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you guys for your time.

 

[Reach4]

I get the same result of zero (or nothing on the display, I forget right now), between B-Y, Y-R & R-B. I'm still unclear of how this works with the power (L1 & L2, not being connected to RYB, but this is how the video showed...

So, what does it mean if I have no reading at all between Black - Yellow, Red - Black & Red - Yellow? I'm guessing the wiring is bad or the motor is bad? That's the only logical conclusion I came up with.

Reading zero in this case means that either your meter is not up to the job, or you are not using it right.

If it has a range switch, the range switch should be in the lowest range for a 2-lead ohmmeter.

You might not even be in the ohms mode. If you are in ohms, removing either lead from the thing being measured should have some kind of indication that is not a number such as zero. The resistance with one lead disconnected should be above the ability of the meter to measure. So usually there is some indication such as dashes or blanked digits.

Especially the thought of losing the pipe down the well.

That is not the worst possible. For example, losing a single finger would be worse than dropping the pipe down the well.

I am not a pro.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[brkshr]

Reading zero in this case means that either your meter is not up to the job, or you are not using it right.

If it has a range switch, the range switch should be in the lowest range for a 2-lead ohmmeter.

You might not even be in the ohms mode. If you are in ohms, removing either lead from the thing being measured should have some kind of indication that is not a number such as zero. The resistance with one lead disconnected should be above the ability of the meter to measure. So usually there is some indication such as dashes or blanked digits.

That is not the worst possible. For example, losing a single finger would be worse than dropping the pipe down the well.

I am not a pro.

Thanks. I will have my uncle (electrician) come out and check this for me. I'm pretty sure I was doing it right, but I forget exactly what the display read as right now.

 

[Craigpump]

For checking pumps we use a Simpson 372 ohmmeter, on the Rx100 with one lead to a good ground and the other to the downhole wire, you check for shorts to ground, (1 wire at a time) if the needle pegs to the right you have dead shorts. On the Rx1 scale you check the windings, red to yellow & black to yellow. There should be resistance through the windings, if the needle doesn't swing there is no continuity. Could be a poor splice, a rodent ate through the wire someplace or the problem is downhole.

That's the easy part.

Consider that 1" steel pipe, full of water weighs almost 2 pounds per foot, plus the weight of the wire & pump, you could easily have a load of close to 1000 pounds. That's the reason that guys in the business have a hoist truck, so they can SAFELY handle the weight of these pump installations. There was a guy in the area with many years experience who severed his hand when a pump got away from him and he instinctively tried to stop it.

Advice, if it's on steel call in someone with the proper equipment to do the job.

 

[brkshr]

For checking pumps we use a Simpson 372 ohmmeter, on the Rx100 with one lead to a good ground and the other to the downhole wire, you check for shorts to ground, (1 wire at a time) if the needle pegs to the right you have dead shorts. On the Rx1 scale you check the windings, red to yellow & black to yellow. There should be resistance through the windings, if the needle doesn't swing there is no continuity. Could be a poor splice, a rodent ate through the wire someplace or the problem is downhole.

That's the easy part.

Consider that 1" steel pipe, full of water weighs almost 2 pounds per foot, plus the weight of the wire & pump, you could easily have a load of close to 1000 pounds. That's the reason that guys in the business have a hoist truck, so they can SAFELY handle the weight of these pump installations. There was a guy in the area with many years experience who severed his hand when a pump got away from him and he instinctively tried to stop it.

Advice, if it's on steel call in someone with the proper equipment to do the job.

Thanks for the advice. I'm checking the meter using this symbol Ω at 200 and nothing comes back between red/yellow, etc. It's looking like it's going to be troublesome to find the parts I need. So I have some calls into a few different places right now for them to do it. No one is calling me back with a price though.

 

[Reach4]

I'm checking the meter using this symbol Ω at 200 and nothing comes back between red/yellow, etc.

Define nothing -- the same indication that you get when you don't touch the leads to anything? If so, maybe you have a broken wire.

 

[brkshr]

Define nothing -- the same indication that you get when you don't touch the leads to anything? If so, maybe you have a broken wire.

I had my uncle who is (or was) a certified electrician come over and double check my readings. He confirmed that there's either a break in the wiring or the motor is done for.

On another note. It looks like we're going to be doing this ourselves. My dad is currently welding up a tall boom with a hand crank to pull the pipe out. I have everything I need on order, and I know where to go to if I need new pipe and wire. I should have about $1k into this if I need to replace pipe and wire completely. Sounds a little better than $2,700 for someone else to do it. Hopefully this rig my dad makes is up to the task...

We're going to be working on this on Friday. I'll report back with how it went. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Craigpump]

I had my uncle who is (or was) a certified electrician come over and double check my readings. He confirmed that there's either a break in the wiring or the motor is done for.

On another note. It looks like we're going to be doing this ourselves. My dad is currently welding up a tall boom with a hand crank to pull the pipe out. I have everything I need on order, and I know where to go to if I need new pipe and wire. I should have about $1k into this if I need to replace pipe and wire completely. Sounds a little better than $2,700 for someone else to do it. Hopefully this rig my dad makes is up to the task...

We're going to be working on this on Friday. I'll report back with how it went. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[brkshr]

Hey guys,

A little late on my update here. We did work on it 2 days after my last post. Everything went great!

My dad made a 22' tall vertical boom. It had an old wheel at the top, to use as a pulley and a hand crank on the back side to lift and lower the pipe. He made a pinch plate to lift the galvanized pipe and another pinch plate connected to the boom to hold it up as we're unscrewing pipe and readjusting the cable for the next length. He also welded 3 loops near the top of the boom, so we could drive some stakes in the ground and anchor/steady the top with some rope. Honestly, seeing what my dad had made eased my apprehension in doing this. It was so well build, it have me confidence in doing this as soon as I saw it.

Well, the first section was galvanized, then it went to PVC. We weren't expecting that. We ended up taking off the pinch plates for fear it would crack the PVC and used rope wrapped around the PVC 5 times for both the lifting and the safety hold. This worked perfectly.

There ended up being a frayed wire near the pump. We fixed it with a submersible heat shrink wrap. Put it back in the well and it works great again.

After doing this, both my dad and I said that we would never pay for anyone to do our well again. It took us about 3 hours to do this and that includes figuring out a few things we weren't prepared for. I think next time would only take 2 hours tops. All in all it cost me $200. I replaced a section of galvanized, the well cap (easier than getting out the rusted broken bolts in the old one and getting new bolts), a couple fittings, submersible heat shrink and installed a check valve because it didn't have one. We're all walking on cloud 9 that it didn't cost very much and ended up being very easy.

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'll be back if I run into any more issues with my house (knock on wood).

 

[Amy Lee Goodwin]

Hey guys,

I'm new here. Google has a lot of good info from you guys. So I figured I would ask some questions.

A couple days ago my well pump quit. It's a 3 wire 1hp. The pressure control switch (with low pressure cutoff) works fine. When I tried to manually start the pump again (low pressure cutoff lever), nothing happened.

I saw a video that explained that the capacitor for the control box would have a yellow circle that should be white, if it was blown. It was yellow and also appeared to have a tiny blowout through it. So I bought a new control box and put the new lid with capacitor on the old box. Now when I turn on the pressure switch, I hear the solenoid click and hum as I hold it, but no water comes up.

So got out the multimeter. Checked voltages all around. The pressure switch is good and the control box for L1 and L2 are getting 120 volts each, which should indicate that the power to the control box is good.

Then I go on to check the ohm's for the R Y B wires to the motor. I watched a youtube video on how to do this. The capacitor/lid was not on the control box (pretty much impossible to check with the lid on anyways) and he was getting an ohm's reading of 2-3 and 5-6, etc for different matched colors. When I do this on mine, I get nothing on the display. It was a crappy multimeter, that I eventually broke doing this with the wrong settings. So I bought a better multimeter and checked again. I get the same result of zero (or nothing on the display, I forget right now), between B-Y, Y-R & R-B. I'm still unclear of how this works with the power (L1 & L2, not being connected to RYB, but this is how the video showed...

So, what does it mean if I have no reading at all between Black - Yellow, Red - Black & Red - Yellow? I'm guessing the wiring is bad or the motor is bad? That's the only logical conclusion I came up with.

Also, how hard is it to replace a motor myself? I'm sure I have galvanized pipe. So I'll making a rig to pull up 20 foot sections with a cable pull. I also plan on replacing the pipe with 80 schedule PVC with a couple check valves in there. I do have some experience with handyman type work. In the last couple years, my dad, uncle and myself completely remodeled my house. I mean everything. All electrical wiring, plumping (pex), sewer lines, complete bathroom remodels, tiling, gas lines, drywall, laminate floors, walls removed and moved, new windows, etc, etc, etc. So we're no stranger to handyman type work, but this well business scares me a little bit. Especially the thought of losing the pipe down the well. My dad saw someone replace his well pipe with PVC, so he saw, and can replicate, the pipe holder/pincher to hold the pipe up. I also make sure to do a lot of research to figure out what all the proper way of doing things are.

Anyways, I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you guys for your time.

 

[Amy Lee Goodwin]

Hello,OMG I had a hard time figure out how to post something finally got it.Any how my well-pump went out so i ordered a 220v and when i recieved it. it had a 110 plug. What would that be for?and had no wires it says its a submersible stainless steal 1hp.,220v well pump yes what i ordered for my well put it didnt have any wires and had a 110 plug?So i couldn't wait and had to go to lowes get pump i have water again but now want to sale this one but what how to list how it works?Thank You,Amilee