Pilot
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2004
- Messages
- 1,208
- Location
- Oregon
- Tractor
- JD 770, Yanmar 180D, JD 420 (not running), had a Kubota B6200
Woke up Monday with no water pressure. Well guy came out, checked things over, replaced a capacitor, a relay and another component in the control box and ran a temporary power line to the well, saying I had a break or short in the line.
Called 3 locator services, they all charged the same & picked one, knowing nothing about any of them other than their charges.
Wasn't impressed with the guy, but he located the line, then went over it with another piece of equipment and marked where it showed the problem. Said if there is another break, he can't find it until this one is fixed. $195.
Only the problem wasn't there. The line was 3 ft. down and I found 3 spots where the white outer insulation was damaged and two of those places showed damage to the insulation on the black wire, but no copper exposed.
Now I have the wire up in the air so there's no possibility of a ground from the black wires to the ground (wet soil) in case I'm just not seeing a pathway.
Hooked up the ohm meter at the garage end of the line and found a short between the black and white wires, 2.8 ohms. But in those damaged spots, the white wire was not damaged or even visible (just to be sure there's no confusion, the outer insulation over the 4 wires is white and one of the inner wires also has white insulation; and that's not exposed).
So I check resistance between white and black wires at the well end and get 3.2 ohms, vs. 2.8 at the garage end. Now I'm limiting out on my electrical knowledge, but this suggests to me the short is closer to the garage than the well--more resistance at the well due to a longer path. The locator guy's spot was only about 15% of the way from the well to the garage--maybe less. Am I right that the break should be closer to the garage?
So, what now?
If I call the locator guy back, he will say he can't check it because I haven't fixed the non-existent fault he found before, but there's nothing to fix.
I watched him work. The locator device looked pretty simple, on an A frame with a meter in the crosspiece. He stuck each leg in the ground, the thing thought for 3 seconds then the needle pointed left or right, indicating the fault was in one direction or the other. Then it was just a matter of getting it centered over the fault, at which point the needle was centered.
Where he claimed the problem was, the wire is almost 3 ft. deep. Could it be that it was too deep for his equipment to get a signal, causing a false indication?
If I call him back, he wants to charge me again, although he said he would "give me a break on the price". Yeah, he should return for free, but the way he worked, I doubt he will do that, and I might be better off calling someone else, but that would be another $195 the way these guys charge.
So, what now? Any ideas?
Called 3 locator services, they all charged the same & picked one, knowing nothing about any of them other than their charges.
Wasn't impressed with the guy, but he located the line, then went over it with another piece of equipment and marked where it showed the problem. Said if there is another break, he can't find it until this one is fixed. $195.
Only the problem wasn't there. The line was 3 ft. down and I found 3 spots where the white outer insulation was damaged and two of those places showed damage to the insulation on the black wire, but no copper exposed.
Now I have the wire up in the air so there's no possibility of a ground from the black wires to the ground (wet soil) in case I'm just not seeing a pathway.
Hooked up the ohm meter at the garage end of the line and found a short between the black and white wires, 2.8 ohms. But in those damaged spots, the white wire was not damaged or even visible (just to be sure there's no confusion, the outer insulation over the 4 wires is white and one of the inner wires also has white insulation; and that's not exposed).
So I check resistance between white and black wires at the well end and get 3.2 ohms, vs. 2.8 at the garage end. Now I'm limiting out on my electrical knowledge, but this suggests to me the short is closer to the garage than the well--more resistance at the well due to a longer path. The locator guy's spot was only about 15% of the way from the well to the garage--maybe less. Am I right that the break should be closer to the garage?
So, what now?
If I call the locator guy back, he will say he can't check it because I haven't fixed the non-existent fault he found before, but there's nothing to fix.
I watched him work. The locator device looked pretty simple, on an A frame with a meter in the crosspiece. He stuck each leg in the ground, the thing thought for 3 seconds then the needle pointed left or right, indicating the fault was in one direction or the other. Then it was just a matter of getting it centered over the fault, at which point the needle was centered.
Where he claimed the problem was, the wire is almost 3 ft. deep. Could it be that it was too deep for his equipment to get a signal, causing a false indication?
If I call him back, he wants to charge me again, although he said he would "give me a break on the price". Yeah, he should return for free, but the way he worked, I doubt he will do that, and I might be better off calling someone else, but that would be another $195 the way these guys charge.
So, what now? Any ideas?